Bad Timing

Keeper was entered in a show the last weekend in June. Just as his owner, K., was packing up to leave for the show she let him out one more time. When he came back in, there was blood ALL OVER THE FLOOR.

He had badly cut his foot on something.

Which knocked him out of showing not only those 3 days, but 4 days of shows the following weekend - including our home club specialty.

SEVEN DAYS of entries - some of which were not only entries in conformation classes, but also obedience classes since she is MUCH MUCH better than I have been lately about getting to classes and really working with her dog.

It wasn't a life-threatening injury, or even a career threatening one... Keeper will be fine.

But boy did his timing suck! Those were the first shows he's been entered in for MONTHS since he's had a lot of growing to do. It just means it's one of the most expensive pad cuts I've ever heard of!

To make matters worse, then he started taking the bandage off while she was at work and licking the foot, which hinders the healing. So we decided to keep him here for a few weeks since either Ronnie or I can usually manage to be home to keep an eye on him. He's entered in 3 more days of shows this weekend, and we all would REALLY like for him not to miss those too!

But we knew K would miss the big goober! However we had a great plan...
Keeper would do fine here with all the other dogs - he's been here before and they all get along. But Teddy, who has always had a tendency to be a bit clingy, was getting worse (sometimes destructive when both Ronnie and I leave the house) and needed to go stay with someone else for a while. So he could get a refresher that the big, wide world is NOT a scary place, and that he'll be fine no matter who he is with.

So we traded. Keeper came here, and Teddy went there.

It's worked out great - Keeper has kept his bandage on, the foot is healing well and he enjoys playing with his sister Topper:



And Teddy has done just fine at Auntie K's house.

The tricky part will be if Keeper's foot is, indeed, well enough healed for him to show this weekend. It's looking good but he is one BIG dog and we don't want it to tear open or anything while he's trotting along in the ring.

I told her tonight on the phone that he'd be fine and we were good to go (crossing my fingers all the while). She's already paid the entry fees, those are gone whether he shows or not. But this is an out-of-town show so there isn't any point in her paying for a hotel room if she can't show her dog.


After I hung up, I turned to my husband and said "We may be paying for her hotel room!" If Keeper isn't sound enough to show despite my optimism that he will be fine, that's the least we can do to make it up to her.

Keep those fingers crossed...

Now We Are Two!

And once again, I'm late with the birthday wishes for our pups - I'm such a bad "grandma". They were two on August 27. And it also goes to show what a bad blogger I am, that their first birthday post was just a few messages ago. I'm going to try to post regularly here, and also try to NOT just post about show results. I'll put those on our web site at http://symmetrydanes.freeservers.com/index.html

But this is a better venue for stories, opinions, and just the funny stuff that happens pretty regularly when you live with Danes.

Last year I posted a birthday picture of Keeper that his owner sent me. She sent me a very similar picture this year:

Keeper Age 2

He's wearing the same hat, look how much smaller the hat looks this year than it did last year:

Keeper Age 1



And Buck's owner sent me a birthday picture too:

She said he was waiting for his birthday doughnut!

So happy, happy birthday to Topper, Teddy, Keeper, Gus and Buck - we love you all!

Dane totem

As we were preparing to leave the show in Monroe a couple of weeks ago, we had once again to deal with the logistics of traveling with a lot of big dogs. Once you take the crates down, you have to have somewhere to put the dogs while you're packing them into the van. In our van, it's MUCH easier to load stuff like that while the dogs are not present. Keeper's owner had come to the show too, and had her own van which CAN be loaded with dogs inside. So now we've got a system - since we had 4 Danes there between us, we put Keeper and his sister Topper in her van, and I held Teddy and Gus while she and Ronnie loaded the vans. Don't worry - she had her AC running so Topper and Keeper were comfortable.

Anyway, she went to the side door of her van and opened it to get something, and the two dogs poked their heads out as she started to open the door with Keeper's head on top.

My favorite part of the story is, she had the presence of mind to shut the door, go get her camera and then open the door again to take the picture! And it was worth it:

Doesn't Topper look pleased????

