Masaya Great Danes

Happy 7th Birthday Shadow!!

2011-02-03T12:21:00.005-06:00

Masaya would like to wish the father of our 2010 litter (Masaya's Micronesian Woozle and Masaya's Alright Already), BISS CH Lamar's Sun of Dreamaker AOE, a happy and healthy 7th birthday.
Happy Birthday Shadow!!!

Here is an email we received from Margo:

"To some of Shadow Friends,

It's hard to believe that Shadow turns 7 yrs old today.
He's in great health.
He went to Vet last week for his yearly check-up
and Both Vets said he's good and healthy.
I have FINALLY got some of his over weight off.
Been working on it for so long.
He is now around 216 lbs down from 224. Trying to get him down to around
200 to 205. It's really hard since he's such a food junky "

Day 5

2011-01-23T16:28:00.002-06:00

All the puppies are doing really well and everyone is gaining weight. Harley is proving to be wonder mom and makes sure that all the dobies know that the room is "OFF LIMITS!!" She seldom leaves the room. I'm sure it won't be too long before she is tired of them, lol. All the pups are over 2lbs now!! Here is a short video of the pups nursing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOKca7VzkpY

PUPPIES HAVE ARRIVED!!

2011-01-18T16:28:00.003-06:00

Harley gave birth to 7 healthy puppies this morning and afternoon. We have been blessed with 2 black boys, 2 brindle boys, and 3 brindle girls! Harley sure loves her brindles!! Harley did great. she delivered the puppies with ease and is now resting from the ordeal.

Puppies Coming Soon!

2011-01-11T12:49:00.001-06:00

Harley is getting big! When Harley stops wiggling long enough I can feel puppies moving around inside of her. She seems very healthy and happy. We go to get X-rays Friday afternoon to get a good puppy count and babies are due the following Friday. We are already getting some excellent homes lined up for these babies I can't wait to finally meet them!

Brandi Williams

Masaya Dobermans

www.masayadobermans.com

Masaya Goes Black!!!!

2010-11-22T10:09:00.001-06:00

Harley was Bred to Emmett on Friday. I got to meet Emmett and I am even more excited about this breeding!! He was such a big handsome boy with a sweet personality. I can't wait to see the pups!! We will be doing an ultrasound around Dec 17. Watch for updates!!

Time to Talk

2010-10-01T16:16:00.003-05:00

It has been months since my last blog post...I can now finally talk about what happened. The puppies were doing well. They were all healthy and happy. I took them to Texas to get cropped. The crops were beautiful....but 2 never woke up from the procedure. I cried and cried. I will never crop pets again.

The two that lived through the procedure are doing well. Peanut (Blue boy-top) went his new home in Winterpark, FL. Steve and Patti are working with him and teaching him obedience and how to swim (good luck!! :-) ). Heidi (Purple Girl-bottom) stayed here with me in Alabama. She is crazy! She never stops moving. A constant blur of activity! Her housebreaking is coming along (slower than I want though, lol) and she has gone on many outings with me to aid in socialization. Next weekend she will go to her first dog show to watch her big sister Dahlia compete! Go Dahlia!!

Puppy Madness!

2010-08-15T13:56:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been too long since my last post. The pups are now 4.5 weeks old and completely full of it..lol. A few days ago, I let them out of their X-Pens and let them run around the kitchen. Ever since then they cry and cry and cry wanting out of their pen so they can play in the kitchen and wrestle on the big dog bed. They are very "helpful" when I clean out their pen area. They tackle the paper and bark and growl. Mama Harley's crate is right next to the puppy pen. When I let them out, they go in her crate and lay on her dog bed too. They chew on the big bone that is in there and take long naps smelling mama on the bed.

