Dahlia Visits Kentucky Again

I went to Birmingham over Christmas and visited the Dane pack.  Everyone is so beautiful!  My Dahlia got to come back to Kentucky to visit with me and the Dobes for a while. I think she is enjoying her stay.  The first night I let her sleep on the bed with me and the 2 dobes.  However, I soon realized that she does not sleep in a nice small Dane ball like her mommy.  Two dobermans a Dane and I do not fit on the bed together!  Someone gets smushed and that is me!!  Now she sleeps in her crate at night and I get some rest.    I took her to the cardiologist yesterday to get her heart listened to.  The cardiologist said she sounded good!  The Dane pack are all over 1 yr now so health testing has started.  Now Camille wants Dahlia back.....  hmmmm, I guess I have to send her home:(   Brandi

A Beautiful Fall Day

On Thursday, Sadie, Dahlia and I traveled to Kentucky to meet Brandi and take some photos in the fall folliage. We raced to beat the rain storms that were predicted to come that night and into Friday. When we got there, Brandi brought her two Doberman girls, Cinders and Porsche, too. We went to the Berheim Forest. We were able to take a few pictures before the sprinkles started. When we woke up the next morning, however, we were greeted by the sunshine and white puffy clouds. Brandi, myself, and all the girls headed back to the park for more pictures. Here is what we took. (You can find picture of the Dobies at the Masaya Dobermans blog, http://www.masayadobermans.blogspot.com/).

Sunday before the Great Dane Nationals

Sunday Daniel and I took Dahlia and Sadie to Chattanooga, TN for the N. Central Florida Specialty that was being held before the GDCA National Convention. There were nearly 300 dogs there and the atmosphere was electric! Dahlia and Sadie nearly pulled my arms off trying to get into the building. When we got inside the building, most of the boys were finished showing and we were just in time to watch the puppy girls go into the ring. When it was Dahlia's turn to go into the ring, her gramma Jackie (Her Daddy's owner) took her in. They had broken the 9-12 month class into three groups and took the top 3 from each group to judge for the ribbons. I was nervous watching her, but I soon realized there was nothing to be nervous about. Dahlia placed 3rd in her group and went in to the final 9-12 month class. Jackie did a great job and Dahlia looked ON! When all was said and done, Dahlia placed 4th out of 18 in the class putting her into the ribbons! She looked beautiful!

Sadie went into the ring next. Her Auntie Yvonne handled her for me and did a great job! Sadie made the cut in her group and got a chance to compete in the main 12-18 month ring. She looked really nice and made me so proud! In the end, she didn't place, but had a great time all the same.

We will be going back to Chattanooga friday to compete again at the National show. Wish Us Luck!!

My Baby is Coming to Visit!

My Dahlia is coming up tomorrow with her auntie Camille!  I can't wait to see my baby.  I haven't seen Dahlia since she was only like 4 mos old.  Camille says she is a lot like Lily, so I really want to see my girl.   Sadie and Harley will also be visiting.  Lots of Dane kisses!

DAHLIA TAKES HER FIRST POINT!!!

This past weekend was so much fun. I met my mom in Little Rock with the two girls, Dahlia and Sadie. Friday night we had a match. I thought mom might have to take one of the girls in the ring Saturday so friday was practice..lol. I ended up taking both of them in the ring. Dahlia won the "pups under 12 months" breed ribbon and Sadie won the "pups over 12 months" breed ribbon. Both also went Working Group 3 in a REALLY competitive group. It was a lot of fun but the building was so hot. I was sweating all over, LOL. Dahlia and Sadie had fun and tried to drag me around the building sniffing dogs.
Saturday was even more fun!! There were a total of 15 Great Danes entered. Dahlia was shown in the 6-9 month class where there were 3 other girls competeing. She won her class and then Sadie was shown in 12-18 month class against 2 other girls. She won her class too and now they were competeing against each other for the win!! At that point it dawned on me....ONE OF MY GIRLS HAVE WON!!! Dahlia ended up beating Sadie and won her first point under judge Karen McFarlane and then took Best Puppy in Breed. Sadie did really well in the ring even though she didn't win. She still thought she did and got BIG KISSES from her mommy. Dahlia was kind of a brat, but it was her first show. She dragged me around the ring and wouldn't bait for anything. All the barking and movement was distracting to her. I need to enter obedience class. That would probably help. I had a picture taken, but it won't be sent to me for awhile. We got a lot of compliments on how pretty she was and everyone loved her classy dane head. We show again this weekend in Memphis. Wish us luck!!!

