She was a Four-Legged Excavator
I remember the dirt flying out of the ground like it was yesterday. I was so excited to see this giant hole in our backyard, I thought my dad was finally going to put in the swimming pool I had wanted so much … then Susie poked her head out of the hole. Susie was the first Great Dane I had ever seen. My mom had brought her home as a rescue. While we loved her, Susie came with her eccentricities, she wasn’t exactly from the most well-bred situation with her poor ear cropping (they were kind of droopy) and she was a complete escape artist. I remember my dad driving up and down the street calling her because she had found a way out of our fencing, again.
Despite her quirks, I loved her, and she planted the seed of my love for the Great Dane breed.
Santana – The Golden Standard of Great Danes
A few years later I was at a picnic and I was competing in the 3-legged race. I won and to my surprise my dad handed me a Great Dane puppy. He said I won him by winning the race, however, I realized years later that I was getting him either way. As I held Santana, I had no idea just how much this dog would mean to me, the role he would play in my life.
Santana was from a breeder and he was ideal, he had the build, the looks, but more importantly, he was a great friend. He was there for me through all the crazy teenage years, no matter the unique situations that were thrown my way, Santana was always there for me, loyal to the core.
While Santana passed many years ago, he truly showed me everything that a Great Dane could be and what I hope to bring to you in getting one of my puppies. I want you to have that once-in-a-lifetime dog, the dog that changes the way you look at dogs. When I make breeding decisions, I’m always looking to create more Santanas.
He was the dog that all other dogs were compared to. He is our golden standard.
Small Dogs Just Don’t Cut It.
I went a while without a dog, and then my wife wanted to get a dog or two for the kids. She chose a Poodle and a Pomeranian. They were nice enough dogs, but they never really felt like dogs to me. They were busy bodies, a little nervous and insecure, and it always felt like we had to cater to them, they could never just go with the flow. This was frustrating to me, and I never felt like they bonded with me, they didn’t get me, and I certainly couldn’t share that mutual bond like I had had with Santana. I finally got a Ridgeback and he was wonderful, it felt like I had a real dog again, but yet, he still wasn’t as in tune with me and had more energy than was really necessary.
They all left me feeling like I was still missing a dog that really understood me, I was missing the Dane and my Danes and I always seemed to take care of each other.
Luna Taught Me a Great Dane’s Need for Leadership
Family friends had acquired Luna, she was a very large Dane and despite being a good dog, she was causing quite a bit of havoc for my friends. They were at their wits end, unsure of how to manage her, she was rather all over the place. I offered to take her for a while and see if I could see what was going on. It turned out that Luna simply didn’t get the socialization and leadership she needed.
Danes need healthy leadership, they want you to show them where they fit in the family. They need you to show them the ropes and that will help them be secure in who they are, and, as a major side benefit, they become the dog that you hoped they’d be. While leadership for my Danes had always come naturally to me, I realized that this wasn’t always the case with other families. Luna taught me so much and helped me articulate what it was that I did that worked and why it helped me to cultivate such great relationships with my Danes. I now take that approach with puppies and help my puppy owners do the same, so you can have that ideal dog. A well-bred, well-trained Dane truly is a perfect member of the family.
Moose Sparked My Breeding Drive
Next came Moose. Moose was a great boy, he hated the rain, and was quite the character. However, Moose had a hidden bite drive. While he was all love 99% of the time, there were those moments that came out of nowhere, and his bite drive would kick in. Thankfully my children were out of the house at this time. His unpredictability made him a liability and I realized that there is a lot of this in the Dane world, many breeders are breeding for color or appearance, but aren’t doing their due diligence with temperament genetics and socialization.
I saw there was a need for well-bred Great Danes that were socialized correctly from the start, so they could become beloved family members, gentle giants rather than giant liabilities.
Breeding Has Been a Joy
Breeding Great Danes has been such a joy for me. I love coming home and spending time with the puppies, starting them out right, sharing the world with them in a safe and engaging way, building their confidence one experience at a time. I always knew the puppies would be a joy, but what I didn’t expect was the new depth of relationship I would develop with my girls. Working together to bring their puppies into the world and watching them take such wonderful care of their pups has become such a beautiful thing for me.
It’s also fun to share with the grandkids. While my children are grown up, they’ve been wonderful in giving me a handful of grandkids that love to come over and play with puppies, allowing our pups to experience children in a controlled environment, helping them build trust with the little people. I want you to have the most well-rounded dog and I can’t think of a better way to create that for you than what we are already doing.