I took them outside today. It is really hot today. They panted and ran in the grass. It was impossible for me to get a video. They followed me so closely it would be nothing but of the top of their backs. Here are some of the photos from the day:

Puppies at day 18

2010-08-01T11:02:00.002-05:00

Here are the 18 day weights:

Purple Girl - 5.7lbs
Red Boy - 6.06lbs
Blue Boy - 6.08lbs
Green Boy - 5.4lbs

All the pups are moving around the whelping box. Yesterday, the entire litter attempted their first escape all at the same time! The puppies are becoming more playful and are learning to bark so it has been getting a little noisy around the living room...lol.

PUPPIES!!!!!

2010-07-19T10:00:00.004-05:00

Well, it was a long night last week, but it ended in success. Harley started her labor Tuesday evening (July 13). A good friend of mine was having a litter of Dane pups in Kentucky at the EXACT same time. We spent quite awhile on the phone. I thought for a short time that we might have pups on the same day, but it just wasn't meant to be.

The first pup arrived at about 12:30am on Thursday. It was a brindle girl (Purple Girl). She weighed 23.9 ounces! She was a big pup! About 30 minutes later, a brindle boy was born (Red Boy). He was a little smaller (but not much!) at 23.2 ounces. Harley was doing great. It became obvious that she was going to be a GREAT mom. Thank God!

At about 2:30 the next puppy was born. It was a boy (Blue Boy)...A WHOPPER at 27.1 ounces!!! I knew we had one more puppy in there based on the xrays taken a week before.....but where was it. At about 4:00am another water broke. I knew the next one would be coming soon.....but he didn't.

At 6:30 we took Harley and the pups into the vet. The xrayed her and saw a HUGE HUGE HUGE puppy in there. It's head was at her third rib and the rear end was at her pelvis. We knew we didn't have much time and a C-Section was destined.

Harley came through the surgery great and we had ANOTHER brindle boy (Green Boy). He weighed 24.3 ounces. I was hoping that I would have a fawn in the litter, but it just wasn't meant to be.

The pups are growning like weeds now! They are 5 days old today. When I weighed them yesterday, all but Red Boy was over 2 pounds and the he was less than one ounce away.

Harley is 47 days along....

2010-06-28T22:51:00.002-05:00

Here is a picture of Harley. She is 47 days into her pregnancy at this point. When we took her to the vet for her ultrasound, he said that he saw 3 puppies, but he wasn't going to count....well. I've been assuming that she would only have 3, but......I'm not so sure now.She still has over 2 weeks left in her pregnancy. She is getting so big. Of course that doesn't mean a WHOLE lot. She is so active. I have a hard time keeping her rough-housing. Her favorite game most of the time is to slam dogs into the side of the house. I've been really trying to keep her a little more controlled than that. Afterall, she is in no condition for Ultimate Fighting!

Ultrasound Confirmed!

2010-06-07T09:28:00.002-05:00

Well, it's official, we will be expecting Harley and Shadow babies around the middle of July. What do you think of a 4th of July theme?? Next mystery....will they all be brindle??? Only time will tell.

A Trip to Savannah and Sobering Reminder....

2010-06-01T17:27:00.003-05:00

This past memorial day, my husband and I took Harley and Dahlia with us to North Carolina and then to Georgia. We started off at the ruby mines in North Carolina. Dahlia and Harley had a good time visiting with a local (hounddog :) ) and checking out all the new smells. Then we headed south to Savannah, GA. What a beautiful city! After a quick trip to the beach (sadly, dogs couldn't go on the beach), we took the girls for a walk around the city. They drew and crowd and served as wonderful ambassadors. They got to walk along the Savannah River and go on a "Ghost Walk". We had a great time.

One of the most discouraging things about our trip was how unfriendly GA seemed to be concerning the dogs. It seemed like everywhere you went, someone was talking about animal control. These are not friendly times for dog owners. Watch yourselves and guard your pets. Believe it or not, but it seems as if authorities would rather take your dogs out of a loving home and put them to sleep, than not. These laws that are being proposed, and sadly passed in some places around our Nation are sponsored by the Human Society of the United States and PETA who would rather there not be any more pets. They believe that your dog would rather be dead than be owned. These organizations are NO FRIEND TO PETS.

Jake is now a TEXAN!