Brindle snobs

Have you ever noticed that dogs that look alike, tend to want to hang out together? For example, if you're out with your dog and you meet another dog of the same breed, your dog is likely to be more attracted to that dog than to a dog of another breed. This holds true (in my experience at least) even if you don't have other dogs of that same breed at home. Which has always made me wonder, how do they know? I mean, it's not like they spend a lot of time looking at themselves in the mirror.

With our crew, it goes beyond that into - I'm ashamed to admit - color prejudice. When Gus or Buck (both are fawn colored) are here they play with Teddy all the time:

But when Keeper is here, after a while he and Topper start playing together (they're both brindle) and they leave poor Teddy to his own devices:

Teddy wants to play with them...

"Look guys, I've got a big ball!"

Poor Ted gives up - you can see him behind Keeper chewing on a bully stick.

Leaving Topper and Keeper to play to their hearts' content!

Tulsa!!

We got back from a 3-day show weekend in Tulsa late Sunday night, and I'm still playing catch-up.

But what a weekend it was!! We took our two "pups" Topper and Teddy, along with their brother Gus who belongs to some dear friends of ours. And their other brother Keeper was there with his owner. All 4 were entered in conformation classes all 3 days, plus Keeper was entered in obedience. PLUS, Gus and Teddy (who are practically identical fawn boys) were entered in a special Brace class that was offered all 3 days. In Brace, you have 2 dogs with one handler - the dogs should work side by side, on the handler's left. I thought my hubby was pretty brave to attempt this with two young male Danes - who together weigh over 300 lbs. and could probably pull a beer wagon.

But it all worked out great! Keeper was the star, he got his second Major win on Saturday and a Reserve (no points, it's basically a runner-up thing) on Sunday. Best of all, he finished his Companion Dog obedience title! Now he is:

Symmetry's No Vrroom At the Inn, RN, CD

Topper didn't get any points, but got two Reserves. Her turn will come soon, I'm sure.

And Gus and Ted were a HUGE hit!! It is very impressive to see a Great Dane brace - they were a crowd favorite for sure. One day the judge even applauded them as they came into the ring! And all the judges had funny comments along the line of "You are a brave man" or "It's sure a good thing they get along!" :-) And they won BEST BRACE IN SHOW Friday and Saturday!! (And yes, they did have competition for it!)

I did get lots of photos and videos, fear not. But I'm leaving town again Thursday to visit some dear-but-far-away friends and I may not have time to upload them before I leave. If not, I'll have lots to post when I get back!

Can't stop smiling!

Well I guess the crossed fingers worked!

The show last weekend was in Houston. We drove down pretty late Thursday evening, and our show time was first thing Friday morning. Keeper's foot was still bandaged - we left it on to protect the pad. Half an hour before we were due to show, we were taking the bandage off and cleaning the tape residue off his leg.

Or trying to - thank Goodness he's a stripey boy and the stripes hide a LOT of stuff!! Like, specifically, tape residue.

This was Keeper's first show since February - he was going through a growth spurt and just needed to mature a little. WE thought he was ready to show now, and ready to do well but, then... we're predjudiced.

Guess what?

He WON!! His foot was fine, he absolutely floated around the ring! And got not only Winner's Dog but also Best of Winners - which gave him his first Major! (In the AKC, dogs need at least 2 wins at Major shows - which are 3 to 5 points each depending on how many dogs are exhibited - with a total of 15 points to become a Champion. Smaller shows might award just one or two points.)

And then the next day he won again!! Didn't get Best of Winners that time, so he "only" got 2 points.

But 5 points for 2 days!! Woooooo-hoooooooo!! Hooray Keeper!

And we didn't have to pay for his owner's hotel room after all :-P

PS: Here's the win photo:

I've got a new toy!

Slowly but surely we (meaning me) are entering the DIGITAL AGE, and I got me a new camcorder! Do I hear collective groans from the audience? Well, you probably should be groaning because...

TAA-DAA!

Here is my first attempt at posting a video:

This is Keeper opening our patio door.

Breathtaking video, isn't it? :-)

He learned this trick from his mother Kinsey (or possibly he learned it the same way she did, from watching us open it). But whereas Kinsey gently noses it just far enough open to let her through, Keeper opens it much faster and he usually gives the door a giant push that opens it about halfway. The only reason he's more cautious here is that I'm standing right there, telling him not to come out!

Visitor!