Dante's Alaskan Adventure!

Here is an email we received from Vanessa and Dante in Alaska: "Hello! I have been taking a billion pictures, and have no connection cord and my blue tooth isn't working, but as soon as a get either I'll def send some pics! He is getting tall, the kids and I measured him at 32? or 33?... he was moving. Everybody around town loves him, I'll hear alot of the "nice to see a dane here again, he is beautiful" or "mom look a happy dog" or the best one "LOOKS LIKE SCOOBY DOO!" hahaha. He went out on his first boat ride last month, he loved it. A couple miles away from Kotzebue there is a river we go to, we only went to the mouth that day. But he was running EVERYWHERE. Boots was trying to follow Dante of coarse, both of them started to think they can jump far. They both couldn't and fell in the middle of a creek it was tooooooo funny.. and they got super muddy. Thanks for the link! I will start updating Dante better and post some pictures PRONTO. Take care! Glad to hear Dahlia is doing good also."

A Nightly Ritual

The pack is such a funny thing. This evening I had to laugh watching Dahlia, Ajax (my 6 year old male dane), and Sadie fight for the boxer's attention. Every night Brutus the boxer grooms Ajax's ears and crusty eyes (summer allergies). The girls try to shove their heads between the boxer and Ajax. This causes Brutus to change customers as he grooms each ear in turn. This struggle goes on and on until Ajax finally growls and paws the girls away. Brutus will groom Ajax forever. He loves it. It must be so soothing to both of them.

Aways to go

Last month was a busy month for the two brindles of the litter, Dahlia and Dante. They both attended their first sanctioned conformation match. Dante won winners dog and Best of Opposite. A few weeks later, he was making the long journey to his new home in Kotzebue, AK. It was quite an ordeal but he arrived safe and sound with his new mom, Vanessa. From what his new mom said, he has settled in well and made fast friends with their shih tzu Boots.

As for Dahlia, she is growing like a weed and is already a 90lbs, sassy, spoiled brat! She loves to sleep on the bed (with permission or not) and torments all the older danes and boxer in the house. It won't be long and she will be ruling the roost! My husband and I took her the the creek to go swimming yesterday. She was interested, but entirely too prissy to get wet...however, the nearby mud puddle was not off limits and provided plenty of entertainment for her and her sister, Sadie. They were mud puppies!

Jake

Isn't he cute!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!!

Time for the long overdue updates! Puppies are now 4 months old and doing well. Dahlia and Dante (aka Diesel) the brindles are learning to be show dogs and will be going to their first match soon. I am going to send out an email and request our puppy owners submit blog entries.

Empty Nest

All my little Dane babies have gone to their new homes now. Jake made the long flight to California last night. Its going to be sad not having him around. He was the one who followed me everywhere and always tried to "help". Everything went smoothly for the trip to Nashville and shipping. Hopefully, I will have updates and new photos from all our new Dane owners soon.

Archie

Hunter and Amanda came and picked up the Yellow collared boy yesterday. I believe he is going to be named Archie. His new owners got a lesson on ear tapping and he got his first ear posting. He didn't seem to mind at all and overall is a very easy going puppy. Jake is all by himself now. He is learning to stay in his crate in preparation for his big flight to LA today. The brindles are getting cropped tomorrow. I can't wait to see their new look! Camille says the boy (please be Presley- but most likely Shaq) is quite a tank!

Jake and Yellow go for a Visit

Jake went to the vet today and got his health certificate. He weighs 18.5lbs. Then we went back to the house and picked up yellow and went to Gramma Brenda's house for a visit. Gramma Brenda said that Warlock took BOB every day in Tallmadge OH and right now he is the #1 Great Dane in the country. Wooo Hooo!!!! Let's hope he stays in the Top 20 for the rest of the year.

