If your Great Dane puppy is growling, snarling or snapping to protect food, a bed or a toy, you’ve come to the right place!
Today we are talking about how to stop a Great Dane puppy from resource guarding, AND how to prevent resource guarding (protecting valued items such as food, toys, treats, people and spaces) in the first place.
It’s important to note that resource guarding is a natural behavior, and one that can also be dangerous, especially as Great Danes grow to be so large.
Read on for more information!
WORST ADVICE EVER
Allow me to share with you the absolute WORST advice that you can give or receive, when it comes to preventing and treating resource guarding.
DO NOT DO THESE THINGS:
Stick your hands in the bowl and mess with the food so the dog gets ‘used to it’
Have children mess with the dog’s food
Take bones and treats away from the dog and give them back, so the dog learns to give it up
Have children take bones and treats from the dog for the same reason
Hit, whap, alpha roll, scold, pinch, jab, intimidate, correct or punish a dog that is guarding an item.
There. We said it. That old advice is BAD.
We are seriously OVER IT with these outdated, misguided and dangerous old ideas.
Why is that?
Because every single one of those things can actually causeand increaseresource guarding! If you want to get bit by your Great Dane, this is how you (or your children) get bit.
Read on for more scientific, up-to-date training information on resource guarding and Great Danes!
SUBTLE SIGNS OF RESOURCE GUARDING
Growls and snapping are rarely out of the blue. Watch for these cues, in escalating order:
Stiffness, breath holding
‘Side-Eye’, lip licking
Cowering, hunching over
Averting the head away or using it to ‘hide’ the item, including running away with it
Dogs most often guard food and high value treats such as bones and chews. However, they can guard toys, bedding, furniture. and even people!
Many people believe that their dog is protecting them, when the reality is that dog may be resource guarding them. Keep this in mind if you see some of these behaviors popping up in your own dog.
Some dogs are more prone to resource guarding than others, especially dogs from poorly-tempered parents, unethical breeders, bad breeding situations and many rescue situations.
It is a natural instinct that according to science, has literally NOTHING to do with ‘dominance’.
PREVENT RESOURCE GUARDING
The first step to preventing a Great Dane puppy from resource guarding in the first place is to make sure that the behavior is not practiced.
Give your dog a safe space to eat, get away from chaos, and enjoy high-value treats and bones.
Don’t give your dog a reason to guard items in the first place. No pressure, no intimidation, no messing with it.
Teach your dog that you approaching them when they have food or treats is a positive thing!
Don’t use old techniques that prove to them, without a doubt, that their concerns about you taking things away are valid.
Teach positive behavior skills (see below).
ALWAYS TRADE UP
If you approach your puppy that is eating, simply walk by and drop a high value treat, such as boiled chicken from your pocket. Walk off, no big deal.
The young dog quickly learns that you coming into their space while they eat is a positive thing. Watch the subtle body language and use your judgement. After a few repetitions, you can take your hand and place the chicken in the bowl while they eat, SAFELY, and your hand may actually be welcomed there!
That is, of course if you really think it’s *that* important to stick your hands in your dog’s food in the first place.
Hands in bowl = good things happen, not hands in bowl = bad things.
Contrary to popular belief, that bite of chicken is not rewarding the dog for guarding. It actually can’t, because that’s not how emotions and psychology works.
IT’S SO SIMPLE.
Studies show that confrontational training methods increase aggression.
It’s true. Many people may think they’ve been effective in shutting down a behavior problem by punishing a dog for growling, but what they’ve really done is taught the dog that growling is not an acceptable communication.
So the dog doesn’t growl. But what comes after growling? Oh that’s right…snarling, snapping and bites. The underlying behavior and emotion hasn’t been addressed, and the dog may become more unstable.
Confrontational, outdated training methods can make dogs less safe and less predictable, and that’s a scientifically proven fact.
TRAIN YOUR DOG. TEACH LEAVE IT AND DROP IT
Leave it and Drop it are effective communications to a dog that mean so much more than just shouting ‘NO’. All dogs should know these commands.
Leave it and Drop it are EASY to teach and will be especially important for dogs that seem to be more prone to resource guarding in the first place.
OFF is an important command for dogs that guard furniture and bedding.
OUT, BACK UP, PLACE or CRATE UP is a good command for dogs that guard people and spaces.
Manage your dog and teach them boundaries from a young age. Do not allow these behaviors to develop or to be practiced in the first place.
Need resources for teaching those commands? YOUTUBE has a wealth of information. We recommend Kikopup, Larry Krohn and Steve Mann.
A dog cannot resource guard if they’ve been given clear communication about what they SHOULD be doing instead. Training these commands is a key piece in establishing harmony and safety between dogs and humans.
THINK OF IT THIS WAY
You are starving and have a piece of pizza.
I walk up, take it from you, mess with it, and give it back. I jab you in the side and tell you to shut up when you yell at me for it.
How do you feel about me? How do you feel about me approaching you the next time you have food?
NEW SCENARIO
Let’s try this again. You have pizza and are concerned I may take it.
I walk by and give you $5. FREE. Dropped on the floor at your feet. A few hours later, I do it again.
Did I just reward you for your concerns, or are you starting to believe that me coming by when you have pizza is quite alright?
DOGS ARE NOT DUMB AND MODERN BEHAVIOR SCIENCE IS REALLY, REALLY COOL.
If you have a dog that is already resource guarding and showing signs of being unsafe around humans, children or other dogs we highly recommend doing the following things:
a. Contact your breeder, if your dog was purchased. They should know that resource guarding may be happening in their lines, and may have (hopefully modern) advice to give.
b. QUICKLY contact a trainer and get professional help.
c. Prevent the behavior by limiting access to guarded items and providing a safe space for dogs to eat and relax. This may mean no more bones, no access to the couch, etc.
d. Train and install other behaviors: off, leave it, drop it, crate, wait, etc.
e. Stop fussing with the dog and trying to ‘correct’ or fix the behavior.
The truth is that sometimes, we actually cause this behavior to increase by putting too much pressure onto them.
Now, of course you don’t want an aggressive dog! This is exactly why preventing the behavior and lowering the stress surrounding the emotions that cause it is the most important step. Don’t increase aggression by being confrontational.
DON’T CREATE A GUARDING PROBLEM.
Here is a wonderful video from balanced dog trainer Larry Krohn on resource guarding that addresses EVERYTHING we mentioned in this post today.
Beware of Sit Happens, LLC Dog Training in Aurora, CO. Pepper Greggs (the owner) has been caught on film by a neighbor, and the evidence of abuse is unmistakable.
When we say that you need to be choosy about the dog trainers you work with, this is why!
Pepper Joy Greggs has been wildly popular in the Denver area Great Dane Community and offers free training events, dog training classes and private lessons, boarding, board and train and AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluations. She also moderates for the local Great Dane community on Facebook.
All things that make her appear to be reputable and ethical.
However, this video of her outright abusing a dog leaves no room for misinterpretation.
This video was taken by a neighbor who claims that this is not an isolated incident.
It was shared by the owner of the dog, a young Brindle Great Dane that was in boarding this week with Pepper Greggs at Sit Happens, LLC. The dog is clearly terrified.
In the video you can see the dog trainer hit the dog multiple times. She also yanks the dog around by the leash. Twice, she strings the dog up by the neck.
Now, if you are a Dane lover (as we are), you know that Danes are sensitive, both emotionally and orthopedically.
It will be a miracle if this dog doesn’t have lasting temperament, behavioral and physical problems at the hands of this abuse.
We watched this video many, MANY times before deciding if we were ‘overreacting’ or not.
We never want to sink the reputation of somebody that made a simple mistake.
This was not a simple mistake. Many people get frustrated and angry in life; they take it out on a wall, do some art or scrub their house. They never take it out on a defenseless animal.
ABUSE CAN NEVER BE MISTAKEN FOR TRAINING
Unfortunately for the dog that is in this video, there is no mistake. The dog is being abused.
Behavior science tells us, however, that severe, punitive, harsh physical punishment contributes to stress, fear, frustration, confusion and aggression. By putting actual science before the opinion of a person that was willing to do this to a dog in the first place, we can see just how wrong it really is.
There is no justification for doing this to a dog, to any dog. Especially not when you consider that Great Danes are prone to wobblers, degenerative spinal disorders, orthopedic problems and bloat (which is often related to stress).
Pepper, the owner of Sit Happens, LLC in Colorado is an AKC Evaluator (Canine Good Citizen) and as of this writing has 4 surrendered Dane puppies in her care, plus boarding clients. We’ve reported the video to the AKC and have heard that the surrendered puppies are being removed.
As you can see Pepper has established herself as a ‘professional’, leaving many people upset that they were lied to.
(Update: ALL the puppies now have loving homes, YAY!)
AN IMPORTANT NOTE FROM HELLO DANES
We have received several reports that Pepper is being bullied by the community.
Threatening Pepper and her family, calling her house, visiting her house, sending her messages, commenting on her personal social media accounts, sending unsolicited messages to random members in the online Great Dane community, leaving one-star reviews and being hateful directly towards her is NO BETTER than what she did to this dog. Be a good person, folks.
Do NOT be a vigilante! Do NOT be a bully! Be an adult, please.
Share positively to help educate people on this problem as it relates to dog training as a whole. Help educate people about what to look for in a dog trainer, but do NOT take your frustrations out on Pepper herself. Bullying is not an appropriate response. She is facing legal challenges as a result of this and the law will take care of it.
Hello Danes does NOT stand behind or condone the practices of those who are resorting to personal attacks and bullying. We believe that the Great Dane community is BETTER THAN THAT.
ETHICAL DOG TRAINERS
-Will never hit, kick, scold, choke, string up or alpha roll a dog, for any reason.
-Gracefully manage a difficult or aggressive dog with muzzles, crates, desensitization, confidence-building and counter-conditioning, not abuse.
-Rely primarily on positive reinforcement (praise, treats, fun) to teach and increase correct behaviors.
-Will choose appropriate and thoughtful corrections when needed, but never as a means to teach new behaviors or to force compliance, especially with fearful, timid, confused and frustrated dogs.
-Are always transparent about their methods and do not hide behind behavior ‘woo’.
We believe that the only way for Sit Happens, LLC/Pepper Greggs in Colorado to save what’s left of her reputation is to acknowledge the problem and present a long-term plan of action for fixing it.
This is unlikely to have been an isolated event (a truth that has been confirmed by the person who filmed the video above), and speaks to bigger issues not only in this training program, but in the training industry as a whole.
Tread cautiously when choosing a dog trainer, and especially when choosing to leave your dog in the hands of a stranger. A LOT of people are completely surprised by this, and that’s so unfair to them. My heart breaks for the dog owners who have always felt that their dog was in good hands with her.
Pepper Greggs with Sit Happens has always marketed herself and her training methods as ‘spiritually informed’. She claims to be an activist and driven to resolve deep seated issues related to past experiences, abuse and trauma.
No wonder people are surprised to see this. She doesn’t present as the ‘rough’, punishment based discipline trainer that you might imagine. As a matter of fact, her entire website feels very welcoming and positive.
RED FLAGS
Since this video went viral, MANY members of the local Dane community have come out of the woodwork.
An alarming number of people are saying that something felt ‘off’, so they never returned.
Others are saying that their dog came back “afraid of the leash“, or terrible on a leash, and they regret sending their dog to her.
I believe that because of this trainers popularity, many people had been afraid to speak up.
When a trainer, breeder or otherwise is the most ‘popular’ recommendation or even a monopoly, question it.
I believe that several people felt compelled to continue recommending this trainer, even when they felt like something was off. If other people swear by it, who are they to feel or say otherwise?
It’s hard to be the voice of opposition.
Not to mention, the people that could really spread the word (including breeders and those that organize and lead the local social meetup community) truly had the wool pulled over their eyes. They had no idea and happily recommended her as an ‘expert’ to Dane owners and puppy buyers. They are all shocked, no doubt.
What an interesting and tragic social experiment. Be diligent, be aware, and recognize that word of mouth is only PART of the puzzle when it comes to making a decision about choosing a trainer.
BOARD AND TRAIN
Unfortunately, this is NOT the first time that a Great Dane has been abused in the hands of a board and train situation.
For some reason, rough handling, neglect and abuse are unacceptably common with board and train facilities. There have been many stories of Great Danes coming back terrified, underweight, flat-footed, knuckled, untrained or worse, missing or deceased following stays with dog trainers that offer this service.
Be aware. Ask about methodology, daily routine, nutrition, medical issues and what happens when the dog does something WRONG. Verify how much experience the trainer has working with dogs, and if that trainer is the one doing all of the actual training. Ask if there are live video cameras you can watch, and seek information about how they plan to train you, the owner, on how to work with your dog every day.
Remember, training is an ongoing process. It’s never one and done.
At Hello Danes, we do not recommend board and train for most situations. We believe that the most ethical, effective and appropriate training comes from YOU. The owner and handler working with the dog, one on one, developing a positive relationship and learning how to learn together.
We have no interest in bashing Pepper Greggs with Sit Happens, or in ruining her life, but we do think it’s important for dog owners to be aware of her actions here, and to be aware of the fact that this kind of thing happens more than we know.
How do you feel about this situation? Have you had a bad experience with a dog trainer, or a good one with Sit Happens in Colorado?
Great Danes come in a range of beautiful colors. Brindle, merle, black, mantle, fawn, blue, and harlequin are the 7 colors typically accepted in the written breed standards. Deviations from the breed standard can result in a range of coat colors not traditionally associated with Great Danes. There exists a prevailing concern among breed enthusiasts and experts regarding the intentional breeding of off-standard and designer color Great Danes.
Merlequin, Brindlequin, Fawnequin, Lilac Merle, Tan Point, and chocolate are popular ‘off-standard’ colors, to give you some examples.
Many Great Dane owners are drawn to breeders who focus on creating eye-catching coat patterns in their puppies. Read on to learn more about this controversial practice!
What is an Off-Standard Color Great Dane?
This is a big one folks, buckle up!
What is an off-standard color Great Dane, or “designer color’ Great Dane?
Mis-marked versions of the accepted colors (for example, a Fawn with no black mask or a Brindle with a white chest are always a penalty in the show ring, and any color that isn’t one of those seven is automatically disqualified from the show altogether. Most can be registered, however!
Color Purists vs. Color Enthusiasts
There are two major schools of thought on this one.
Color Purists & Breed Preservationists
This group believes that purposefully breeding Danes in off-standard colors is bad and that new colors should only be added to the accepted color code following diligent research into the color and its benefit to the preservation and health of the breed.
They believe that breed color families should rarely be mixed.
Color Enthusiasts
Believe that if a color is naturally occurring in the breed, it should be allowed to be bred and allowed in the show ring and that it’s in some ways discriminatory to exclude quality Danes that come in colors outside of the 7 outlined in the written standard.
They believe there is no problem with mixing color families.
How do Great Dane Color Families Work?
Without getting into the nitty gritty of genetics, it’s important to understand that as a general rule there are only a few ‘color’ families:
The color purist breeders will mix and match within those families. They may pair a fawn and a brindle together or a harlequin with a mantle, for example. Their goal is to create colors that meet the breed standard.
The color enthusiast breeders will mix them up, choosing to pair a harlequin and a brindle or a blue and a merle, for example.
If you are a geek about this stuff, we encourage you to visit the fun coat colors group on Facebook!
An all-white double-merle Great Dane
Is Breeding Off-Standard Colors Ethical?
Now of course, we can look at this and think ‘well, what’s wrong anyways with pairing a harlequin and a brindle together? Brindlequin dogs are so neat looking!’
The issue is actually more complicated than many think.
Many color enthusiast breeders will intentionally pair already off-color-standard dogs with other off-color-standard dogs.
For example, fawnequin + lilac merle or chocolate + mantle-marked brindle to see what neat colors come from the pairings.
The result? Tons and tons of ‘new’ and interesting markings on litters of Dane puppies. Great Danes are very special this way.
In many cases, the off-standard litters being born are a FUN surprise for the breeder and those interested in the puppies! It’s incredible for social media AND for sales. That right there is a major red flag.
This practice of creating off-standard colors is naturally rewarding because of this. The problem? These breeders are being rewarded for focusing on color first, not temperament, structure, and health.
A sickly merlequin Great Dane puppy
Off-Standard Colors are Fun
Here is the problem, though.
Off-standard colors are excluded from being shown.
Say what you want about show dogs, but dog shows are one of the only ways a breeder can verify that the dogs they are breeding are structurally sound.
What we are seeing as a result?
100’s of Great Dane breeders so focused on creating fun designer colors that they cannot see the forest for the trees.
Great Dane health & structure are suffering.
Yeah, we’re going to go there.
When a breeder is choosing dogs to breed, they should be first focused on structure and health.
Ethically, they must choose full health testing of both parents (hips, heart, eyes AND thyroid) and seek feedback from peers (in dog shows and otherwise) to make sure that they are breeding dogs that have excellent genetics.
Unfortunately, many (of course, there are exceptions) ‘color breeders’ are so focused on color that they disregard the original form, shape and function of the Great Dane….often to the detriment of their health.
What ends up happening is the creation of 1000’s of Great Danes in ‘unique’ colors, made to sell easily to unsuspecting buyers, that come from breeders who don’t have the best interest of the puppies in mind.
Basically put, that’s a lot of Great Danes that are contributing to an increasingly alarming problem of poor overall health, temperaments and structure.
Extremely droopy eyes, flat feet, roached backs, bloat, wobblers, cancer, cardiac problems, cataracts, entropion, seizures and thyroid problems plague Great Danes. While one individual puppy may be ok, over time these incremental changes are problematic.
Because off-standard colors cannot be shown, there are no checks and balances for breeders that focus their breeding program on color.
Basically put? It’s a free-for-all.
Some breeds have addressed a similar problem by creating a scoring sheet that can be used to evaluate if a single dog is breeding quality, without the breeder needing to get into the show circuit.
That’s not happening in Danes that I am aware.
Some Off-Standard Dane Colors are Especially Bad
All or mostly white Great Danes and Merlequin Great Danes (looks like harlequin but with merle patches, no black ones) are most often the result of unethical spot-spot pairings.
Also known as Double Merle Great Danes, white Danes may be deaf or blind and many have internal health problems (autoimmune disorders, seizures, allergies, etc.) and poor temperaments.
These dogs are 100% preventable through thoughtful breeding practices & genetic color testing.
Double Merle Breeding in Great Danes
What’s so interesting about double merle Great Dane dogs is that it’s a problem for both color pure and color enthusiast breeders!
Color Purist breeders
These breeders may pair Harlequin + Harlequin to create ‘show marked’ Harlequin dogs.
They often cite that there aren’t enough quality black or mantle studs to use, so this is the only way. They know that double-merle puppies are a consequence of that, and some will even euthanize those puppies before 5 weeks of age. The GDCA condones this practice.
At least these puppies DO tend more often to come from well-structured, well-tempered proven dogs, and some breeders who do this see to it that the DM dogs from these litters live long, healthy lives in carefully selected homes.
Advances in genetic screening and our understanding of the Merle gene have made this practice safer, too.
Color Enthusiast breeders
These breeders often end up with double-merle puppies because they weren’t aware it could happen (for example, if they pair a fawnequin with a lilac merle, which sounds cool but is a really, really bad idea), or because they didn’t color test and know that a solid-color dog in their program was a cryptic merle (a black Dane, for example, that recessively carries the merle gene), or they did it intentionally because they know they could get the super popular color puppies (which may also be deaf or blind).
Great Dane Coat Color and Health
Double Merle puppies will nearly always have some kind of health issue, mild to extremely serious.
There is some information bouncing around that modifying the black spots to fawn on a Great Dane (Fawnequin) for example may impact internal health, though we’d like to find more information on this.
If that is truly the case, there are many off-standard colors that would be extremely unethical to pursue off-standard colors for this reason alone. More research is needed.
Off-Standard Colors in Well-Bred Litters
Ethical breeders who work within the outlined standard color families can and do occasionally get a surprise off-standard color puppy.
Some are mis-marked, heavily marked, or the result of recessive genes.
Unlike dogs from color-focused backyard breeders, however, the random off-standard pup in a litter will never be sold for breeding, will have come from well-structured dogs, will not be sold at a higher price as ‘rare’, and will be supported for life.
We will continue to repeat this:
Ethical breeders focus first on structure, genetic health and temperament. If the focus is first on creating unique colors, there is a problem.
Off-Standard Colors and ‘Racism’
Some backyard breeders, when faced with those that don’t support intentional off-color breeding, will say that those people are being ‘racist’.
We cannot think of a more tone-deaf statement, to be honest. Comparing human skin and human experiences involving racism and discrimination to dogs’ coat colors is extremely misguided and ignorant.
The Honest Truth About Intentional Designer Color Breeding
Take a look at this sickly designer color puppy above while you hear us out.
There are two kinds of Great Dane breeders.
BREEDER #1
Cares very much about the puppies they produce. Profit is not the goal, health is.
Temperament, longevity, and structure matter to the point where they are willing to NOT breed a dog that doesn’t meet their standards.
They support buyers for life.
They spend a lot of money on health testing, genetic screening, training and socialization.
They invest hours of blood sweat and tears into their dogs and care very much about every puppy they produce.
Breeder #1 is breeding dogs to better the breed and to ensure that those who share their lives with that puppy are presented with an animal that has every opportunity to be a happy, healthy, friendly and robust family pet, in ANY color.
BREEDER #2
Cares mostly about profits and fun.
They may be friendly and even caring towards owners and the puppies they produce, but they are willing to cut corners.
They may only partially health test the parents (choosing to do only hip scans, for example, so they can tell you that they are ‘reputable and health test’)
They are often blind to the structural problems they are passing on.
Droopy eyes, roached backs and a mild problem with aggression towards dogs or people may be common.
They don’t always support buyers for life
Breeder # 2 has learned that there is no reason to fully health test the parents or ask for honest feedback on their structural health when they can paint the puppies ‘Lilac Merle Euro‘ and sell them at a premium, basically.
Now be honest…knowing that this is how it often works for ALL Great Dane breeders (standard colors or not), which breeder would you rather support?
Off-Standard Colors can Muck Things Up
We are already having a huge and growing problem in Great Danes when it comes to longevity, health and temperament.
So when breeders intentionally pump dogs into the system that don’t meet the breed standard for structure and come in a range of neat colors, things get messy.
This is especially true if breeders are selling off-standard color dogs to other breeders.
This practice is introducing a massive range of new color genetics (dominant and recessive) as well as perpetuating common structural & health problems.
Over time, this could mean that it becomes more and more difficult for breeders to find and use quality dogs for breeding.
Many say that additional colors are necessary to diversify the gene pool, and we don’t necessarily disagree. It honestly seems pretty silly to exclude a healthy, well built dog from a breeding program or dog show just because it’s not a ‘standard’ color!
However, those additional colors need to be ethically produced. As it stands right now? Most really aren’t.
Dare we say this?
Off-standard color breeding is largely a practice of backyard breeders. This is a sad and unfortunate truth that needs to be addressed if more off-standard colors are to become a reality in the Great Dane color code.
Adding New Colors to the Great Dane Breed Standard
Merle was added to the GDCA color code in 2019 when it was recognized that this color was a common and natural by-product of ethical pairings, served to help diversify the gene pool, was being bred with outstanding health and structure and wasn’t resulting in notable health problems.
Mantle was added in 1999, for the same reasons.
Chances are, additional colors can be added to the color code and eventually shown as well, especially if those colors are a natural byproduct of thoughtful dam/sire pairings.
Unfortunately, backyard breeders are not going to be able to make that happen. As long as their focus is on color and not health, the breed club has no legitimate interest in listening.
The currently accepted colors are there for a reason, while the off-standard colors are not…for a reason. Those reasons need to be addressed.
How Do We Fix This?
How do we encourage ALL color-focused breeders to choose ethics, and to focus on the breed as a whole before focusing on color-driven profits? Here is what we would love to see:
No more cutting corners. FULL health testing of both Dam & Sire, no matter what. Heart, Hips, Eyes & Thyroid, no excuses.
Genetic screening and pedigree study for color genes and common genetic issues (bloat, Von Willebrand’s and IMGD, for example).
Submit dogs for structural evaluation. While off-standard pups cannot be shown, there is no reason to hide them from the world. The Great Dane Conformation Clinic on Facebook is a great resource.
Be willing to wash dogs from the breeding program that don’t pass health testing or meet basic standards. There is no excuse in the world for breeding a dog that has flat feet, a roached back, narrow hips and a genetic history of aggression, bloat or wobblers!
Stop selling ‘designer’ color puppies to other backyard breeders. Be choosy!
Stop marketing off-standard color puppies as ‘unique’, ‘designer’ or ‘rare’. It’s misleading to buyers who want a healthy, robust family pet and believe they are receiving a ‘premium’ dog.
Only breed parents that have excellent temperaments.
Title the dogs! Train them and get CGC or trick or dock diving titles. Prove them in some way. Stop hiding them from the world. A lilac merle or brindlequin Dane with exemplary structure and temperament kicking butt in obedience and sports would go a LONG way towards encouraging positivity towards off-standard color breeding!
Stop hoarding dogs; if there are too many for each to have a rich family life, enrichment and loving retirement, it’s not ethical.
Support puppies and buyers for life. Keep those babies out of uneducated or abusive homes and out of rescue, please.
Don’t breed spot-to-spot, especially if the result is that the sick pups will be euthanized or dumped into rescue or into abusive and dog hoarding situations.
We’d like to think that none of this is all that difficult, but we understand that for many profits and fun will always trump ethics.
Our hope is that buyers see this, know the difference and choose which breeders to support accordingly.
See it yet?
It’s not the color of the puppy itself that’s the problem.
It’s the unethical corner-cutting profit-driven breeding practices that led to it.
We understand that off-standard color puppies are fun and unique.
It’s so simple. Meet the basic standards of ethics. Prove us wrong! Show us that breeding for off-standard colors can be done right ethically
Want a Great Dane in a Designer Color?
Don’t feel guilty about that. Danes come in some really unique colors!
This fawnequin (from a breeder on our ‘bad breeders list’) is a classic example of backyard breeding, and exactly what you want to avoid, however. The pursuit of this color meant that aspects of health and structure were grossly disregarded.
Look for and verify that the breeder you are interested in is FULLY health testing both parents (hips, heart, eyes, thyroid), is supporting buyers for LIFE no matter what, is fully socializing the puppies and keeping them until at least 8 weeks of age, and that the pedigree is free of heart problems, wobblers, bloat, dysplasia and aggression.
If they cannot answer those questions or share that information, look elsewhere. We can paint puppies any color we want to, but it the color won’t matter if they are sick.
If you have an off-standard pup, get out there and love the CRUD out of it! All Great Danes deserve the best home ever. We love all Great Danes, no matter what color they come in!
We will never fault a Dane owner for the dog they have and love; after all, these beautiful creatures become loved family members no matter what they look like!
Our hard stop is on the bad breeding practices though. That needs to be brought to light…so where we are. Please share this post. Dig deep! Re-evaluate what you think you know about off-standard colors and hold breeders to a higher standard!
All of the Pandemic Puppies flooding into rescue right now have me thinking, once again, about backyard breeders.
So for fun, I hopped into CANVA and made a backyard breeder bingo card that you can share to your IG story or on your blog! Just right click and steal it from us, we will DEFINITELY allow you to take and share this one! (Though, we do ask that you keep the board as-is and don’t crop or photoshop it). You can tag us on IG @hellodanes
I will clarify each square below! Note, this card is in reference to backyard breeders who INTENTIONALLY breed dogs for profit. Not truly accidental or rescue litters. Please also see our note below the post about how ALL dogs do deserve a home, and how you can make sure that happens without supporting unethical breeding practices!
Why is backyard breeding such a problem? Because unethical breeding practices are almost solely responsible for heartbreak, sick dogs, aggression, health problems and the sheer volume of dogs that are overwhelming our Great Dane rescues right now.
BUY NOW BUTTON/ONLINE STORE – This is always shady business for two reasons. Number one, a lot of ‘scam’ breeders with no puppies at all use this as a money grab and two, no ethical breeder is going to let you just checkout/purchase a puppy without getting to know you first. Never, EVER purchase a puppy by using a ‘buy now’ or online checkout option, even if you think the breeder is ‘reputable’.
NO LIFETIME BREEDER SUPPORT – Ethical breeders care VERY much about the lives they produce. They never want to see a single one of their dogs in rescue or sick because of a congenital or genetic problem. Ethical breeders will support you if something pops up from training issues to health problems, and will be there for you even if you are simply unable to care for the dog you purchased. Backyard breeders? They just want your money and to be done with it. Ask every Dane sitting in rescue right now if their breeder cared where they ended up in life…
UKC OR CKC/CONTINENTAL KENNEL CLUB REGISTRATIONS – These registries (not to be confused with the CANADIAN Kennel Club/CKC, which is reputable) are littered with litters from backyard breeders. Any breeder that cannot obtain a real AKC or Canadian registration will go to the UKC or the Continental Club. Reasons that your breeder may not have AKC or Canadian registrations? They may not have had breeding rights for the parents they were breeding, the pedigree is mixed or the lineage is unknown. Either way you shake it, it’s unlikely those dogs should have been bred.
DOESN’T ADHERE TO GDCA ETHICS BASICS – We are consistently astounded how many ‘friendly’ and ‘caring’ breeders miss the boat on the ethics of breeding put forth by the Great Dane Club of America (and Canada). If you are going to breed Great Danes, shouldn’t the parent club be your resource and guide? Read their ethics and recommendations here, and make sure your breeder is following these basic guidelines when developing a breeding program: https://gdca.org/breeders/code-of-ethics
‘DESIGNER’ COLORS IS THE MAIN SELLING POINT – Off-standard colors really shouldn’t be a problem, however many backyard breeders are so focused on creating popular and unique colors that they disregard temperament and sound structure. Color should NEVER be the main selling point of a breeding program. Health, temperament and structure first, always. After that? If the color fits, wear it.
SPOT-TO-SPOT BREEDING/DOUBLE MERLE – Breeding two dogs together that each carry the merle gene (you know, the gene responsible for those pretty merle coats and MANY ‘designer’ colors), each puppy has a 1-in-4 chance of receiving both copies of that gene. Sounds ok, right? It’s not. These dogs are called ‘double merle’ and many of them have significant health problems, blindness and/or deafness. Read more about double-merle dogs here: https://www.hellodanes.com/double-merle-great-danes/
BREEDING RIGHTS FOR ANY BUYER/FULL AKC – Ethical breeders will be very cautious about selling a puppy to somebody that wants to use it for breeding. While it seems like you should be able to do whatever you want with a purchased dog, we have to remember that dogs aren’t couches. They are living beings, and breeding them is a massive responsibility. Ethical breeders protect their lineage and understand the difference between a ‘pet’ Dane and one that has the correct structure and genetics to be bred. Want to breed? Find an ethical breeder and ask them to mentor you. Prove that you care about developing a sound breeding program; this will greatly increase your chances of getting access to purchase a quality foundation dog for your program.
PARENTS HAVE BAD STRUCTURE, FEAR OR AGGRESSION – A lot of breeders who sourced their foundation dogs from breeders that didn’t care if they bred the dog or not (see above) are also the same types that are breeding dogs with structural and temperament faults. Flat feet, roached backs, bad angulation, extremely red droopy eyes, fear and aggression…these are NOT things that should be passed onto a litter of puppies. Breeding a dog like this ignorant and gross. Meet the parents! They should be excellent examples of the breed standard with beautiful movement and structure and wonderful personalities. Ethical breeders are very proud of the parents they are breeding. Want to learn more about structure? Read the written standard here: https://gdca.org/wp-content/uploads/TheGreatDane/An-Illustrated-Standard-and-Guide-for-the-Evaluation-of-the-Great-Dane-1.pdf
NO CONTRACT REQUIRED – If a breeder doesn’t require a contract, it’s a sign that they do NOT care who you are as the buyer, do NOT care to support the dog for life, don’t offer any kind of legitimate health guarantee, don’t care if you breed or not, don’t care if you surrender to a rescue. THEY DON’T CARE. Contracts outlining responsibilities, health and return requirements are a must. Verbal contracts likely don’t hold up in court, either so be suspicious when a breeder doesn’t want to put anything in writing.
MINIMAL EARLY SOCIALIZATION PROGRAM – Keeping dogs in a barn or on a tile floor with a short play session on grass and some exposure to kids or farm animals is NOT thorough socialization! Ethical breeders focus a lot of effort into creating confident puppies by exposing them to a huge variety of sounds, textures and experiences. They have puppies exploring obstacles (tires, water, ramps, gym mats, etc.), facing their frustrations and learning about household sounds (vacuums, for example), nail maintenance (clippers and dremel), crating, potty training, kids, handling, exams, collar/leash and more. Puppy Culture, ENS and Avidog are examples of appropriate early socialization programs.
SHIPS ASAP/WILL SHIP ANYWHERE – Dogs. Are. Not. Couches. If a breeder is willing to ship live animals that deserve love, affection, training and a good home to anybody sight unseen, TREAD CAUTIOUSLY. Some ethical breeders and rescues will ship dogs, but they require extensive checks into references and a video call or local visit to see your home and where the dog will be living. They will often use a network or a transportation nanny to move through the system with the dog and ensure it arrives comfortably and in perfect health!
PUPPIES ARE TIMID OR SCARED – If you go to meet the puppies, or see photos and videos and notice they are timid or scared, there is a HUGE problem. The breeder may be breeding timid/fearful parents, not socializing the puppies, abusing the puppies or the puppies have health issues. Any way you shake this, it’s bad news. Puppies should be energetic, bouncy, curious and playful. Not afraid. Contrary to popular belief, being ‘timid’ is NOT a ‘Great Dane Thing’.
IT’S YOUR DOG, DO WHAT YOU WANT – This is a breeder that is breeding for profit and has no desire to support you as the buyer or ensure that the puppy is never surrendered to rescue, bred unethically or abandoned. They want to wash their hands of you and the dog and they package that dirty practice up in a neat phrase that sounds like they are giving you more ‘freedom’ as a dog owner. Yikes.
PUPPIES SENT HOME BEFORE 8 WEEKS – This is money grab central, folks. Breeders get tired of the puppies and from 6-8 weeks they eat a TON of $$ food, they are noisy, they are annoying, the mama dog is over it. A breeder that sends a puppy home prior to 8 weeks is setting that dog up to fail, however. They need corrections from their mama and littermates to learn bite control and appropriate play, as well as dog interactions, confidence and more. Read more about why taking dogs home before 8 weeks is both unethical and a huge problem here. There are very, very few reasons for a breeder to do this, and 99% of them are not a good reason. https://www.hellodanes.com/why-great-dane-puppies-should-stay-with-the-litter-until-8-weeks/
UNDERAGE PARENTS (UNDER 2) – While some sources allow for dogs to be bred prior to 18-24 months, in Great Danes we consider this practice to be extremely unethical. Growth plates are not even fully closed yet on a Dane that isn’t 2: giant breed dogs don’t mature until at least then. Additionally, you cannot fully register some health testing results with www.ofa.org until a dog is 2 years old. All dogs should be fully tested (and passed) before being bred, so jumping the line with an underage stud (and especially with an underage dam) is bad practice.
‘CHAMPION’ BLOODLINES BUT NO AKC, FCI, of CKC/CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB CH., GCH. or BIS TITLES – ANYBODY can put together a dog show and award ribbons and ‘champion’ titles. The only legitimate champion lineage comes from the major, reputable registries that work with the breeds established parent club: AKC, Canadian Kennel Club and FCI. The pedigree should be well-documented. Say what you want about ‘show dogs’, but dogs that have been awarded real CH. titles are excellent examples of the breed. Dogs that have been awarded fake or low quality CH. titles? Seems pretty shady to us…
NO APPLICATION REQUIRED – Without an application, how is a breeder to know if you are a legitimate, caring, committed home or not? Remember, abusive people can be friendly when you meet them in person. Good breeders want information about your home, your experience with Giant breed dogs, children in the house, your desire to work with your dog or breed it, and whether or not you actually plan to seek vet care, professional training and otherwise. They are more interested in choosing the right home for each puppy than in going down the list and selling puppies as fast as possible.
VERY FEW PHOTOS OF ADULT DOGS – A good breeder is going to be proud of the parents. Be wary of any breeder where the focus is primarily on puppies (profit generator) instead of on the adults, the lineage, structure and health. There should be several clear photos of the adult dogs being bred, ideally where you can see their structure and possibly even seeing them interacting with people, dogs and even kids. If a breeder is hiding photos of the adults or isn’t sharing them as much as (if not more so) than the puppies, be curious about WHY. The adults may be being abused, are sick or are poor examples of the breed.
PARTIAL OR NO OFA HEALTH TESTING – OFA Health testing is so much more than a vet check, and it’s extremely important. Each dog being bred should have hip/elbow x-rays to test for abnormalities (including dysplasia), an echocardiogram to test for genetic and congenital heart problems, a thyroid test and an eye exam with a board certified veterinary ophthalmologist. Make NO mistake, a breeder that skips these tests or only does one of them so they can ‘claim’ to be ‘OFA health tested’ is likely being SHADY. Proper health testing costs money and may require that the breeder wait before breeding or remove a dog from their program. They tend to skim over testing or avoid it altogether because of this. The results should be published to www.ofa.org for you to verify.
PUPPIES HAVE FLAT FEET/WORMS/KNUCKLING – Yeah, this is backyard breeder territory. Experienced, thoughtful Dane breeders know how to deal with (and avoid) flat feet and knuckling. Flat feet may also be genetic (yikes!). There is no excuse in the world for a puppy to have disease, sores or WORMS. Gross. However, these things are fairly common with some of the worst breeders…even the ones that appear ‘popular’ or ‘friendly’.
NO TITLES ON ANY DOGS – did you know there are 100’s of titles a dog can obtain that have nothing to do with dog shows? A breeder that is active with their dogs, or that has owners who are active with them, will have titles in the lineage that include everything from obedience (CGC) to dock diving, scent work and more. While many breeders don’t obtain titles (and it’s not automatically a ‘bad’ thing), it’s one standard we do like to see considered more often. Look for titles in the lineage and from other puppy buyers, proving that the Danes being made are enthusiastic, well-tempered and trainable. A litter of puppies built with the correct temperament to obtain Canine Good Citizen titles is a litter of puppies that will make EXCELLENT family pets!
BREEDING FOR COLOR BEFORE HEALTH – This is a huge can of worms. Great Danes come in piles of beautiful, interesting and unique colors. Only 7 are colors that are considered ‘standard’ and can be shown. There are questionable ethics and a lot of argument regarding both sides of this fence; some believe off-standard colors are bad while others believe they are necessary, with opinions everywhere in between. Our position is that off-standard colors are ok IF the breeder is focused first on health, structure, temperament, lineage, and the breed as a whole. If the breeding program is focused first on color, odds are you’re going to have a lot of dogs with interesting coat colors that have poor structure, instability and worse…shortened life spans. These are all genetics that they may pass on to future generations, too. It’s not fair to paint a dog ‘lilac fawnequin’ if obtaining that also means that it will be born with a heart defect, allergies and cow hocks. Color is fun, but don’t believe for a second that color is the only reason to choose which parents to breed.
SELLING IN A FACEBOOK GROUP – Yup, we’re going to go there with this one. Some breeders make themselves appear ‘popular’ and even ‘reputable’ because they are so NOISY trying to sell puppies on social media. They post available puppies and litters in Facebook groups, often multiple times with very slow sales, indicating largely that they bred their dogs before knowing if there was even any interest in them. With RARE exception, ethical breeders often have waitlists and will not need to resort to desperately trying to ‘home’ an 8+ week old puppy on social media. This is actually a RED flag and not a sign that a breeder is popular simply because you keep seeing their name pop up in your local community.
EVERY DOG DESERVES A HOME
Nobody is saying that a dog from a backyard breeder is any less deserving of love or a home.
But before you focus only on the cute puppies, take a look at the 100’s of dogs sitting in rescue right now. Many of them are unadoptable, require insane amounts of funding for their veterinary needs, have significant issues with their training and socialization and may have permanent medical problems (including missing limbs, megaesophagus, being blind or deaf or needing heart medications for life).
ALL of these dogs deserve homes. The problem is, every time we support a backyard breeder, we directly fund the production of the same animals that end up with expensive health problems, abused, neglected, abandoned and unwanted. There are so many backyard breeders, and so many more about to breed again, because people keep buying dogs from them.
When they can’t sell the puppies, they will typically give them away or surrender them to rescue…at which point, the applications FLOOD in and the puppies all find homes. But the 4 year old dog in rescue that has resource guarding issues and permanent joint damage because of his congenital flat feet? That dog may never find a home…and it’s the backyard breeders we have to blame for that.
On one side, we have people saying ‘adopt don’t shop’. They scream this from the rooftops as if all of the dogs in rescue are a good fit or even available to every person who wants a dog.
On the other side, we have people who think that all it takes to be a breeder is to have a dog with AKC papers. Diligence, ethics, and care be damned.
Then there are those of us in the middle.
I believe that there is room for BOTH ethical breeders and rescue.
The Rescues are FULL!
This right here is the #1 reason you should probably NOT breed your dog.
The rescues are full of dogs from breeders who didn’t care where those dogs ended up.
They weren’t diligent about health and temperament, and created puppies that ended up in rescue because of abuse, lack of education, aggression, allergies, wobblers, blindness, deafness, and separation anxiety.
Do you want to contribute to that problem?
The rescues are not full of dogs from careful, thoughtful, ethical breeders that have proven their lines, fully tested their dogs, socialized the puppies, and supported buyers for life.
An unintended consequence of this is that it ALSO means that all dogs come from backyard breeders.
It is that simple, and what is happening is that more and more we are seeing dogs with insane health and temperament problems that make them a poor fit for many families.
Don’t be a backyard breeder. Empty the rescues by not contributing to the problem in the first place.
Ethical Breeding Matters
There is absolutely nothing wrong with thoughtful, careful breeding and with choosing to purchase a dog from a reputable breeder.
All breeders start somewhere. We just encourage you to start closer to the finish line!
Keep in mind that one of the main tenants behind ethical breeding is lifetime support.
If you aren’t willing to stand behind the puppies you create and their owners for life, stop now.
See how many of these items you can check off. If you can’t for some reason, ask yourself if breeding your dog really is the best choice.
Are we kind of snobby about this? Yup.
Hint, you should be too! Being labelled as a ‘backyard breeder’ isn’t cute.
The dog you want to breed is a purebred Great Dane with a known lineage.
You’ve studied and can verify that the lineage, and your dog is free of aggression, anxiety, IMGD, bloat, wobblers, seizures, entropion and Von Willebrand’s disease.
The breeder you got your dog from meets all of the requirements on this checklist AND supports you.
The dog you want to breed has full (not limited) registration/papers (AKC or Canadian Kennel Club only).
The dog you want to breed does not have flat feet, a roached back, a short neck, weak rear, cow hocks, steep croup, excessive jowls, incorrect front limbs or extremely droopy eyes.
The dog you want to breed is an outstanding example of a ‘gentle giant’. He or she should be courageous and friendly, not timid or aggressive. Having a Canine Good Citizen and/or AKC Temperament Test title is a huge bonus!
Your dog is at least 2 years old.
You are willing to pay for, at minimum the following health tests: veterinary check, Hip + Elbow x-rays, thyroid test, Echocardiogram, Eye Exam with a board certified opthamologist, genetics screening (color), genetics screening (other as needed).
You are willing to not breed your dog if those tests are not passed with flying colors.
You understand color genetics, including what causes Double Merle puppies and are focused first and health and temperament.
You have potential puppy buyers lined up before breeding and are willing to be extremely diligent in choosing owners.
You are willing to support your puppies for life, and that includes ensuring that they never end up abused, neglected or in rescue for any reason.
You are willing to keep the puppies for a minimum of 8 weeks, and employ a dedicated socialization program (Puppy Culture is a good example).
You will only sell the puppies on a limited contract, especially until your breeding program is well established and you know how to choose buyers that are interested in your lines and ethical breeding.
You are willing to find a suitable mate that meets all of the above requirements.
We support rescues AND thoughtful, diligent breeders.
We believe that educating people about the difference between backyard and ethical breeders can pave the way to clearing the rescues much faster than ‘adopt don’t shop’ ever can, and will promote health and stable temperaments in the breed that we love.
We have to turn this ship around, folks. Too many Danes are being bred with severe health problems and questionable temperaments.
If you recently got a Great Dane puppy, you may be wondering if your puppy is growing well and the right size!
We’ve recently seen many people with extremely small 8 and 9 week old Great Dane puppies asking this question, and it turns out that one of three things is happening:
Chances are, your Great Dane puppy is perfect! Each dog is different. Even from the same litter, sizes can vary, especially when comparing males to females or looking at a known runt that is still trying to catch up.
RED FLAGS
Here are the red flags that your puppy is actually behind, underage or struggling to thrive:
The puppy isn’t gaining quickly and may appear scrawny and weak: see a veterinarian.
The puppy has a large, round distended tummy: parasites and worms may be a problem.
The puppy has sores and infections; chat with your veterinarian. You may also need to report the breeder to animal control.
The puppy lacks energy while awake.
The puppy has low muscle tone, flat feet, weak pasterns, weak hips and a weak core.
The puppy is vomiting, shaking, and/or has diarrhea (see a veterinarian immediately).
The puppy is extremely fearful and timid.
.A puppy that is under 15 lbs may just be a small puppy, especially if it came from a particularly large litter. If your puppy is otherwise thriving, don’t stress! He or she will likely catch up.
Some small puppies are not actually full Great Dane; study the pedigree and ask questions. Look at the parents and compare them to the written standard for Great Danes. Unethical breeding practices are resulting in a lot of ‘papered’ Great Danes that don’t really look like Great Danes. If this has happened to you, it’s ok! You have a wonderful family pet and that is what matters.
Do not overfeed or supplement your puppy to make it grow faster.
With Great Danes, slow growth is key.
Over-nutrition and fatty foods can cause pancreatitis or increase the risk that the puppy develops hip dysplasia and other bone and growth disorders such as knuckling, HOD and Panosteitis.
Bigger is not better! Forcing growth on a Great Dane and promoting overweight and oversized structure is painful, unhealthy and unfair.
If your Great Dane puppy is actually struggling to thrive, see a veterinarian with Giant Breed experience.
No matter what, love the dog in front of you!
It is OK to have a smaller Great Dane! Your dog does not have to be larger than life to still be a very large, wonderful dog.
If you are concerned about the health of your Great Dane puppy, chat with your veterinarian!
The information contained in this post is for informational purposes only. We do our best to present the most up-to-date research, however it is up to the reader to make decisions regarding the health and well-being of their dog. We make no claims here to prevent or treat bloat or any other condition related to Great Danes. Find a veterinarian with GIANT breed experience, and chat with them.
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Today we are sharing five ways to strengthen your Great Dane’s feet! Weak feet that knuckle, bobble, flop, and turn out are a common problem with fast-growing giant breed dogs.
The feet are the foundation for the whole body, and these dogs have HUGE bodies. So yes, this matters.
When their feet are weak or flat, it’s not only an aesthetic problem; it’s a functional one.
The development of the feet is especially important in growing puppies (read our article on puppy knuckling here). However, in adolescent and adult dogs, poor structure and weak joints could lead to pain, early arthritis, and permanent joint damage.
How Genetics Affect Foot Structure in Dogs
Genetics play some role in the overall structure, shape, and direction of the feet on your Great Dane.
The written standard for Danes states that the feet should be straight and parallel when viewed from the front. The feet should be ‘well knuckled’ and the pastern should have an 8 degree bend.
Deviations from this, including ‘East-West’ feet, splayed toes, bone deformities and otherwise are considered faults. These faults are often genetic and can be made worse by environmental factors such as nutrition.
The written standard is based on building an appropriate structure for such giant dogs, which must be built correctly for longevity, movement, and overall comfort.
Angular Limb Deformities (caused by damage to the growth plate) are another form of incorrect feet and joints that typically requires surgical intervention.
If you are concerned, always ask your veterinarian first!
From the written standard, this illustration outlines common feet in Great Danes. Hare foot, flat/down in pasterns and splayed feet are unacceptable.
“The strong pasterns should slope slightly. The feet should be round and compact with well-arched toes, neither toeing in, toeing out, nor rolling to the inside or outside. The nails should be short.”
We cannot stress this enough. Overgrown nails are extremely common and a major reason so many Great Danes have splayed toes, weak knuckles, and flat pasterns.
Nails that are allowed to grow too long (touch the ground, click on the floor) alter the shape of the foot and how your dog walks.
With time, it leads to pain, arthritis, and irreversible joint damage.
Start trimming nails the first week you bring your puppy or dog home, and make it a weekly or bi-weekly habit! If your dog is resistant, work with a trainer and learn how to condition your dog.
The Millers Forge cut through nails like butter, eliminating much of the pressure into the nail that many dogs find uncomfortable. They also stay sharp FOREVER! The Dremel is fantastic for rounding the nail off and helping the quick to shorten (which will be important if you need to shorten the nails a lot).
Need to learn how? The Facebook group ‘Nail Maintenance for Dogs’ is a fantastic resource. Getting nails trimmed back to an appropriate length may take time and dedication. Be patient.
Think your dog’s nails are ok? Here is an example of overgrown nails:
2 – Play on Soft, Varied Terrain
Great Danes and especially puppies benefit greatly from lots of free-play and exploration on soft, varied terrain. This movement strengthens the tiny muscles and tendons in the feet.
Structured walks on hard surfaces are hard on the joints and should be limited, especially if the nails are overgrown.
Slick surfaces in the home (tile, hardwood, laminate) are also hard on the joints. Use runners and yoga mats.
Purposefully seek out hills, grass, dirt piles, sand, soft pea gravel, and even the trampoline! Use a long leash so that your dog can move and explore safely and supervised without restriction.
We highly recommend that puppies be exposed to various surfaces and textures and encouraged and challenged to explore and use their bodies safely. Ramps, tunnels, and even splashing in a pool are all great for building confidence AND making those feet extra strong!
AVOID INJURY! It’s important that your puppy or adult dog not make a habit of jumping off things (beds, furniture, etc.). Damage to the growth plates is serious and may be expensive and painful to address properly.
3- Canine Fitness to Strengthen Puppy Feet
Dogs are no different than humans! They require movement and exercise to stay strong.
Find a dog trainer who offers a Canine Fitness or ‘Fit Paws’ class, and learn how to use balls, peanuts, and teeter boards to help your dog develop balance and strength.
This is an inexpensive knockoff of the popular Fit Paws balance disk. Choose the Fit Paws version if you have the budget; it will be more stable and last longer. Otherwise, this is a great alternative for home use!
Put this flat on a surface and ensure that it won’t slide. Lure your dog to put both front feet onto it.
The disk will wobble, and your dog will balance.
If you do this right, your dog will quickly learn that standing with two front feet on the wobble disk is SUPER fun! Gently lure your dog to the treat so that he stands up tall on the knuckles of the feet.
Don’t spend too much time on this, and don’t ask. your dog to stretch super far. You don’t want your dog sore or injured. It is helpful to work with a Physical Therapist or qualified fitness trainer.
4- Other Balance Games
Balancing requires humans (and dogs) to activate our tiny muscles tendons and ligaments.
To help your dog strengthen these muscles, encourage activities that require balance!
Be safe, and chat with a veterinarian and Canine Physical Therapist for help.
For puppies especially, we love the ‘puppy playground’. Use tunnels, ramps, gym mats, couch cushions and more to encourage exploration, body awareness and confidence building.
Remember, supervise and keep your dog safe! NEVER force a dog into an activity or pick them up and place them on an unstable surface. Encourage your dog to use their choices and body to do these activities, and reward them with praise and treats.
5 – Nutrition + Foot Structure
Nutrition plays a key role in developing sound orthopedic health in puppies, especially large and giant breed ones that grow quickly.
Many believe big puppies should be fed a nutrient-dense “holistic” adult or puppy diet with lots of protein and calcium. This is the worst thing a puppy owner can do!
Puppies that receive too much nutrition will grow too fast and can develop major problems with their bones, ligaments, and tendons, affecting them in adulthood.
DO NOT:
Feed nutrient-dense “holistic” diets.
Give adult food to a large or giant breed puppy.
Choose regular “puppy food” that contains extra nutrients.
Offer a diet with more than 1.5% calcium (ideally, 1.2% or less).
Add vitamin or mineral supplements.
Top the food with too many goodies, which unbalance the diet.
DO:
Feed a well-formulated large or giant breed PUPPY or all-life stages formula with 1.2% or less calcium.
Verify that the food meets AAFCO guidelines for large-breed growth
Monitor intake and don’t overfeed.
Tread cautiously with outdated information encouraging you to feed adult or nutrient-dense “holistic” foods.
Ask your veterinarian for advice.
Contrary to popular old beliefs, adult food is NOT the correct choice for growing giant breed puppies!
We only recommend research-backed large and giant breed foods from Royal Canin, Purina, Hill’s Science Diet, and Eukanuba. They have been heavily tested, researched, and formulated correctly for the growth of large and giant breed dogs, then subjected to further peer-reviewed science as we learn more.
A dog struggling with food may have excess gas, loose stools, a dull coat, poor muscle tone, inappropriate weight (over or under), and/or low energy.
Inappropriate nutrition for growing Great Danes can lead to knuckling, hip dysplasia, heart disease, and more.
Chat with a Giant Breed experienced veterinarian to find a diet appropriate for your Great Dane. Here is our list of recommended foods:
You may have seen them, those pet stores in the mall and strip malls. Pet store puppies are adorable!
The pet shop has glass kennels full of adorable baby puppies that paw at the glass and look at you, begging you to take them home! The store feels cheery and fun.
Some of the puppies may even look sickly and desperate to be ‘rescued’ from the pet store. They hang their head and look like they need to be fed.
Great Dane puppies in pet stores tend to look especially sad because they grow so fast. The pet stores are not equipped to deal with them or their nutritional needs.
The employees will tell you that the puppies are from ‘family breeders’ and that they have ‘pedigrees’, meant to make you feel better about purchasing one. The prices are usually astronomical, which is also a marketing tactic built around the belief that higher pricing = higher quality.
A sweet, poorly bred double merle ‘merlequin’ puppy from Petland
Great Dane Puppy at Petland
Pet Store Great Danes are often shipped from other States, in semi-trucks full of dogs.
By the time these puppies are moved from their ‘breeder’ to the pet store, and then spend a day or two in a small pet store display case, they can look positively scrawny and even sick.
These puppies are not given the best start in life, to begin with, and then they are distributed to pet stores the same way that beach balls and loaves of bread might be.
They are fed an incorrect diet, kept confined in the glass cases for hours of each day and night, and are often suffering from infections or even parasites.
By the time they are ‘sold,’ they are often in the middle of, or past their socialization window.
Pet store puppies come with a NO RETURNS policy. It is up to the buyer to deal with the dog for life, even if serious health problems, temperament issues, or family problems pop up in the future.
Bad Beginnings for Pet Store Puppies
It does NOT matter what the pet store tells you. Pet Store Great Danes do NOT come from ethical, reputable, or quality breeders
Ever. It’s impossible. No ethical, reputable breeder would allow their puppy to be sold in a pet store to a random buyer, no matter what they tell you. Ethical breeders want a relationship with every puppy buyer and if they ship the puppies that they love and worked so hard for to Petland, that won’t happen.
Pet store puppies come from puppy mills. A puppy mill can be a large operation with lots of dogs (common in Missouri), an Amish pet farm, or a ‘ranch’ or ‘family’ that breeds multiple breeds in their backyard using kennels and runs.
These dogs are bred indiscriminately, regardless if they have issues with health and temperament.
Many of the dogs used in puppy mill breeding operations (even the nice-sounding ‘family breeder’ ones) are kept primarily in cages and kennels for most of their life. They are not often, if at all offered any kind of enrichment outside of this environment. These dogs receive no training titles (Canine Good Citizen) or show titles, and wouldn’t likely be able to obtain them anyway.
In some of the worst mills, the dogs live in crates with wire bottoms. They are bred there and whelp (birth) their puppies in this environment. Other dogs in cages contribute to anxiety and noise levels (barking, howling, crying). Remember, stressed-out mothers create timid, fearful, and stressed puppies.
The puppies are raised inside of this cage or a small ‘whelping area’, and removed before 8 weeks so they can be shipped to pet stores. On her next heat cycle, the mom is bred again.
Once she no longer produces babies, they either euthanize her (often inhumanely) or dump her in a rescue, where she often requires significant physical and emotional rehabilitation.
Pet Store Puppies Reward Puppy Mills
When you purchase a puppy from a pet store or from a puppy mill you directly finance, endorse, and support this kind of operation.
You reward the people for breeding dogs this way. You give them money to continue doing it.
You perpetuate the problem.
You may have ‘saved’ the one cute, scrawny, sickly-looking puppy that came with a ‘health guarantee’ and ‘papers’, but that’s it.
The mother of your dog will be bred again. She will produce more puppies just like yours that will end up in the pet store, and you paid them to do it.
We aren’t here to make you feel bad, but we do need to be very clear about this.
Purchasing a sad puppy from a pet store is NOT RESCUE. It is considered extremely unethical when actual dog rescues with 501c3 papers purchase dogs from puppy mills to ‘save’ them.
The Catch-22 of Buying Puppies from Pet Stores
The reason puppy mills continue to exist is because people keep ‘rescuing’ dogs from them.
Think about this. They’ve scammed you.
A sick little puppy is pretty easy to sell! It tugs at your heartstrings. It makes you FEEL good about your purchase because you ‘saved’ the puppy.
The pet stores and the puppy mills know this and they capitalize on it.
The breeders of these dogs do NOT care about the dogs or the puppies. It’s up to us to care.
One of the most caring and impactful things we can do is to STOP supporting their business.
Should I Report Pet Stores With Sick Puppies?
Of course, each dog’s life is valuable. It has worth. There is no reason for that puppy to suffer and unfortunately, many do.
Many of these puppies struggle with painful health conditions. Pet store puppies are also known for being anxious, nervy and timid.
Suffering comes in many forms.
Purchasing a puppy from the pet store does not stop the suffering. But educating others and being an advocate for Great Danes does.
If you do see a pet store puppy that needs help, report them to animal control. Take a photo and share it with others. Resist the urge to purchase this puppy; he isn’t the only one that needs help or is suffering.
Write a review of the pet store online. Use Google, Yelp, social media, and your blog to put them on blast. Educate others about why ‘saving’ puppies from pet stores is contributing to the problem.
When a pet store cannot sell puppies, they often surrender them to veterinarians and rescues or give them away to employees. This is a much better place for them to be!
What Happens to Pet Store Puppies That Aren’t Sold?
It depends on the pet store and where the dog was sourced from, but the following things can happen:
The price is reduced until somebody buys.
The dog is transferred to another pet store.
The dog is returned to the ‘breeder’ and becomes the breeder’s choice; used for breeding, sold at auction, hoarded, given away, or euthanized.
The dog is given to an employee or veterinarian.
The dog is dumped into rescue; sick puppies cost the rescue money they don’t have.
The dog is euthanized (may be common if the dog is especially ill).
The dog is returned to a breeder-store broker and resold elsewhere.
It’s a tragic fate for these dogs and extremely taxing on rescues, but the truth is that pet stores don’t have much trouble selling these puppies. The ‘sad puppy in the window’ doesn’t need saving, because if you don’t buy it somebody else likely will.
Then the cycle continues. Stop ‘rescuing’ dogs from pet stores, puppy mills, and garbage backyard breeders. Doing so is contributing to the perpetuation of this horrible, horrible problem.
How to Make a Difference
Look at all of the Great Danes that are sitting in rescues right now that need our help.
Look at the Great Dane rescues, too. Notice how they are desperate for financial donations and help with volunteering and fostering.
GET INVOLVED. Stop believing that you ‘saved’ a dog from a pet store, and start saving dogs. Be there when a mill breeder dumps a litter of sick and timid 4-month-old puppies on rescue.
Be there when an overbred mama with mastitis and parasites is found left on the side of the road
Be there when a rescue is called to deal with a hoarding case, where 50 dogs are found emaciated, starved, covered in sores and over-bred as part of a puppy mill operation that feeds the pet stores.
Be part of the big picture and part of the solution. None of this is fair to that one puppy at the pet store, but it’s especially not fair to the dogs that paved the way for the puppy to get there in the first place.
Sometimes I feel like we are screaming from the rooftops, and nobody is listening.
I know the Great Dane rescues all feel this way. People that volunteer and work in rescue are TIRED. They are emotionally exhausted, and the problem?
It’s all our fault.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The rescues don’t need to be overwhelmed with pleas to help 100’s of Great Danes that have health problems, aggression or that have been abused, abandoned or neglected.
But they are. They are literally buried in these dogs.
In just two months, ONE Great Dane rescue took in over 100 dogs, and had to turn down many others. Read this:
Poseidon: our true miracle boy. His bills continue to come in as he is now healthy enough to be neutered. He’s also heart worm positive.
Luna: a sweet girl that we rescued and despite ICU care we could not reverse the neurological condition that she had and she passed away
Luna: our pup we only had briefly as she passed away battling bloat/GDV
Luna: one of our newest pups- she has a nasty flare with an autoimmune disease after being in a shelter, she required two days of ICU care
Octavia: a terrified girl who requires a vet who could do home visits since her fear was so bad.
Puppy Jack: attacked by another dog, had surgery to clean up his wounds, which then became infected, and he needed another surgery after that!
Diva: a serious UTI when we first got her, followed by severe arthritis in her back when the cold snap happened
Cricket and Mantis: have ruptured CCLs.. looking into options
Aegues: severely malnourished due to terrible teeth, will require extensive dental work
Maggie and Jada: gorgeous mastiff pair who both need major entropion surgery on their eyes
Macy: became very sick when we got her with pieces of metal in her GI track
Princess: will require surgery to remove a large mammary tumor
Kahulah: will require extensive vetting for tumors in her mouth
Daisy: had 15 gorgeous puppies and her body is still recovering from the traumatic birth. She has infections and sores all over
Marvel: attacked by another dog before we got him, has a broken leg, may require amputation
Bruno: new intake, may have a neurological disorder
Yana: serious dental disease causing a lot of pain and suffering- will have multiple teeth removed
On top of all this, we don’t talk about the Mississippi cruelty case Danes often because they are still tied up in the court system. These guys still aren’t healthy and we are continuing to pay for their care, of course. One of the puppies will likely need her eye removed (due to a birth defect), and another has kidney issues that we need to tackle.
We are also taking in a boy with serious demodex this week, and may be getting a possible wobblers case.
If you don’t think this is a problem, read it again.
These are dogs that often have serious medical, temperament and training problems and need expensive interventions. Many of these dogs were sold to owners that abused and neglected them.
None of these dogs came from ethical breeders that gave a damn about where those dogs ended up or the health issues that they would face.
These dogs and the rescues pay the price.
TOUGH LOVE TRUTH TIME
Do you want this to stop? Do you want to stop seeing our rescues overwhelmed with unwanted and suffering Great Danes?
Do you want to stop hearing pressure from rescue advocates to ‘adopt, don’t shop’?
Would you rather see healthy, robust Danes or hundreds of Danes that are anxious and sick?
BACKYARD BREEDERS SUCK
Every time you purchase a dog from a backyard breeder, even without knowing it, you make a direct financial contribution to this problem.
Unfortunately in the world of Danes, too many breeders are operating unethically. They may appear ‘friendly’ and ‘diligent’ with clean puppies and half-baked ‘health testing’, but they:
Don’t care much about who buys the puppy, so long as cash was involved.
Don’t offer any kind of health or breeder support, and no honest return guarantee..
Indiscriminately bred dogs that have health, temperament and structural faults.
Think AKC papers are enough.
Don’t health test and prove that their dogs have quality genetics to pass on.
GOOD OWNERS
If you are reading this, it’s likely you are a good owner. We’d like to think that you wouldn’t abandon, abuse or neglect your dog.
But each litter of puppies is multiple dogs. When you buy a puppy from a litter of dogs produced by a backyard breeder, you directly reward and fund that breeder to continue making more puppies.
These are most often the kinds of puppies that could end up with preventable genetic health conditions, problems with temperament that come back to their genetics and early whelping, and abandoned by other owners that weren’t educated or prepared for them.
DON’T BE PART OF THE PROBLEM
Some of these might get your hackles up. But think about the 100 dogs SRGDRR took in from Jan-Feb 2021.Just because YOUR puppy is fine and well cared for, doesn’t mean that the others from that breeder are. If you do any of the following, you are contributing to the problem:
Shopping for Great Danes puppies on Craigslist, in ‘AKC Great Dane Puppies‘ or similar Facebook groups or in Marketplace, from Amish Farmers (most often puppy mills), ‘Adopt a Pet’ or other puppy pile websites, or in pet stores.
Purchasing a Great Dane puppy from a breeder that offers them for the lowest price because you need a ‘pet, not a show dog‘.
Purchasing a Great Dane from a breeder that pressures you to take the puppy home before 8 weeks of age, lies about the age of the puppies, and/or doesn’t thoroughly socialize the puppies.