2010-04-22T11:24:00.005-05:00

Here is an email I recently received from Joe, Jake's owner. I hope you all enjoy! Remember..we love hearing from all of you!

"We just moved out to a lake in Texas a couple months back and Jake is absolutely loving it out here! Aside from the squirrels that taunt him all day, he's befriended an ugly duckling (we named Daphne) that has no friends other than Jake and she visits our property daily. Jake is the most curious and loving dog I've ever owned and there's not a creature on this earth that he doesn't get along with as soon as he meets them. He loves the water and spends all day eating, napping, playing and mostly following around whichever person is the most interesting at that moment. He loves to help with everything!"

Birmingham Dog Show

2010-04-14T09:04:00.003-05:00

Sadie took Reserve Winners Bitch Friday and Sunday at the dog show in Birmingham, Alabama. Now if only she can take Winners Bitch this coming weekend...that would be awesome. Dahlia, Sadie and I are going to the Perry, GA dog show this weekend. It will be a HUGE show with more than 30 girls entered.

Dahlia also received a Normal rating for her OFA thyroid test. Yea! All we have left to check are hips. I am still waiting for her to come into heat. It is taking FOREVER!! I just hope she does....yikes! Here is Dahlia's win picture from Franklin, TN..she is so pretty!!

Catch Up

2010-04-02T11:55:00.003-05:00

This has been a crazy past month! So much has been going on! At the end of February, Sadie and Harley competed in Marietta, GA for the International Championship. We had a blast! With the VERY APPRECIATED help from my niece, Sadie and Harley were both able to complete the requirements to obtain their International Championship titles! They are now Int'l Champion SC-N-DD IMA Knockout V Masaya and Int'l Champion Teardrop von Haus Tiefenbach.

In addition, we have wrapped up all of Harley's health testing. She was PennHipped..which is VERY interesting by the way, as having average hips for a Great Dane with no indications of Degenerative Joint Disease. Yeah!!

A couple weekends ago, Sadie, Dahlia, and I went to Franklin, TN to the dog show. While we were their, I had their thyroids tested. We are still waiting on results. It was a CRAZY weekend too! Friday and Saturday were bummers for the show ring, but Sunday, Dahlia WON! She took two points! It had crossover major possibilities, but just didn't work out. :-(. Oh well! We had a good time and Dahlia got her picture taken. I will post when the pictures come.

New Pictures in the Snow!!

2010-02-16T18:40:00.002-06:00

We got a chance to take a few pictures this weekend of Dahlia and Harley with a Snowy backdrop! Also, here is a link to Dahlia's Movement Video and Harley's Movement Video!!

Future Stud's TV Debut!!

2010-02-16T18:31:00.003-06:00

Shadow, the stud dog that we are planning on breeding Harley to, just had his 6th birthday. He was also featured on Houston's Fox News sunday for the advertisement for the new Marmaduke movie coming out in early June. Here is Shadow's TV Debut!

Don't forget to take a look at the Litterbox page!!

Dahlia, Sadie, and Harley are now listed on the OFA website for recent health testings complete. Harley is Cardio clear and Sadie and Dahlia are now ECHO Cardio clear! In addition, Harley and Dahlia also had their CERF certificates arrive in the mail today!! Yeah!!

Dahlia Visits Kentucky Again

2009-12-31T08:36:00.001-06:00

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

2009-11-01T10:10:00.003-06:00

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

2009-10-21T17:34:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-10-01T07:56:00.001-05:00

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!!!

2009-08-13T18:46:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-07-07T20:21:00.001-05:00

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

2009-07-06T21:37:00.001-05:00

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

2009-05-29T19:51:00.000-05:00

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

2009-03-25T07:57:00.000-05:00

Isn't he cute!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!!

2009-03-17T19:33:00.000-05:00

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

2009-01-13T09:08:00.000-06:00

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

2009-01-12T10:33:00.000-06:00

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

2009-01-09T20:36:00.000-06:00

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

2009-01-04T15:11:00.001-06:00

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

2009-01-03T21:55:00.000-06:00

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

2009-01-02T09:24:00.000-06:00

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

2009-01-02T09:14:00.000-06:00

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.