The boys got to play with Gramma Brenda's children and see all kinds of interesting things like a Whippet and several cats. Jake has been introduced to his new crate and is preparing for his flight to California. Yellow is going to his new home Sunday. I am going to miss my boys!

Dahlia and Presley's(??) New Adventures

This past week has been a lot of fun down here in Alabama. Dahlia and Presley(??) came home with me (Camille) last weekend. Everyone has adjusted well and are exploring the new environment. Dahlia and Presley are practically inseparable. We will all be sad to see him go to his new home, even though I know that he will be loved and adored there as well. Presley and Dahlia both love to play with the cats around the house, much to the cats' dismay most of the time...lol.

Both of the pups got their first baths today. I bathed them one at a time with each trying to help me with the other. I told Dahlia that it wouldn't be long before she wanted out of the bath tub more than she wanted in. She just didn't believe me. In the end, everyone smelled better and we were ready for their first trip to the pet store. Dahlia and Presley got to visit with other puppies that were attending the puppy kindergarten class. Both were curious, but Presley was really full of himself, barking and hopping with excitement. Dahlia tended to be more cautious waiting for her brother to break the ice. Before we left, we weighed both of the pups. Dahlia was 15.5lbs and Presley was 17.2lbs. Before we left the parking lot of the pet store, both pups were out like a light.

Black goes home and Yellow has a new headset

Del and Ashley came and picked up black boy today. It was sad to see him go, but I think he has a great home! I took him to the vet yesterday for his microchip and he weighed 18.2 lbs!

Yellow had his ears cropped. He got a complete check up before his procedure and he weighed 16.08 lbs. the vet said his heart sounded good and he was parasite free. He is doing well and hasn't shown any signs of pain or discomfort. His cut looks really nice and is very clean. I think it will be a nice cut and hopefully stand fairly quickly.

news I missed- Sunday

I forgot! Grammie Jackie, auntie Camille, and uncle Daniel came for a visit Sunday. We took new stacked photos of everyone. Grammie jackie couldn't believe we had sold the fawn boys to pet homes. Everyone agreed they would have made awesome show prospects. They have beautiful very correct conformation. Grammie Jackie fell in love with one of the bully pups. (no one could understand this as there were Dane puppies nearby;)

The brindles went home with Camille. We decided this was the best for all concerned. Camille was having some scheduling conflicts that made future pick up difficult and it was decided that the puppies would have plenty of good interactions with adult Danes and each other at Camille's house. Brindle boy (we are hoping he will be called Presley) is going to stay with Camille for a couple of weeks before he goes to live with Chase in Arkansas. Chase is happy because she is certain that Camille will have him house trained and crate trained.

I am happy because fewer puppies equal less mess! Also, it makes it easier for me to start house training and socializing the rest of the pups. Jake and Yellow are going to start crate training next week and I hope to be able to make several trips out and about with them.

I will work on making another video but it has become difficult because the pups see me and run over to me.

Yellow gets cropped and Orange gets a name

I feel like there is a lot to catch up on. I think the most important bit of news is that Orange Collar Boy now has a name. He is going to be Jake from now on. I think this is a great name for this not so little boy.

Yellow went in to get his ears cropped. The vet did a check up on him with a fecal and said his heart sounded good and he was parasite free. He comes home this afternoon. He weighed 16.06 lbs. My scale stopped being accurate on these boys once they reached 11lbs. I actually think black boy is bigger than yellow now and am anxious to see what he weighs. I am going to take him to the vet in the morning to get his microchip and a check up before he goes to his new home.

I think its time that Jake went on a car ride and explored some more, so I plan to make a trip to the pet store with him this weekend. That way I can get a weight on him and he will get some more socialization.

Yellow did very well on his first car ride. I held him in my lap on the ride to the vet. He seemed content. No signs of stress or sickness. Then I held him while waiting at the vet (vet floors scare me). The vet I took him to is really busy and there were many other dogs and cats there. He enjoyed looking around and was very curious about everyone. Of course, everyone had to comment on how cute he was and how big! He was a very good boy for his exam and by the end he had fallen sound asleep on the table.

So far, the weather has been mild enough that the boys are still getting to spend a couple hours a day outside.