New Photo Thread is here:

Well, I didn't have a brug big enough to hide behind, so I cropped a picture and made the quality worse. It is the best I have because I rarely allow my picture to be taken.

Brugie your as sweet looking as I pictured....

I am here , I am in my old office.

I have no objection...

Shirley -- you look great!!! Thank you for posting :)

Shirley...how wonderful to see you! I feel like I know you, but pictured you all wrong! I really do like seeing the faces behind the names! BTW...what is that lovely pink brug you are standing next to? Forever Morr by any chance???

Thank you all who are posting photos!

All you others...come out, come out where ever you are!!! ;-)))

Seems like I haven't seen kell yet?! Is she on a photo with her son when he graduated college? Probably not! ;-(

That is probably Butterfly behind me. You guys are very nice. Thanks.

You have a lovely smile, Brugie and as cute as a Button! Nice Photo.

My wife and I on one of our cruises, taken about a year ago. I now have hair down to my waist and no beard-Bagpypr Garth

What a strapping young man you are, Bagpypr Garth! Hair down to your waist you say...

Young? I'm looking at the big FOUR - ZERO in a few months! I'm sure some out there would say "I've got underwear older than that" but I must tell you that there are some days I wouldn't buy any green bananas, if you know what I mean. My wife takes a stunning picture though. Sweeter than a baby's laughter, she is. She puts up with me and my eccentricities and never complains and for that I ADORE her. My father said once that he would kick my butt constantly to make me grow up and all it took was a 100lb blonde Irish woman.-Bagpypr

This message was edited Jan 1, 2005 4:00 PM

LOL...well, like I said before, even at the big FOUR -ZERO, your are a strapping young man...when coming from someone who was the big FIVE SEVEN, last week. ...green bananas you say...

Well I will be the big TWO EIGHT next month and already feel old... but then again DH and I tell our families that we don't have children yet because we are waiting to feel like grown ups first. LOL! He will be the big Three Zero this summer so I started calling him Father Time. He didn't appreciate it. Ha! :)

BTW- I am fine with my picture being used for a slide show. What the heck? I already put it out for the world to see so what's the difference?

All of you are so cute- glad to put faces with the names. No one looks the way I pictured them though.

Jamie

OK,I finally found one I'm not humiliated showing...
I usually have dirt ,grease or manure on me,and probably if you look close there's some on me in this one
So don't look!!!
This is me (karyn,CC) with my Great Danes,it was taken in October,the puppy,Vixen, is much bigger now,almost the size of Cinders,who is 13, Vixen has her ears cropped now so they are still tapped up,she'll be 6 months on the 1/9/5 ,and weighed 92lbs the week of Christmas

Gorgeous dogs Karyn! Cinders is 13??? That is amazing to see a dane that old. Here is a picture of Apollo- my dane. He will be 3 on April 7 and only weighs about 135. I know you will understand what I mean by "only." Everyone thinks he is giant and don't believe me when I say he is SMALL for a male dane. He is watching football with his daddy in this picture. :)

Jamie

Karyn, Cinders is so handsome! Lovely dogs..and you aren't so bad yourself!

These pictures are great -- Love the one of Apollo on the sofa -- looks almost human LOL!

Karyn -- its so nice to finally meet you! Shoot, its so nice to finally meet everyone here!!!!!!

Thanks Gretchen. We laughed because his paw is even resting on the arm of the couch, like he just needs a beer to complete the picture. Apollo's best friend is a 10 pound Shiz Tsu named Lucylu. Your Lanny reminds me of her even though I know Lanny is not a Shiz Tsu. Apollo LOVES little dogs. I may have to get him one for his birthday. Ha!

So you have 2 studs sitting on the couch???
It does look like Apollo needs a beer....LOL
I don't know how Vixen feels about little dogs
hasn't really seen any
She does love cats
They are her best friends

How much longer will she have to wear the splints?

oh my God CC, Cinders is bigger than you are!! I could never have such a dog the size of a horse in my house. It is too small! LOL.