See? I told you, five Danes. Because Keeper is back to visit! He's #4 in the picture (in case you're wondering, #1 is Kinsey, #2 is Aeryn, #3 is Teddy and #5 is Topper).

Everything is fine this time - his owner is out of town for a few days so he's here at Camp Symmetry. We are always glad to see the big goober - and as I've said before, we firmly believe that having frequent visitors is good for our crew. I really think that is one of the reasons they get along with other dogs so well. For example, remember that both Teddy and Keeper are intact males - and although I still think of them as "puppies", they are over two years old so are fully mature sexually. We're careful about introducing them when they haven't seen each other in a while, and we do keep an eye on them to prevent minor incidents from escalating into anything major - but really everything is very peaceful.

Well, "peaceful" in between all the running around:

But you gotta admit, they are having a good time!

I'm a Grandma!!

... at least in the sense that one of my "puppies" has become a Father!!

Keeper was chosen by Kinsey's breeder Vicki to sire a litter for her lovely girl Jazz - you can see photos and other details of both parents (including health information) on our web site.

Keeper is pretty pleased with himself!!

But for now, puppy pictures!!
They were born July 22. 3 brindle boys, 1 fawn boy, 2 fawn girls and 1 brindle girl.

Here they are 4 days old - the fawn boy is on the left next to his two fawn sisters and a brindle boy. If you look very closely you can see another brindle puppy under the pig rail* on the far left - you can just see his or her leg sticking out.


Here are 3 of the brindles - the girl is at the bottom of the picture and two of the brindle boys are in the top part of the photo.

*A "pig rail" is a shelf built into the sides of a whelping box used for large breeds - the puppies are so small in relation to the size of the mother that it would be easy for her to squash one so the rail gives the pups a safe space around the edges.

Now We Are One!

Happy birthday to Kinsey's puppies!!
Actually I'm a little late, they were born Aug. 27, 2005. You could hold them in one hand - seriously!! You could.
Of course, by the next day it took both hands, and by this time last year they were already 4 or 5 pounds each.
But they WERE little at one time!!


This is Keeper - his owner sent me this picture of him with his birthday hat on. Keeper probably weighs over 150 lbs. now - good thing we don't have to buy clothing for these guys, as fast as they grow! They'd need new outfits every week!

The National!

The Great Dane National Specialty. All Great Danes, All the time for 8 days.

Heaven!! :-)

My very favorite part of this is spending an entire week with hundreds of other people who all think that living with giant dogs is perfectly normal. You never once hear witticisms like "Gotta saddle for that thing?"

It's part dog show, part exhibition, part pomp & pageantry, part reunion (seeing friends from other parts of the country that you only see at the National).

It's fun and sometimes breathtaking and sometimes sad and often hilarious and very tiring!

Our kids did GREAT!!
They all made the cut or placed in their classes - but more importantly they handled the whole thing very well. This was by far the longest trip any of them have made and they all traveled well and seemed to enjoy the whole experience. We were on the 9th floor in our hotel so there were a lot of elevator rides every day and other new things. They became quite accustomed to hearing someone shriek when the elevator doors opened - you learn quickly to not let the dog charge out of the elevator when the doors open or you'll give the housekeeping staff heart attacks.

And they ATE!! I feed a raw diet to my dogs - I'll talk about this more in a future post. But just before we left for the National, Gus and his brother Teddy both went through a growth spurt and were looking a little thin. Not unhealthy, but you obviously want your dogs looking their best for something like your National. They were eating well so I fed them a LOT and by the end of the week they'd each put on a few pounds and looked great. This is one of the things I love about a raw diet - what goes in the dog, stays in the dog. The boys were eating probably 5 or 6 lbs of meat a day EACH and yet when it came time to walk them, you could pick up the poop with one hand in a baggie easily.

Here are some photos from the National - these were taken by our dear friends Chantel & Stacey Johnson, Mary Ann Land or Zeli Schulte.





This was the logo and theme for the 2006 National. I love this logo.

This is Ronnie with our girl Topper:

Ronnie and Topper's brother Gus - he's always wagging his tail. Gus, that is - not Ronnie!



Ronnie with their brother Teddy. It may look like Teddy is getting a lecture, but Ronnie is just getting him to focus his attention.