Christmas Weights

2008-12-25T19:57:00.000-06:00

It got warm enough here today that the pups got to spend a few hours outside. They had a lot of fun playing with Sadie and their mommy. Here are their current weights:

Yellow 12.4lbs
Black 12.4lbs
Orange 11.24lbs
Brindle boy 11.57lbs
Dahlia 10.96 lbs

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Puppies get to run in the yard

2008-12-24T15:19:00.001-06:00

It finally stopped raining and the temperature isn't too cold, so we took the puppies and put them in the smaller side yard with Lily and Sadie. They seem to be having fun. However, the wind is starting to get cold and it won't be long before dark, so they will have to come in soon.

catch Up

2008-12-22T13:28:00.000-06:00

I had a few more things I needed to blog about during this last week, but have been too busy. I thought I would catch up really quick.
Friday we had a relatively warm day, so I rushed home after work and put up the small x-pen outside. Puppies got to be outside for about an hour or so. I didn't get any pictures because I was so busy trying to catch up on things that I need to do in the yard while it was warm. The puppies didn't want to be confined and the breeze became cool so I took them in. Black collar and Yellow collar did a little exploring of then yard before they went in. They were the 2 largest so they went in last. I think it was good for them to see the outdoors some. I wish it had been warmer for longer.

The puppies are getting really big and are starting to act a lot bigger. When I am home and they want to play, I let the out of the X-pen to explore the house. Cinders (the dobe) hates it when they try to nurse on her, but other than that all the dogs seem to do well with the pups. With mom and Koty here visiting, there is a lot more to get into. This morning while I was getting ready for work the pups were climbing into my moms bag and taking everything out!

The puppies always "help" me clean their cage. Unfortunately, their idea of help is to attack the trash bag. The brindles are especially bad about playing tug with the trash bag. Everyone likes to walk on the newspaper while I am rolling it up to throw out. The fawn boys, especially Yellow, like to wait until I am just leaving the x-pen to go Pee again. I think he prefers to urinate on the CLEAN newspaper. Cleaning never stops and I always have to go behind the pups with a mop when they are running around the house.

All the pups like the new toys I added to their area. Orange is the natural retriever and carries the green squeaky toy around the most. The others like to play with the toys then move on right now. I am sure that will change as their attention span grows.

Black collar boys seems the happiest about the guests and this morning before I left everyone was asleep but him. He was over at the x-pen door wagging his tail wanting to visit. Mom took him out and gave him to my brother to cuddle with. I am not sure how that turned out. I don't think black wanted to cuddle. I think he wanted to play.

Brindle boy is getting lots of attention. He is Koty's favorite. Likely because Koty knows he is going to be seeing him again later.

5 Week Weights- Busy Weekend

2008-12-21T19:13:00.000-06:00

Here are the puppies 5 week weights:

Black collar 10.67 lbs

orange collar 9.35lbs

Brindle Boy 9.92 lbs

Yellow collar 10.85lbs

Brindle Girl 9.7lb

Its been a busy weekend. The pups are getting big. Yesterday they got their 2nd round of deworming and today they got their 1st vaccinations. My mother and little brother got here last night, so the puppies have had lots of activity. I made a new video, but probably won't get it finished until tomorrow. Camille is in California visiting her family, so there won't be any web updates this week. I will email the video to everyone when it becomes available.

The puppies have enjoyed playing with their half sister who is visiting while her mom is in California. Puppies are messy so their pen gets cleaned several times a day and everyone loves to "help". They all think the trash bag is the best place to play.

I have more to write about this weekend, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I have a project I am trying to finish tonight.

Puppies have visitors

2008-12-16T18:19:00.001-06:00

It seemed like a three ring circus today in the dane puppy pen. Sadie and Lulu both took turns visiting the puppies. Of course, the Loyal Dobe stayed by her mommy and monitored the situation from a far. They were both very patient with the babies and they babies were curious about them. I weighed the pups last night:

Black 7.72 lbs

Orange 7.06 lbs

Brindle Boy 7.19

Yellow 7.94

Brindle girl 7.06

4 week puppy developement

2008-12-14T14:58:00.000-06:00

Today the puppies are 4 weeks old. Their auntie Camille and uncle Daniel came up to visit with them and help take photos. We took stacked photos of everyone. With a little help from some peanut butter and cheese things didn't go too badly. I was very impressed with everyone's conformation. We were really amazed to compare Lily's stacked photo with her daughters. They look very similar in structure. I emailed the photos to the puppies Grammie Brenda and Grammie Jackie. We'll have to wait and see what they think. We also took some cute photos of the fawn boys. Everyone is worn out now and the babies are napping. Puppies are resilient though, and I am sure they will be demanding their dinner in another hour or so.

After dinner tonight I will take the pups 4 week weights. Pups are enjoying their new home in the living room where they have more room to play. They enjoyed all the company and the little brindle girl even got to cuddle with her new daddy. Now the big discussion centers around names.
Puppies' half sister Sadie is here for a visit while her folks are away for the Holidays. So far the pups find her interesting but just assume she one of the pack.

Weights

2008-12-12T16:59:00.000-06:00

Sorry, I had problems uploading the video to the blog last night. I just weighed the pups and here are their current weights:

Black 6.31 lbs
Orange 5.95 lbs
Blue 6.04lbs
Yellow 6.7lbs
Pink 5.64 lbs

Puppies get their nails clipped - insights to personality

2008-12-09T06:51:00.001-06:00

People have been asking me about the personality of these puppies. There will always be a debate about how much of a dogs temperament is genetic and how much is due to its environment and training. I want to go a little bit more into temperament, so I am going to divide it into 3 parts. Genetics, Early socialization (birth to 16 weeks), and later training. For this post I am going to concentrate on Genetics.

Personally, I believe that at the end of the day genetics and early socialization will always win. A good trainer can mask genetics. They can train out certain behaviors, but if that behavior is innate then the dog will always have a tendency to revert back to that behavior when under stress. I also tend to think of temperament on a sliding scale. One example of this is shyness. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being a very outgoing dog and 10 being an extremely shy dog. Good early socialization can move the puppy 2 points in either direction. I believe that this movement is more permanent and more difficult to influence later. Good training can probably only move them about another 2 points in either direction on the scale once their personality is set and this training is less permanent. However, where they start on the scale is solely based on Genetics.

Personality traits are inherited from each parent. How those traits combine creates the overall temperament of the puppy and its unique personality. These are the bricks in the puppy's foundation. Everything else builds from here. This is also the reason I will never breed my female dog to a male I have not either met in person or do not have someone I trust who has met the dog. Temperament is known to be highly heritable. Research suggests that it only take 3 generations of selective breeding to completely change the temperament of a bloodline. This is why Breed Specific Legislation will never work. Based upon this information it would only take 3 generations to breed the friendliness out of a Labrador.

The parents of these puppies both have really nice friendly Great Dane temperaments. They both love people. Lily loves everyone and has never met a stranger. Warlock is the same way and often goes to work with his mom who is a groomer. I expect their puppies to be the same way. While it is too young to tell the specific personalities of these pups, I have had some insights. Of course the pups are really young and it will be interesting to see if my initial perceptions change as they get older.

A couple of days ago I clipped the puppies' nails for the first time. This required me to hold the puppies still and enabled me to see their reactions to human restraint. Human restraint is a componant of almost all puppy temperament tests. However, remember that these tests are not given until the pups are 7 + weeks old, so the amount of information you can get from them on a 3 week old is likely limited.

The most easy going puppy was the Orange Collared fawn boy. He struggled mildly, then relaxed and was very compliant. This behavior along with my other observations of him makes me believe that he would be an excellent dog for a family with children. He doesn't get upset about much and is willing to be manipulated. This is a good trait for a dog that may have kids dressing him up or pulling his ears.

The Brindle boy struggled the most. This really doesn't surprise me as he has always been the most active puppy and seems to be into everything. This boy will definitely need to be crate trained and have appropriate toys provided.

The Brindle girl struggled some and then she just complained. I haven't quite figured her out yet. She's very playful and is always right in the middle of everything.

Yellow collar boy struggled a bit more than orange but he relaxed too. I think this boy may be more of the lazy type. He's going to try to use his weight to his advantage (still the largest) and when that doesn't work he'll likely accept things and then go take a nap.

Black collar struggled the most of the fawns. He is also a very active puppy. He seems to be more of a thinker. He will likely make the better obedience dog of the fawns. He is always exploring and seems to be more independent.

Anyway, just a few insights. I will be interested to see if I have the same opinions in a week or so.

I plan to make another video soon, so keep checking the website and blog.

Puppy 3 week weights!

2008-12-07T18:14:00.000-06:00

Puppies had a visit from their grammie Brenda today and (their great grammie came too!) I had Brenda give me a little pre-eval on the puppy heads. We think brindle boy has more of his mommy's head (personally very happy about this) and black boy has his daddy's head . Its still too early to tell, but that was what grammie Brenda thought so far. Here are the puppies 3 wk weights:

Black 4.87 lbs

Orange: 4.5lbs

Blue (Brindle Boy) 4.4 lbs

Yellow: 5.03lbs

Pink (brindle girl) 4.63lbs

I tried to get a video, but I was a little too late in finding the camera. I only got about 1 min before the pups fell asleep, so I will try again later. Also, Black boy is temporarily red boy until I remember to get him a new black collar.

puppies' first taste of real food

2008-12-06T17:22:00.001-06:00

Lily, I am afraid, is a little spoiled. Often I get home and she and the puppies are hungry, so I clean everyone up (puppies are messy!) and I tell Lily to lay down and nurse her puppies. Then I go and get her food and place it in front of her between her paws so she can eat while she nurses! She likes this. Kinda like breakfast in bed. So today I had been gone for several hours. I got home and quickly cleaned out the whelping box while puppies were screaming at me and trying to escape their temporary confinement. Then I get Lily in, have her lay down, and give her the pups. Now I quickly prepare all the adult girls a mid day snack. Their mid-day snack is dry dog food with yogurt and cottage cheese mixed in. I put her food between her paws like normal and a couple minutes later orange collar boy is over there in her bowl eating with her. Then black collar boy (the big golden boy temporarily in red collar) gets in the bowl too! The food was basically dry with a yogurt and cottage cheese coating, so it was hard for them to swallow. I was a little nervous as they started to choke on the dry kibble and prepared myself for the possiblity of performing the puppy heimlich maneuver. However, they got it down ok. Orange boy lost interest (probably because black was shoving him out), but black boy stayed until the end and was licking the bottom of the bowl. Brindle boy came over to investiagate too, but he lost interest quickly. Tomorrow I am going to make sure and moisten the food with some warm water.

Masaya Great Danes

2008-12-04T12:57:00.000-06:00

Hi,
I created this blog primarily to blog about the new puppies. Hopefully, everyone will enjoy watching them grow! We have 5 Great Danes puppies out of our AKC/UKC Champion brindle girl CH Drogheda's Tigerlily V Masaya aka Lily. The father is a young fawn dog that has already distinguished himself in the show ring by earning his AKC Championship with all majors (large shows) and even been awarded a Group 2. All at under 2 yrs old. His name is CH Mavro Cast a Spell on Derby N Shdycrk. He is 18 months old now and already 36 + inches at the shoulder and 175 lbs. He has such a great personality and loves everyone!

Puppies are 18 days old today. We have 3 fawn males, 1 brindle male, and a dark brindle female (she's staying with us!) They are getting so cute and have started playing and even barking. Last night my favorite fawn boy (black collar) had climbed up on his mommy's head and was chewing on her ear!