It looks like Vixen will soon tower over Apollo. Amazing animals. Don't they eat you out of house and home?

Bagpypr, great picture! My brother loves to dress formally in his kilt.

Brugie you are such a cheery soul! And look at Gumlla and Donna. Such fun!

She is gunna wear the ear splints till her ears stand up!!!!
Judges frown upon flopped over ears....LOL
She is so bad about them that we now have to use surgical glue to get them to stay on longer than 5 minutes,right now she has 3 tampons taped together(stacked) as a splint in each ear.What a pain to her and us....The puppy we're getting in the spring is gunna have springs implanted......
Kell,once you have a big dog you don't realize how big they are till you see them next to a normal dog,or realize how much little dogs look like an snack to them.......

I am almost afraid to ask where are you going to implant the springs, CC. If in the feet, my goodness, they will be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bounce.

I went back and forth about cropping Apollo's ears. He came into the shelter where I volunteer and he was about 7 weeks old. Supposedly you are supposed to crop them before they reach that age so I just didn't mess with it. I don't show him, obviously, and I prefer the natural ears I think. But they look much more regal if they are cropped. :) Two studs on the couch huh? Well, Apollo is neutered so I guess he's not much of a stud. Now DH on the other hand... ha! Just kidding- we won't even go there!

Kell- Apollo eats half a can of of moist food at night mixed with 2 cups of dry. Then he just gets another 2 cups of dry in the morning. Our pit/boxer mix is about 55 pounds and he eats the same thing except only 1 cup of dry am/pm instead of 2. Pound for pound, big dogs actually eat less than small dogs. For instance a 10 pound dog may eat 1 cup of food a day, but a 100 pound dog doesn't eat 10 cups. The main reason it is so expensive with Apollo is that he has horrible skin and allergies so he eats the ultra premium dog food. But, they eat less of that stuff than "cheap" food so I think it all works out. I also started them all on digestive enzymes and noticed I feed everyone- 2 dogs and 3 cats- less than before. Adding digestive enzymes can reduce the amount of food your pet eats by 20-30%. Good stuff! Honestly, the biggest expense is vet bills. Everything costs more- sedation, antibiotics, vaccines, heartworm meds, flea meds, etc. I don't think I have ever walked out of the vet's office for less than $200. So, I do LOVE danes and will always prefer big dogs, but I also like to be brutally honest with people about the cost of having these gentle giants. Abe is constantly telling Apollo that he needs to get a job to help pay for his upkeep. Ha! :)

Jamie

I may need some of these digestive enzymes. Do you lose weight on it?

It's not really a diuretic. It's just good for ya! You can buy it for pets but I just get some at Whole Foods Market (the human kind) and give it to them. The reason they eat less is b/c their bodies absorb more of the nutrients in the food they consume, so they need less food to get the same nutrition. So, in theory I suppose it could make humans lose weight if you eat less. But if you're like me, you eat because it tastes good and you don't stop once your body's nutritional needs are met! Besides, there aren't many nutrients to absorb in a pint of Ben and Jerry's. HA! :) But you know, the vet recommended I put my cat on the enzymes and keep feeding him the same amount of food to help him GAIN weight. He has Feline Leukemia and still eats like a pig but he’s really bony.

I agree they look more regal with the ears cropped,we went back and forth on the cropping ,yes,no,yes ,and she has been such a pain about them we also said ,nope ,not gunna do it when we get the new pup this spring ,but......now that her ears are starting to stand up ,and as much as the breed standard says they can be uncropped,I've rarely seen a Dane do well in the show ring with uncropped ears.
We didn't get hers done till she was 12 weeks,(the next one is getting done at 5 weeks)that was the oldest they could be according to the vet.We drove 6 hours to take her to the vet .He's the one the breeders here in this area use for show crops.If it was a pet crop I would have taken her to my regular vet,but her ears were enormous and thick so it was gunna take a vet that really knew what he was doing.This guy is an artist!He wanted pictures of what ears we liked,and he drew out what he was doing to do.After the cropping they glued a sponge to the ears...that stayed on for 2 or 3 weeks and then you start the taping.