Here are a couple more pictures of Our Boy Teddy:

Here's their brother Keeper with Chantel - he placed third in the huge 12-15 month Futurity class!

The classes at the National can be QUITE large:

Keeping the dogs cool - the square cloths are chamois that when soaked in cold water will stay cold for a long time. Many show dogs learn to drink out of spray bottles - that's what the dog closest to the camera is doing. It's an easy way for the handler to have and carry water at ringside for the dogs. Misting water on their coats also helps keep them cool. This convention center was climate controlled of course, but it got a little warm in the afternoons.

Everyone loves watching the 3 to 5 month class in Futurity. The first entries for these babies are sent in before the litter is even born! Here is Mike Holle with a beautiful little brindle girl:

Kinsey (mother of Topper, Gus, Teddy and Keeper) and Ronnie watching some classes. Well, Ronnie is watching - Kinsey is pouting because he's not allowing her to work the crowd for treats.

Here are two GORGEOUS Black Danes. The one on the right is Tiger who belongs to Chantel. I'm not sure who the pretty girl on the left is.

It's not all just about looking good at the National - there are performance events too. We didn't get any shots of Kinsey in Agility (she won her Novice Jumpers class!) but here is the Sit Stay portion of the Novice Obedience class. Chantel's boy Tiger is second in line (second closest to the camera). Kinsey is on the other side of him.

This lovely picture of Tiger during the Down Stay portion of the Novice Obedience class was taken by Zeli Schulte. Tiger finished his Novice Obedience title at the National! But this picture pretty well sums up how we all felt by the end of the week:

If there is a particular breed of dog you love, chances are that the national club for that breed hosts a National Specialty somewhere in the country each year. I highly recommend attending when you can - even if you aren't especially interested in showing there is NO better place to meet people who love and are knowledgeable about your breed! Plus you get to see dogs from all over the country and even the vendors carry supplies and gifts geared toward that breed. The web site for the national club for each breed will have information about the National Specialties.

Sorting things out

I just added some photos of our "kids" to the sidebar, hopefully to help you all sort out who is who, and so when I write about one or another of our dogs I won't have to re-explain the relationships each time. They don't all live with us, of course - Gus, Keeper and Buck all have marvelous, wonderful homes with terrific people. But we are fortunate enough to see them all pretty regularly, and I write about them often enough that they needed to be listed here, too.

Random shots

Since the planets have aligned, and our computer AND external hard drive AND scanners are all working and talking to each other, I thought I'd better take the opportunity to post some photos that have been taken over the past few months. Enjoy!

First, some photos of our stripey girl Topper since she's had to take a back seat to her brothers lately:

Here she is in the ring last March. The lovely fawn girl behind her is "Jazz", aka Calypso's Born to Hand Jive, owned and handled by our mentor Vicki Monson.

Here's a side view:

On the more casual side, here's a photo of Gus relaxing at his home - Topper does this same thing, lying on her right hip but with the left side of her head on the bed, or vice versa.

Here Ronnie is getting some sugar from Teddy while they wait with Gus for their Brace class in Tulsa last fall.

And here are some pictures of Keeper...

Front,

Side,

... and airborne! This is a still from my video camera. I have no idea what he was looking at, but he is a very springy dog!

We are having puppies!

 It's been many, many years but we are finally expecting a litter here at Casa Symmetry.  One of the original reasons I started this blog was to document what it's like to live with Great Danes, and also to document what it's like to be a Dane breeder, to let people know what goes into this.

 Our breeding plans have hit roadblocks for a variety of reasons, but finally we have been successful!

This is Ellie's first litter, although we did breed her last January using frozen semen from Keeper, a dog born in our last litter.  Unfortunately that didn't work.  

So this time we picked a gorgeous young dog so we were able to do a natural breeding.  He's a wonderful dog who belongs to people in Louisiana, but at the time we needed to do the breeding he was at a show in Kansas.  So I drove up there with Ellie, and we were successful!!

To say we are excited is an understatement.  This should be a very special litter, since not only are both parents AKC champions, but they have physical traits that really should complement each other.  

I may post more about the parents here later, but in the meantime if you want to see pictures, pedigree, health testing info etc you can find them on our website.

In the meantime, Ellie is just baking those pups: