Hello Danes

Category: Backyard Breeding

  • Is My Great Dane Puppy Too Small?

    Is My Great Dane Puppy Too Small?

    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:

    a. Their puppy was sent home very young (an extremely unethical breeding practice, especially if the breeder is lying about age). A 6 week old Great Dane is too young to leave the litter. 

    b. The puppy is either poorly bred (bad genetics) or mixed somewhere in the line, and the breeder lied about it.

    c. The puppy has parasites, a congenital disorder (such as megaesophagus) or is failing to thrive in some way.

    In some cases, puppies are just small and that is ok too! Female great dane puppies are often smaller than males as well.

    Read on for more information about whether or not your Great Dane puppy is too small or just right.

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    HEALTHY DANE PUPPIES

    A healthy 8 week old Great Dane puppy that was thoughtfully bred, well socialized & properly cared for while still with the breeder will:

    • Have huge feet and ideally, tight knuckles
    • Have ‘heft’ and be weighty to pick up (plenty of ‘substance’ and ‘bone’), won’t  feel scrawny
    • Be curious, not timid or fearful
    • Have trimmed nails
    • Have bright, neat clean eyes and large clean ears
    • Weigh between 15-30lbs

    If you are concerned, chat with your veterinarian! They can easily tell you if your Great Dane puppy is healthy and growing on track.

    You can also reference our Great Dane Growth Chart HERE.

    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.

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    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.

    There is never a reason to sell a puppy prior to 8 weeks of age. If your puppy is small and immature, chat with your breeder!  This practice is highly unethical and some breeders may even lie about age to get the puppies out of the house.

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    PROPER GROWTH

    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!

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    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. 

    Some of the products we list on our website contain affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase, we may receive a small commission for referring you. We only recommend products that we truly believe in. This commission does not affect the price of the product and is used to fund our content and expenses related to operating this website. We are powered by YOU! 

  • Pet Store Puppies: No, You Aren’t Saving Them

    Pet Store Puppies: No, You Aren’t Saving Them

    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.

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    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.

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    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. 

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    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.

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    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. 

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    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!

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    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.

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    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. 

  • Should I Choose a Breeder or a Rescue for a Great Dane?

    Should I Choose a Breeder or a Rescue for a Great Dane?

    Are you looking to add a Great Dane to your family?

    There are a LOT of misconceptions about adopting rescue dogs and choosing breeders, so we want to clear this up with our post today.

    To put this simply, we believe that there is room for BOTH breeders and rescues, and that choosing the right breeder can actually mean less dogs end up in rescue. 

    We hope you use our post today as a guide towards making a decision between choosing a rescue Dane or finding an ethical, quality breeder for your next Great Dane!

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    BREEDERS AREN’T PERFECT

    The main reasons people cite for choosing a breeder over a rescue, is that they:

    • Want a puppy so they can develop a bond.
    • Want a puppy they can train ‘their way’.
    • Have kids and want a puppy so they know it will be raised around children and not aggressive.

    These ideas disregard the fact that there are many wonderful, calm, stable dogs with known temperaments in rescue, dogs that could make excellent family dogs.

    Not every rescue dog has a ‘sob story’ or bad habits. Many are house trained, walk beautifully on a leash and love children.

    You don’t HAVE to have a puppy to guarantee ‘success’ with integration into family life.

    As a matter of fact, choosing the wrong breeder for your puppy or using poor training and socialization techniques could mean that you end up with an aggressive, unstable or out of control dog anyways.

    No ethical rescue will place a Great Dane into your home if you, and the Dane, aren’t a good fit for each other. This also means that it may be difficult to find the right rescue Dane for your home, which brings us back to the fact that it is a perfectly acceptable choice to choose a breeder!

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    RESCUE ISN’T FOR ALL

    Fact #2, rescue dogs, and choosing rescue is NOT the right fit for every family.

    Rescues desperately want to keep dogs out of the rescue system, so they will work very hard to place dogs only in the right homes. Even if this means keeping dogs in foster longer.

    This could mean being turned down for a rescue dog because you have young children, no giant experience, inadequate fencing, no history of prior dog ownership & appropriate vet care, or your family isn’t the right fit for a rescue dog that has specific needs (health, training, etc.).

    This can be extremely frustrating, however it doesn’t make it acceptable to run out and find the first puppy available on Facebook or Craigslist.

    It’s much easier to clear the rescues when we stop the flow of dogs needing rescue in the first place, than it is to believe that all breeders are bad and everyone should adopt.

    Why are so many dogs in rescue in the first place? It comes back, nearly 100% to unethical, puppy mill, and backyard breeding practices.  These breeders create unhealthy, poorly structured dogs with poor temperaments, or dogs that don’t end up being truly wanted, and sell them to anybody with a wallet.

    If you are unable or uninterested in adopting a rescue dog, the worst thing you can do is turn around and choose a dog from an unethical breeder.

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    CHOOSING A BREEDER

    When looking for a breeder for your next Great Dane, ask lots of questions! Look for breeders that meet the following basic standard of ethics:

    A puppy from quality, fully tested parents with excellent temperaments and structure that has been thoughtfully raised and properly socialized since birth will be much less likely to:

    • Suffer as a result of poor structure (flat feet, roached back, improper angulation, cow hocks, weakness)
    • Develop life-threatening, painful, expensive and frustrating health problems such as bloat, wobblers, eye disorders, heart disease, blood clotting disorders and even cancer.
    • Develop anxiety, aggression, over-excitement or other signs of poor temperament.
    • Be timid and fearful.
    • Contribute to the ‘short life span’ statistics that Great Danes are known for.

    Puppies from ethical breeders are easier to train (potty training, puppy biting, crate training, socialization), integrate easier into family life, and will not likely end up contributing to the rescue problem (the breeder sells only to educated owners, offers lifetime support and will take them back for any reason).

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    CHOOSING A RESCUE

    Despite all of the poor breeding practices, there are many amazing Great Danes in rescue, and they absolutely need and deserve homes!

    If you are choosing a rescue dog, be upfront and honest about what you need in a dog for your family, and what you can or cannot provide.

    It is better to choose an ethical breeder than it is to lie on an adoption application and ultimately end up with a dog that isn’t the right fit for you.

    Choosing or fostering rescue dogs and even puppies with health and temperament issues can be immensely rewarding! Volunteer work & financial donations are also needed.

    Matilda (one of my Great Danes, shown) came from a rescue at 5 months of age. She is missing a leg (thanks to her unethical, backyard breeder, yikes!) and will struggle with that and the poor structure she was given (through unethical, careless breeding practices) for her whole life.

    However, she is an amazing dog. Wonderful with children, people and dogs. She is calm, easy to live with and loves life. Matilda is well loved by many people, and won’t hesitate to give the most sweet and gentle kisses to anybody willing to love on her. (Follow Matilda on IG @Jacksonandmatilda)

    Rescue dogs, even the ‘broken’ ones, can make amazing pets.

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    THE BIG PICTURE

    Essentially, there are good reasons to choose ethically bred dogs or rescue dogs.

    Neither option is without fault or purpose, and both choices can be appropriate for you and your family! You should never be made to feel guilty about choosing a quality, ethical breeder, nor should you hesitate to pour your heart into rescue.

    Our goal with both should be the health, longevity and quality of life of this beautiful breed that we all love so much.

    So what happens with all of the cute puppies that backyard breeders have already produced and are trying to sell?

    This is the catch-22 of the dog world. By purchasing a dog from a backyard breeder, you financially reward them and provide them with incentive to continue carelessly breeding dogs.

    However by leaving that dog, you leave a dog that deserves a good home no matter what, especially if the puppy and parents are neglected or abused.

    But take note, purchasing a dog from a pet store or bad breeder is NOT rescue, nor is it helpful. Unfortunately, what feels like a caring act actually contributes to the problem and simply results in more unhealthy, poorly tempered or abused and neglected dogs. 

    However, when a breeder cannot sell puppies, they are less likely to breed again. The puppies may eventually be given away or surrendered to a rescue where they can be properly homed. 

    If you encounter a breeder with particularly bad practices and unhealthy dogs, report them! Your local animal control, Great Dane rescue and governing authorities may be interested and can help.

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  • Great Dane Breeder Scams & Shady Business

    Great Dane Breeder Scams & Shady Business

    Unfortunately, there are a lot of shady breeders and Great Dane breeder scams in the world of Great Danes. These unethical breeding practices are harming our beloved breed and making it hard for pet parents to navigate their search for a well-bred Great Dane puppy.

    We see a lot of this. The unethical breeders prey on people who are new to Great Danes or don’t know much about ethical breeding practices. What’s worse, is that they know how to appear ethical, friendly, and reputable.

    The dogs and the owners end up suffering for it. Backyard breeding practices are almost solely responsible for the reason that so many purebred Great Danes are in rescue.

    We are on a mission to shut these shady, scammy, unethical breeders down, and make room for breeders that are operating with the best interest of every dog in mind. 

    This post will dig into some favorite shady tactics that unethical Great Dane breeders may use to get your business!

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    Shady Breeder Tactic #1: Bare Minimum Health Testing

    One way that backyard breeders will attempt to appear reputable and legitimate is by doing a ‘vet check’ or genetic screening so they can claim that their dogs have been health tested.

    Note: a breeder who only completes a ‘veterinary clearance’ or genetic screening is NOT properly health testing their dogs! There is no exception to this. When you hear these things from a breeder, you are hearing about their corner-cutting practices.

    Diligent health testing must include at minimum:

    • Veterinary check, ideally with a reproductive veterinarian
    • A full study of the pedigree of both parents to include information about health conditions seen in the genetic lineage
    • Genetic screening for known genetic conditions and coat color
    • OFA screening by the breed’s parent club recommendations.

    For example, in Great Danes, OFA health screening for each parent in the pairing must include:

    OFA Heart – an echocardiogram of the heart

    OFA Thyroid – Thyroid panel/blood test

    OFA Eyes – Exam with a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist

    OFA Hips – X-rays read and graded by orthopedic specialists

    Reputable breeders will log their OFA health testing at www.ofa.org

    You should be able to see the screening results for BOTH parents on that website. If any OFA tests are missing, find a different breeder.

    Ethical breeders will fully OFA health test both dogs being bred, and they will not breed if one or both of the dogs doesn’t pass those tests with good or excellent results. For more information, read our blog post on OFA Health testing here.  

    If you are outside of the U.S., your breeder probably doesn’t use OFA, but they will still check their breeding stock for quality hips, eyes, heart, and thyroid.

    Don’t just take their word for any of this! Ask for proof. Ask them why it matters.

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    Sketchy Dog Breeders Red Flag: Puppies, Puppies Everywhere!

    Tread cautiously with any breeder that always seems to have puppies, especially if they have a regular habit of maintaining multiple litters and pregnant dams at the same time, all year round.

    These breeders may appear ‘popular’ and reputable because they have so much ‘business’, but in the world of ethical breeding, this is one of the worst offenses.

    Many of these same breeders may keep adult dogs in outdoor runs all day, require the purchase of ‘Life’s Abundance’ or ‘Nuvet’ (MLM commission schemes), and/or have a huge network of ‘guardian homes’ through which they can always have litters available.

    Running a breeding business like a puppy factory isn’t fair to the dogs, owners, or puppies.

    It implies that each life is worth only the cash it generates.

    Breeders that are overrun with dogs and puppies are less likely to be able to offer proper puppy socialization and care, robust breeder support, and appropriate attention, affection, training and accommodations for the dogs being used in their breeding program.

    Many breeders that operate this way are keeping dogs in runs or barns outdoors, not as loved pets that are trained in obedience, shown in dog shows, socialized, and kept as part of the family.

    Do not mistake high volume for popularity. 

    Ask yourself if a ‘high volume’ breeder is doing this because they care about maintaining and enhancing the breed, or if they are in it for ego and cash.

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    Breeder Red Flag: Will Ship Anywhere

    Some ethical breeders are willing to ship puppies to highly qualified, well-considered buyers.

    We are very leary of any breeder that always seems to have puppies and is willing and able to ship them almost anywhere to anyone, however.

    Great Danes are NOT an item that you order online. They are living beings that should be bred and raised with care and love.

    They should not be bred by volume and shipped all over the Country like bags of dog food.

    Ethical breeders typically have waitlists of local buyers and don’t need to do this to sell puppies.

    Any breeder with a habit of regularly shipping or ‘delivering’ dogs to multiple different states is a breeder who does not likely have a good name in their local community.

    As before, don’t mistake even expensive high-volume shipping operations with ethics, ‘popularity’, and desirability.

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    The Ethical vs. Shady Breeder Showdown

    Ethical:

    The ethical breeder will have OFA and genetic screening results to show you for both parents. They will be able to speak to the pedigree, with information about common health disorders in the breed such as heart disease, cancer, and GDV Bloat.

    Shady:

    The shady breeder will say their dogs are health tested and healthy. They might do OFA Hips or thyroid (but not all of them) so they can use the word ‘OFA’ in their marketing.

    Ethical:

    These breeders can tell you about the breed standard if you ask about angulation, top lines, eyes, head shape, croup, feet, color, temperament, and health problems.

    Shady:

    Unethical breeders will attempt to sell you on their puppies by mentioning that their dogs are “Euro” and come in “rare colors”.

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    Exceptional breeders have a robust early socialization program that they are very proud of. It should include early exposure to people, children, animals, textures, touch, sounds, crates, handling, leashes, and potty training.

    Shady:

    Corner-cutting breeders will say they raise the puppies ‘indoors’ and ‘around children’.

    Ethical:

    Breeders that care want to know a lot about you as a buyer, including your experience, desires, etc. They will often have a long waitlist of buyers who understand the reasons for waiting to support an ethical breeder.

    Shady:

    Unethical breeders often have to do a sales pitch to sell dogs and will sell them to nearly anybody willing to buy. They may even encourage puppy buyers to take home multiples and will often be seen on social media trying to sell the puppies.

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    All Dogs Need Good Homes

    It’s hard to turn your back on a dog that is already here, waiting to be purchased.

    The problem, however, is an endless loop. When you intentionally purchase a dog from a backyard breeder, puppy mill, or pet store you are also funding the production of more unethically bred puppies. 

    So while it feels good at the time to give THAT dog a home, the money rewards a breeder that doesn’t truly care about that dog or any others that follow.

    Make it a point to seek out and purchase ONLY from ethical breeders. 

    If you see sick, unhealthy, unkempt puppies and dogs report them to your local animal control. Multiple reports may eventually warrant a visit from the authorities. Many bad breeders have been shut down this way.

    A backyard breeder with a litter of poorly bred, unhealthy, or sick puppies that don’t sell may eventually give up and surrender those dogs to rescue. The rescue can find great homes for them, and the backyard breeder may think twice before breeding again.

  • Bad Breeder Hall of Shame

    Bad Breeder Hall of Shame

    This popped up recently from the Itawamba County Sheriff Department in Fulton, MS.
    This post contains disturbing images of animal neglect. 

    PUBLIC RECORD:

    Jayla Mckale Rogers with ‘Moonshine Danes’ learned that she could make a ton of cash selling Great Dane puppies, and turned her home into a puppy mill.

    Think you want a cheap Great Dane, one that will be ‘just a pet, not a show dog’? Are you shopping for your Dane on Facebook or craigslist and excited to find a breeder with a litter of puppies ready to go?

    Tread cautiously. We have a dirty truth to share with you. It’s important to note that WE SUPPORT breeders and rescues. What we don’t support is abuse, neglect, and profit-focused breeding programs.

    ‘Breeders’ like the one we are sharing below are unfortunately EVERYWHERE. While they may have ‘cheap’, available puppies and seem ‘nice’, they have one goal. To get your money.

    How do they get by with neglect and abuse? Read on: 

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    RED FLAGS

    These breeders may meet you in the parking lot with only the puppy you’ve bought so that you never see how sketchy their breeding operation is.

    They won’t let you meet the parents and may say that you cannot come to their kennel for any reason. They likely have multiple litters each year.

    They won’t likely have an application, a contract or any kind of legitimate breeder support.

    They may say the dogs are ‘vet checked’ or ‘health tested’, but you won’t find any results in the public database at www.ofa.org

    You’re most likely to find a breeder like this on Facebook or on a listing service such as craigslist; or the breeder will reach out to you when you say you are looking for a puppy.

    We HATE the breeder scam going around right now, but we hate this so much more.

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    Having ‘AKC papers’ does not mean that a breeder is operating with the health and well-being of dogs in mind. Even AKC breeders with a registered lineage may still be operating unethically and can have an awful lot to hide.

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    Great Danes are not cheap, and cheap Great Dane breeders are not great. If you are looking for a cheap puppy, make sure you are not supporting this kind of breeding operation.

    When this breeding operation was exposed by animal control, they found 4 adult Great Danes in cages with no food or water. The breeder also had 16 other animals kept in cages in addition to several emaciated puppies. Many of the dogs needed immediate medical attention.

    The owner has been charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty, but may only be fined as much as $1000. The sale of just one or two puppies would pay for that fine; it’s meaningless.

    She has created and sold several litters.

    This is NOT an isolated situation. Breeders like this are all over the place and continue to operate because people continue to fund their operation by purchasing puppies.

    Read our ‘Bad Great Dane Breeders Page here (updated often).

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    BREEDING DAM CONDITION

    This poor mama has likely been bred many times. More litters = more money. Your cheap puppy is making somebody rich, and it’s not this sweet mama dog who benefits.

    Not only is this girl massively underweight, malnourished, and likely suffering with itchy skin and possibly even parasites, look at her front feet.

    Her weak, low pasterns indicate nutritional deficiency, lack of appropriate free movement and exercise on outdoor terrain, over breeding, poor nail maintenance, and possibly even some bad genetics (that she no doubt passed onto the puppies).

    She’s miserable and nervous, which is also how you create nervous, timid puppies.

    Want a puppy that is timid, fearful, aggressive, and has health problems including a higher risk of bloat, cardiac disease, hip dysplasia, thyroid disease and autoimmune disorders? This is how you make that happen.

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    I DON’T NEED A SHOW DOG, I JUST NEED A PET

    We think there are actually some great breeders out there that don’t show their dogs.

    We also want people to understand that show breeders produce a lot of amazing pets. Not every dog in a litter can be a show dog.

    Ethical breeders are much more likely to be breeding dogs that are healthy, excellent examples of the breed standard. They are more likely to be completing full OFA health testing and genetic screenings to eliminate common disorders in Great Danes. They are more likely to only be breeding dogs that have outstanding temperaments.

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    Ethical breeders care about their dogs, every single one of them and aren’t breeding to make money.

    They have funds set aside for complications. They don’t over-breed their dogs. They don’t breed dogs that aren’t healthy. They spend hours each day with the puppies to care for them and socialize them.

    Chances are that you WILL have to pay more for an ethically bred puppy, because the expenses associated with operating correctly are higher. That’s important, however because we cannot continue to financially reward people who breed dogs any other way.

    Being a dog snob means making it socially unacceptable to breed untested, poorly treated dogs. It’s not a bad thing to be snobby about the welfare of dogs.

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    THESE PUPPIES WILL BE OK

    Thankfully, all of these dogs and puppies were rescued by Save Rocky the Great Dane and are receiving medical treatment and much needed love, food, water and care.

    Great people rescue dogs like this and great people adopt them. Many will likely have wonderful, long lives. Others may need a lot of behavioral and health support, and some simply may not be healthy enough to survive another day.

    It is largely because of bad breeding operations that the rescues have to exist. 

    How many puppies did this breeder produce and sell to people before she was shut down?

    How many of the puppies that this breeder sold in the past are currently waiting in rescue, surrendered by owners who couldn’t handle them? How many are timid, fearful, sick, and suffering needlessly from health conditions such as hip dysplasia?

    Images from the Itawamba County Sheriff Department.

    Everything stated here is a matter of public record. 

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    Educate, advocate, rescue, foster, adopt.

    Advocacy for Great Danes means supporting rescue efforts, fostering, and only choosing truly ethical breeders.

    Anything else is supporting an industry where the health and welfare of the Great Danes we love is not considered.

  • What is Backyard Breeding?

    What is Backyard Breeding?

    Is there a difference between backyard breeding and front yard breeding?

    Don’t most breeders raise puppies in their backyard?

    What could possibly be wrong with breeding dogs in a home environment?

    Is it backyard breeding if the breeder seems friendly and the puppies are clean?

    What if a dog chooses to have her puppies in the backyard instead of inside? Is that the problem? 

    Isn’t backyard breeding BETTER than a puppy mill? I’d rather know my puppy came from a home and yard than a kennel!
    Great Dane Health

    SO MANY QUESTIONS!

    The good news is that none of those things have anything to do with breeding dogs in a backyard.

    There is nothing wrong with a breeder raising puppies in their home environment, or for you as a Great Dane owner to want a ‘pet’, not a ‘show dog’.

    Backyard Breeding is really just the term dog people have made up to describe people who are breeding random, low quality dogs ‘in their backyard’ to make cash.

    These breeders aren’t necessarily interested in the health, structure, or temperament of the puppies they are creating, but they sure know how to get you to spend your money with them!

    WHY IS BACKYARD BREEDING BAD?

    Backyard breeders are often pairing two dogs for breeding that really should not be bred. They may have websites, ‘nice’ photos and even a nice home and clean puppies; however, they may still be unethical.

    A Great Dane is not a Great Dane is not a Great Dane. AKC papers, Euro build and ‘neat colors’ are NOT enough to justify breeding two dogs together.

    Backyard breeders, even the ‘nice’ friendly ones, are directly responsible for the number of dogs needing rescue, and for the ongoing health and temperament problems we see in Great Danes.

    SIGNS OF A BACKYARD BREEDER

     

    • They will have no records of proper health testing or only did some of the testing (ask for Full OFA tests with certificate & CHIC# to verify at www.ofa.org, or similar standard in other Countries
    • They may market dogs primarily using buzz words such as ‘papered’, ‘designer colors’, ‘healthy’, or ‘Euro %’.
    • They may  send puppies home to buyers prior to 8 weeks of age.
    • They will not have a lifetime return guarantee.
    • They will not have buyers sign contracts.
    • They will will not care if a buyer chooses to breed their dog.
    • They may encourage buyers to purchase two puppies at the same time.
    • They may advertise on marketplace or Craigslist, post repeated sales in local groups and may have a hard time selling puppies.
    • They won’t be willing to show the parents, or the parents will be unkempt, heavy, untrained, or aggressive.
    • The puppies may be timid, round, hunched, dirty, bug-eyed, and may look sick or weak.
    • The breeders home and/or whelping area will be below standard, dirty, and may lack appropriate enrichment for the dogs and puppies.

    Every time you support a backyard breeder, you support the creation of the exact types of dogs that strain our system of shelters and rescues. The rescues are here because of these dogs, and the unfortunate truth is that the backyard breeders do not care.

    Oh be serious. ANY dog can end up in rescue, even one from an ‘Ethical’ breeder, so don’t blame this on the ‘backyard breeders’… right?

    WRONG.

    Ethical breeders care very much about structure, health and temperament.

    They actively work to produce puppies that are unlikely to suffer from genetically related health problems such as hip dysplasia, bloat and entropion that cost owners heartache and money.

    They aren’t creating white double merle dogs  that end up in rescue when they cannot find somebody who wants a snappy, under-socialized 4 month old deaf puppy with no eyes.

    They closely follow the written standard, and ask for feedback from their peers so that the dogs they breed look and act like healthy, robust, calm, loving Great Danes with strong features and beautiful structure..

    They are picky about buyers and educate them well, because they know that the wrong home could mean a dog ends up being neglected, dumped, or used for backyard breeding.

    They want the puppies they sell to have outstanding temperaments, so they are much less likely to end up in rescue because they became ‘too aggressive’, bit a child, or couldn’t be handled by the average pet owner.

    Most of all, ethical breeders have a LIFETIME return guarantee. They support buyers with education and will take any dog back during its life for any reason.

    Ethical breeders are NOT the reason that so many dogs are in rescue. Backyard breeders are. Still don’t believe us? Look at any rescue. Are any of those adoptable dogs from a breeder that would take the dog back themselves, give it vet care and help it find a home?

    RUFFLED FEATHERS?

    We understand that a post like this may ruffle some feathers.

    Perhaps you have a dog that came from what you now realize was a ‘backyard breeder’, and a post like this can feel like an attack (especially if your backyard bred Great Dane is a loved family pet, as mine is). For that, we apologize.

    We believe all Great Danes deserve love and a fantastic home, including the ‘imperfect’ ones, and especially the ones that need our help.

    You got lucky with one of the special ones; but that’s not the point of this post.

    Perhaps you are a breeder, and don’t like that we are calling you out. We don’t apologize for that. You will not change our minds. We do not respect that you skip OFA health testing, or that you are breeding dogs that barely look like Great Danes, or that the puppies you create have roached backs, entropion, and timid personalities.

    We don’t respect that you throw around terms like ‘papered’ and ‘health tested’ just to make a buck. We also don’t respect your defensiveness towards improving your program and operating ethically. Try us, but be warned. We are pretty fed up with backyard breeders and know all the ‘lines’.

    Our hope is that every owner with a loved family dog from a backyard breeder, every owner whose backyard bred dog died painfully at a young age, and every owner who is interested in purchasing a Great Dane will read this article and help us stop the cycle moving forward.

    These dogs are too big to be given anything other than the chance at incredible health and wellness. Stop funding backyard breeders. Start holding breeders to a HIGHER standard. Our dogs deserve it!

  • Why Great Dane Puppies Should Stay with the Litter Until 8 Weeks

    Why Great Dane Puppies Should Stay with the Litter Until 8 Weeks

    Puppies should stay with the litter until 8 weeks. No questions about it.

    There is almost no reason for a breeder to send a puppy home prior to 8 weeks of age.

    If your breeder is doing this, they are very unlikely to be a reputable, ethical breeder (no matter what they tell you about ‘why’). In many States, it is also illegal to send a puppy home prior to 8 weeks.

    Puppies Should Stay with the Litter Until 8 Weeks

    BREEDING PRACTICES: Puppies Should Stay with the Litter Until 8 Weeks

    There are a few reasons why a breeder may claim that a puppy needs to go home before 8 weeks.

    Here are some you may have heard:

    • The mom ‘rejected’ the puppies
    • The mom is being ‘mean’ to the puppies
    • The mom ‘weaned’ the puppies and they are eating solid food
    • The puppies are ‘fighting’
    • The puppies will ‘bond’ better if they go home before 8 weeks
    • The breeder has cancer/health issues/etc. and can no longer keep the litter
    • It’s ‘better’ for bonding

    Do these sound familiar?

    Puppies that go home prior to 8 weeks of age may lack bite control, will be immature and may have a harder time with potty training, puppy biting, crate training and socialization. 

    BREEDER CLAIMS THAT MOM IS MEAN TO THE PUPPIES

    The mom may actually appear to have rejected the puppies. She may be nippy or snappy and walk away from them when they try to nurse.

    What is Balanced Training?
    Is My Great Dane Being Aggressive?
    Deplorable Dog Training: Sit Happens
    What is Great Dane Dominance Training?

    Inexperienced breeders see this as a sign that the mom is becoming aggressive and may hurt the puppies, not realizing that this is an incredibly important part of the process. Or they will use it as an excuse to be lazy.

    This is how the mom weans the puppies and begins to teach them manners and appropriate social skills.

    A puppy who has not had a mother snap at them to establish ground rules is a puppy who may grow into a rude, pushy adult.

    Puppies Should Stay with the Litter Until 8 Weeks

    Puppies learn incredibly valuable social skills while with their mom and litter. If they don’t have their mom and litter to correct them, they may never learn how to properly interact with other dogs.

    THE PUPPIES ARE FIGHTING

    Inexperienced breeders may think that their pile of puppies has become aggressive with how noisy, growly and bitey they are.

    The puppies are not fighting. They are teaching each other bite control and social skills!

    They will growl, chase, nip, attack, pin, grab and bite each other. They yelp, bark and make all kinds of racket to tell the other puppy that they bit too hard.

    This time spent learning how to control their jaws and bite pressure = puppies that have a LOT more maturity when it comes to social interaction and puppy biting.

    Puppies need time and lots, and lots of play to teach each other how to interact with dogs. Be cautious about any breeder that is so tired of the puppies that they would skip this time.

    Puppies Should Stay with the Litter Until 8 Weeks

    THE BREEDER IS TIRED OF THE LITTER

    Sometimes a breeder is tired of the litter for any number of reasons. They are expensive, noisy, needy, and aren’t worth much cash until people pick them up.

    So they will say all sorts of things to get you to pick the puppies up, pay them, and take them out of their house as soon as possible.

    They may even claim that the litter was an ‘ooops’ and that they have cancer and cannot deal with the puppies anymore (this is why we have rescues!); we see this a lot with ‘Craigslist’ breeders.

    They want your cash and they do NOT CARE that they are setting a puppy up to fail by encouraging you to take it home at 5, 6, or 7 weeks of age.

    CONSIDER THIS:

    Great Dane puppies that are sent home prior to 8 weeks of age may:

    Bite harder, may not have a ‘soft mouth’
    Be timid & shy
    Be exceptionally immature
    Cry more & have a harder time with separation anxiety
    Struggle with potty training & bladder control
    Be rude or pushy and struggle to have appropriate interactions with other dogs
    Be difficult to socialize

    It is a truly rare situation where a puppy may need to go home prior to 8 weeks of age. Do not let an unethical breeder convince you otherwise!

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    RARELY IS A PUPPY LEAVING THE LITTER EARLY A POSITIVE

    It can happen where a puppy must leave a litter early.

    • Sometimes, the Dam really is just a bad mom, or she is inexperienced. An ethical breeder will work with the Dam and may  hand-raise the puppies until 8 weeks or seek out the help of another breeder with an established Dam to help raise the litter.
    • Occasionally health issues may require that a puppy be separated (including the death of the Dam or severe health problems with the puppy). Ethical breeders will do everything in their power to thoughtfully and humanely resolve this, including placing the puppy in the care of another Dam and litter to learn social skills, or hand-raising it as needed.

    RESOURCES

    For more information on what ethical breeding practices and finding a quality breeder looks like, search our ever-growing collection of helpful topics!

    If you have a young puppy in your home, what is done is done. Recognize first that your puppy will be developmentally behind others that come home at 8 or even 10 weeks, so you’ll need to be extra patient.

    As obnoxious as puppy biting is, for an exceptionally young puppy they NEED to do it to learn how to control their jaw. If you can, meet with other (HEALTHY) same-aged puppies (be conscious of Parvo and other communicable disease!)

    For information on Puppy Biting and how to make it stop, visit our blog post! 

  • WHAT IS A BACKYARD BREEDER? THE AKC, UNFORTUNATELY, HAS 1000’S.

    WHAT IS A BACKYARD BREEDER? THE AKC, UNFORTUNATELY, HAS 1000’S.

    What is a backyard breeder? Why is is so important to be educated about unethical breeding practices? How do we save puppies from backyard breeders?

    There are many questions to ask when it comes to unethical breeding and backyard breeders. These practices are harming the breed we love and causing heartache and headaches for rescues and families.

    You might be surprised to find that the AKC is riddled with backyard breeders. Having AKC registration is not a sign that the puppy is healthy, well-bred, or even pure-bred!

    Yeah, we’re going to go there. If you are looking for a Great Dane puppy, this post is for you.

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    What Is A Backyard Breeder?

    Many people believe that all home breeders are backyard breeders (because they ‘breed dogs in their backyard’).

    This is actually a matter of nuance in language. The term “backyard breeder” has a very broad meaning.

    A “backyard breeder” refers to any individual who breeds puppies without committing to the necessary measures for ensuring the full health testing, structure, temperament, breed standards, and overall well-being of the puppies throughout their lives, regardless of where they end up.

    There are MANY friendly, nice “backyard breeders” who claim to health test their puppies.

