Flashsmum

Aaaawww, so cute! Fun times ahead  

So sorry for your loss.  Look after yourself. Hugs.

Glad to see this.  You are an angel taking care of them so well.

Tassie - she is 3 yo

teddybeans - tha's just me.  Our previous dane (Whitney- pictured) was a blue - a very pewter colour, and Zeeva is much darker. 

We have Zeena at home now.  She was owned by a lovely couple who didn'thave time for her, and now she is here.  They love her enough to let her go. 

She is settling in, and is a typical, goofy, lovely dane. 3 years old and a dark blue.

Hi all!

I haven't been on here a lot lately, moved to new area and just got back from overseas.

Now that we have settled here near Gin Gin, QLD, we are ready to adopt a great dane. We miss our dogs, and now are ready to love again.  After Whitney passed, we sold the house and moved, but decided that we would wait 'til after our trip to Finland to get another one.

Any pointers to danes available? We are looking for a dane that would be okay with rural fencing and has some training preferably, not very elderly. We would like one in good health as Whitney had so many issues I was constantly worried about her.  We loved her to bits but would like a dog we can enjoy without stressing, at least for a while.

I work approx 30 hours per week and hubby works in shifts so is home a lot of days.  The dog wold usually be home alone for about 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon, and on school holidays, not much at all.  If hubby is away (not often) it would need to be alone for 6 hours approx on weekdays.  Otherwise it will go with us to most places - apart from grocery shopping

I'd love to hear about rescues and breeder rehomes.

TIA

We had Whitney,  a blue.  We adopted her from a breeder when she was being retired from breeding at the age of 4 and a half.

She certainly had skin issues.  We tried elimination diets, a saliva sample sent to US, various tests at our vets, but never got a result as to what her allergen was.

In the end we had her on various antihistamines and acupuncture (she had anxiety as well, that's what the acupuncture was originally for).

She also had dilated cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrilation, and in the end succumbed to pain from cancer in her shoulder.  She lived to 11 years and 8 months, which we never expected.

Maybe the fact that she was only 54kgs gave her the longevity.

I don't know how much of the above was related to her colouring or how much was just bad luck. 

Good luck with your searching, you will find the one that is right for you.

Just saw this.  So sorry.  Hugs to all. All our dogs have aged and many have left us, but their pawprints are forever in our hearts.

So so sorry

I don't get on here much, so missed this.

Hugs to you all.  Mals are so unique (my parents had and have them).. It's so hard to adjust to a dogless home.  We lost Harry but still had Whitney.  When she left us, the house was so empty.

RIP Kira.

Havw you thought of acupuncture?  Our Whitney had it and it helped a lot.  It doesn't work on all dogs (our Harry, for one) but was successful with Whitney. 

She had a weekly seesions for about 5-6 weeks, and then fortnightly and monthly.  When there was no noticeable improvement (when she was quite zen)  it was only every 3-4  months for 2-3 sessions and that kept her happy. Our vets had a practioner, so maybe look into it.

I used one on our great danes and greyhound.  It worked well with the greyhound for storms (let him relax enough to go to sleep instead of pacing and panting) and the frist great dane was the same.  Te second dane had anxiety issues and with her I found that it worked well when she had acupuncture for her general anxiety, but once she was getting close to needing another session it worked less.

I would recommend them, but maybe see if you can get hold of one for a trial first.

Years ago we used a home brew kit heating pad on the bottom of the bed with towels and blankets on it for Flash.  It was warm without getting too hot, and was waterproof.

How gorgeous!

When we had our great dane and greyhound, they would have their photo taken with a party hat on while they were eating their McDonald's cheeseburger.  They both got one on each other's birthdays so they didn't miss out.

As soon as I walked in the door with the cheeseburgers, they knew and did pretty sits to have their hats put on and photos taken.  They also got something nice for dinner as well and extra treats.  I'm not sure that they knew it was their birthday though  

I miss making a fuss over them.

So sorry Hugs.

Hugs to you.  Run free Scout. 

Hugs, and hopefully Trouble won't need to suffer at all.

So so sorry.  Hugs to you.

Wow!

Hugs to you.  I hope you find a good solution.

On 11/19/2017 at 12:30 AM, RuralPug said:

Sorry if I'm going off topic here, but thought you might like to see Zeus the Mastiff at top speed in the agility ring:
Zeus rocketing in agility

That speed! That determination! That focus!  I am in love  

So sorry

So sorry for your loss.

So sad for you.  It will be hard, but it's right.  Hugs.

I used to use nappy bags

I agree with the very deep pockets required for a dane (or any giant breed).  Just for normal meds etc, you pay more as they require larger doses.

We've had 2 danes and a greyhound, and over 13 years spent over $50K at the vets.  This was due to health issues, allergies, anxiety and few operations, and palliative care for cancer. 

Even with that, we would not have not had the dogs in hindsight, as they were all awesome beings and brought us so much joy.

If you are prepared for the possible costs, great danes are well worth it, but make sure that you talk to many people to sort out the good breeders from the bad. 

Greyhounds are awesome as well, although not a giant breed.

ETA: Our last dane lived to 11 years and 8 months with cancer for the last 6 months or so.