Purchasing a Great Dane from a breeder that is breeding underage dogs (under 2 years).
Purchasing a Great Dane from a breeder that is breeding dogs with structural (roach back, flat feet, excess droop, entropion, etc.), health (heart disease, hip dysplasia, bloat, etc.) and/or temperament (aggression, timidness, soft, fearful, out of control) problems.
Purchasing a Great Dane from a breeder that doesn’t care at all if you breed it, rehome it, or even have it seen by a veterinarian because ‘It’s your dog, do what you want’.
Purchasing a Great Dane puppy by clicking ‘Add to Cart’.
Health problems, training issues and temperament problems are major reasons why dogs end up neglected, abused or eventually surrendered.
A solid majority of those things are preventable through ethical breeding practices, educated ownership, and by making conscious choices as a consumer to either adopt or ONLY purchase dogs from highly ethical and reputable breeders.
It is up to us to stop supporting backyard breeders that are creating unhealthy, poorly-tempered Great Danes and then not supporting them for life. Choose ethical breeders or rescues only. The breed depends on you to make the educated choice!
There are 100’s of dogs that need homes and we believe there are only two choices: adoption or ethical breeders.
Ethical breeders care about health and structure, and understand how genetics can make or break the health and longevity of the puppies they produce.
They fully health test Dam & Sire with no exceptions: this includes x-rays, echocardiogram, eye exams, genetic screening and blood panels.
They only breed dogs with quality genetics in health, structure and temperament.
Dogs from exceptional and ethical breeders are not often, if ever the ones overwhelming our rescues, breaking hearts and landing in homes that abuse them.
Stop supporting backyard breeders, puppy mills and breeders that only care about the cash in your pocket. If we can put them out of business by turning our backs on them, we can quickly put a stop to this huge, huge problem.
WANT TO HELP?
There are MANY ways to step up:
Advocate. Flag posts on Facebook or Craigslist from breeders trying to sell puppies.
Educate. Share blog posts like this one, and Facebook posts from rescues.
If you wish to purchase a puppy, ASK QUESTIONS! Verify actual results from health screening (OFA.ORG is a great place to start), ask the breeder how they socialize the puppies (hint, raising them around children or chickens is NOT enough!), ask them if they honor a lifetime return guarantee. Read their contract. Ask for references. Study the pedigree. Meet the parents and compare them to the written standard for Great Danes.
Reject any breeder that isn’t operating ethically, no matter how much you want to ‘save’ the puppies. Report them to authorities if needed.
Foster, Volunteer & Adopt, even if you purchase your dogs from breeders. You can still offer to run social media accounts, transport dogs or fundraise.
Great Danes come in a variety of gorgeous colors. 7 of them are considered ‘standard’ colors, and all others are considered ‘off-standard’ colors. Being ‘off standard’ is not necessarily a bad thing, and if your Great Dane is considered ‘off-standard’ or ‘mis-marked’, it just means they cannot be shown.
There is a growing movement of people who believe more colors should be considered acceptable within the standard and at dog shows. Unfortunately, this is a complicated issue rooted partially in cosmetic preferences that also involve ethics and health. More discussion is definitely needed!
At this time, the standard colors for Great Danes are: Harlequin, Merle, Mantle, Black, Fawn, Brindle and Blue. Each of those colors has even further direction on its presentation, and dogs can fall on a spectrum between fully ‘mis-marked’ to ‘show marked’.
Off standard colors in Great Danes may include ‘Fawnequin’, ‘Chocolate’, ‘Tan Point’, ‘Lilac’, ‘Merlequin’, ‘Brindlequin’, and variations of all of the above (including ‘Lilac Merle’, ‘Lilac Brindle’, ‘White’, ‘Lilac Fawn’, ‘Piebald’, etc.).
Unfortunately, many breeders that focus on creating ‘designer’ colors don’t necessarily focus on health, structure and temperament, and that’s a problem. (See below; lilac fawn merle and fawnequin puppies from an unethical breeder; these puppies have severe edema, which may be indicative of internal health problems).
Flashy colors equal sales, and that’s what some of these breeders want; your money.
Some off-standard colors occur naturally when otherwise thoughtful breeders pair dogs appropriately in their program. Those colors (Fawnequin is a good example) are a good place to start when it comes to considering the addition of more acceptable colors to the written standard.
Off-standard colors can be gorgeous and flashy; make sure you are choosing ethical breeders that are focused first on longevity, structure, and eliminating painful and expensive problems from their pedigree (including bloat, allergies, aggression, dysplasia, heart problems and disorders of the eyes, thyroid and blood).
We have no problem with off-standard colors from ethical breeders.
DOUBLE MERLE DANES
Some off-standard colors in Great Danes are produced by pairing two dogs that carry the Merle gene. Dogs that carry merle include Harlequin, Merle, White, and any coat color ending in ‘quin’.
If a breeder pairs a Merle to a Harlequin, some of the puppies may be ‘Merlequin’, a popular off-standard color that is unethically produced.
Each puppy in the litter will have a 1 in 4 chance of receiving a copy of the merle gene from each parent, making them ‘double merle’.
Double Merle Danes are often deaf or blind and may also have significant, expensive and painful health and temperament problems.
Double Merle Great Danes are 100% preventable. Ethical breeders genetically test all of their dogs (even the ones with solid colors) to confirm the presence of absence of the Merle gene.
Treat cautiously with backyard breeders who will tell you that a white or Merlequin puppy is ‘rare’, and desirable. Entire Great Dane rescues are set up around helping these dogs, who often require veterinary care and training beyond what the average family is able or willing to provide.
It’s also important to note that the breed clubs sometimes encourage breeders to euthanize Double Merle puppies by 5 weeks of age, effectively allowing breeders to pair merle-gened dogs in pursuit of ‘show quality’ or ‘show marked’ Harlequin dogs, with an ‘out’ when they produce unhealthy dogs as a result. We do not support or condone this practice.
HARLEQUIN GREAT DANE
Harlequin Great Danes are very popular, and also the hardest color for breeders to produce both ethically and correctly!
Harlequin dogs most often come from Harlequin + Harlequin (double merle pairing, unethical) OR from Harlequin + Mantle (ethical).
A properly marked Harlequin dog will have a white base coat with torn black patches with a white chest, feet and collar. Some merle patches may also be present and are considered acceptable.
A ‘heavily marked’ or ‘blanketed’ Harlequin will have excessive black and large black patches, which is less desirable in the show ring.
MERLE GREAT DANE
The Merle Great Dane only recently became a standard and acceptable color in the GDCA standard, and can now be shown.
Merle is very similar to Harlequin, except with a grey base coat instead of white. Solid Merle (no white) OR Mantle markings (white socks, chest and full white collar) are considered the ideal markings for Merle Great Danes.
A white dog with patches of merle and no black patches is NOT a merle, but rather a Merlequin and is the result of a double-merle (unethical) breed pairing.
The Mantle Great Dane is sometimes called a ‘Boston’ Great Dane. It is not to be confused with a mis-marked black Great Dane (Black with white markings) or a piebald Great Dane.
A properly marked Mantle Great Dane has a pure black coat that looks like a ‘blanket’ over the dog, with white socks and/or legs, a white chest, a full white collar, and white on the muzzle. A white blaze on the head is also considered acceptable as are small black spots or ticking in the white areas.
Mis-marks in Mantle Great Danes may include excessive white or excessive black. Brindle Mantle & Merle Mantle are different colors.
BLACK GREAT DANE
A black Great Dane can come from Harlequin, Blue or Black genetics, stressing the importance of genetic color testing before pairing black dogs.
Black Great Danes are pure black with a striking and shiny coat, however mis-marks (white patches on the chest & feet) are not unusual.
Black Great Danes are very common and come from many ethical breedings, however there is an unfortunate truth to the fact that they are often passed over for adoption and purchase. People always want the flashier colors, and may find Black Great Danes to be intimidating.
We think black Great Danes are gorgeous!
FAWN GREAT DANE
Fawn Great Danes are the most famous color. They have a solid golden fawn coat and should have a solid black ‘mask’ on their face that includes black markings around the eyes and on the muzzle.
Markings or colors that appear ‘dirty’, as well as white or black on the chest or feet are considered less desirable.
We’re recently heard that the breeders are seeing less and less of the proper black mask in the fawn lines, perhaps because of indiscriminate breeding practices leading to fewer dogs carrying the necessary genes. Ethical preservation breeders will work to make sure the Fawn mask sticks around.
BRINDLE GREAT DANE
Brindle Great Danes are in the same color family as Fawn.
The coat should have a fawn base layer with evenly distributed black stripes. Brindle Great Danes should have a black mask with black near the eyes and possibly on the ears and tail tip. White patches are considered a mismark,.
Brindle can present in a range of patterns, with some brindle Great Danes showing darker than others. Evenly distributed stripes are preferred.
Off-standard versions of Brindle include Lilac Brindle, heavy or lightly marked Brindle, Mantle Brindle and Brindlequin.
BLUE GREAT DANE
Blue Great Danes are a dilute black that shows up as a beautiful steel blue grey color.
Solid blue is preferred; white, mantle, black, patches or other markings are not desirable. Dark, charcoal or ‘dirty’ blue is also considered a fault.
Some people say that blue Great Danes are more susceptible to skin conditions, bloat, clotting disorders and tumors, however as with any genetic condition indiscriminate breeding for profit is a significant contributing factor.
Choose your breeder carefully, in other words. AKC registration and ‘Euro’ lineage do not automatically make a dog breeding quality.