    They may even raise them indoors around kids and farm animals. It’s likely they even have a website and are recommended by others who are looking to purchase a Great Dane puppy.

    But they are cutting corners somewhere, and THAT is what makes them a backyard breeder!

    It doesn’t matter how clean the facility is, or how nice the breeder is.

    Make no mistake, if they are breeding out of standard dogs, dogs with poor structure and temperaments, breeding dogs without FULL OFA health testing (see HERE), and not supporting those puppies for life, they are a backyard breeder.

    Like we said above, the AKC has thousands of them.

    Backyard breeders are more common than puppy mills, but despite their ‘friendly’ exterior they do a LOT more damage.

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    What is the AKC?

    AKC is one of the most recognizable acronyms in the dog world.

    They document pedigrees by giving breeders a place register their purebred litters. They also offer a range of services from dog shows & conformation to sports, advocacy and training certifications.

    You can learn more about the AKC here.

    One International version is FCI, you can learn more about them here. 

    Others exist as well, some are good, others are a place for bad breeders to get ‘papers’ for their dogs with unknown or mixed-breed lineage.

    The word ‘papers’ is now actually relatively meaningless because of this. AKC registrations are a wonderful way to document and see the pedigree (lineage) of a dog. They are important, but they aren’t everything.

    AKC papers do NOTHING to monitor if the dogs who have ‘purebred’ registrations even meet the standard for the breed they claim to be. This is how we’ve ended up with millions of Great Danes whose structure is so poor they suffer from orthopedic disorders. Their eyes are so droopy they need surgery to correct it. Their heads so big and jowls so droopy they look more like Mastiffs than Great Danes.

    Not to mention the litany of health and temperament issues that come from breeders who are pairing dogs just because they happen to be ‘purebred’.

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    Technically, Only Purebred Dogs Can Be AKC Registered

    Mixed breed dogs and dogs with unknown lineage cannot be registered with the AKC.

    If a breeder is trying to sell you a ‘Danoodle’ or ‘Labradane’ with ‘papers’, know that the papers are probably from a made-up or low quality dog registry.

    The AKC does try to maintain standards and educate breeders and buyers. However, having AKC papers is NOT enough to prove the quality of a genetic line or dogs against the written standard.

    Remember the game ‘telephone’?

    You sit in a circle with your friends. The first person whispers a phrase to the next person, who then takes that phrase and whispers it to the person next to them. The phrase makes its way around the circle.

    The phrase may have begun as ‘I like to eat cake’ , but always ends with something completely different and usually funny. ‘I think you are fake’ for example.

    The practice of breeding a Great Dane simply because it has ‘AKC Papers’ can create entire lines of registered, purebred Great Danes that look very little like Great Danes. Just like the game of telephone that we played as children!

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    Purebred Does Not Mean Well Bred

    Of course, we are major dog and breed snobs over here, but even as a not-snobby pet owner you should care deeply about this breed.

    Poorly bred dogs are more likely to suffer from health problems, including painful, frustrating and expensive conditions such as allergies, hip dysplasia, cardiac disease, aggression, fear, blindness/deafness and autoimmune disorders.

    Careless breeders are everywhere, and they breed dogs purely for profit, not because they care about health.

    There are many purebred Great Danes suffering from health conditions that are largely preventable with selective breeding, including poor hips, bloat, heart disease, entropion, and more.

    These disorders shorten the life span of Great Danes and contribute to the unfortunate reality that these giant dogs are both short lived and fragile.

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    So, How Can I Avoid Backyard Breeders?

    In no way are we saying that imperfect Great Danes don’t deserve a home, or that your imperfect Dane isn’t good enough. (Truth! Ask me about my dainty three-legged Dane! I love the underdogs).

    What we are saying, however, is that AKC papers can mean surprisingly little in the world of ethical breeding practices.

    AKC Papers do not mean that a dog was bred with health and structure and temperament in mind.

    They do not mean that a Great Dane exemplifies the appropriate health and structure of the breed.

    Having AKC registrations is not a sign that a dog is of sound breeding quality and should be bred.

    It is important to find Great Dane breeders who are:

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    No, You Don’t Need a Show Dog

    It would be super snobby and misguided for us to say that everybody should have a perfect, beautiful show dog and expect nothing less.

    We don’t believe that. We believe that there are breeders out there creating wonderful pet dogs. 

    What we encourage you to be very educated on, however, is the difference between a backyard, unethical breeder and one that truly cares about the health and temperament of the dogs they are creating.

    Stop buying dogs from backyard breeders! Every time you support a breeder who doesn’t care about structure, health and temperament you support an industry that is creating thousands of dogs who eventually end up euthanized or in rescue.