Kell,they put the springs in the ears,it then builds up the cartilage to make them stand on their own,then they remove them.
It costs 500 bucks ,but after the hassle with vixen its gunna be well worth it on a new pup
I've probably spent 400 on tape and glue so far....LOL
I also have them on an expensive food.Natural Balance,and she's never had puppy food.I was told to keep her protein under 23%.It is expensive and while they are growing they eat a lot,but the Cinders eat no more than a lab does .I add a 1/4 of a can to each of their bowls 2x's a day,so thats only 1 can of food a day,a big dollop of plain yogurt,and I give the esterC and glucosamine every day.
I use to have Newfoundlands and I had one end up with elbow displacia because he grew too fast(I was feeding Eukanuba)The vet had me change to a grocery store food and just kinda kept with it over the years....
I can't believe the difference in Cinders since I started her on Natural Balance.Vixens breeder gave me a choice of 10 good foods and thats the one I could find around here.Its at Petco ,and a pain in the butt to get but the difference is worth it.Cinders has gained weight,her coat is so shiny and soft,they don't poop as much(which with the size of Danes is a good thing when you are on Dog Poop Patrol)
Yeah they cost more at the vets,every thing goes by weight!
And I put a doggie door in for the,it cost as much as the door did...LOL
And someone made a comment that the doggie door is big enough for burgulars to come in the house thru,but what idiot is gunna crawl thru a door that big knowing there are dogs that size that come thru that door...LOL

What kind of Digestive enzyme do you give Apollo?

Here's a picture of Vixen with the sponge on her head after the cropping.....

Brugie, that is a lovely picture

Vixen is gorgeous! I really love the black danes. Apollo is also on Natural Balance. His skin is BAD and his eyes are always red. Always itchy, has acne on his chin, etc. etc. We have only been on NB for 3 weeks so I am hoping to see a change soon. I don't add anything besides the glucosimine/controdin (sp?) supplements and digestive enzymes b/c we aren't sure if he has food allergies or not. I just buy the Whole Foods store brand of enzymes. They are in capsules so I just break it open over his food. I thought the same thing about the big doggie doors and burglars. If they knew better, they would worry about Willis (my pit/boxer mix) and not Apollo. Like most danes, you run no risk of this dog attacking you. Ha!

I swear I read somewhere that Harli's are prone to skin and eye problems.........
Vixen would probably open the door for a burglar but Cinders is another story.......
she was aggressive from day one and she's worse since she's old and cranky
I was really shocked at her personality,especially since I went from Newfie to danes......
she grabbed the neighbors rottie and tossed him around like a rag doll....he got too close to our house.She's only out of the fence if I'm out there with her
I lock her in the DOG room when my grandkids come over
She came from a backyard breeder and I think they just breed what ever together....with no regard to temperament
She's registered AKC but way not show quality
This spring we are getting another Pup
We are wavering between a Blue(Solid steele blue-gorgeous) or a brindle
Chuck wants a male,when we got Vixen we originaly wanted her brother,they had brought the pups to the show so we could see them,(Vixen kept sitting on my foot so I think she picked us) ,went home ,and when I called to tell them we wanted him it was too late someone else had bought him,then we were going to buy her sister who was blue,but not show quality,then we were going to buy them BOTH,but Vixen is very dominate and was spending a lot of time pushing the blue around......so she was our 3rd choice but I am soooo happy with her

I think you'll be happy with the food,it took about a month to start seeing a difference in Cinders

Thanks for the info! I love blues too. They are actually my favorite. I just couldn't bring myself to buy from a breeder since I do so much rescue work. No problem with people who do, but I just couldn't do it myself. Anyway, we were on the English Mastiff rescue waiting list when Apollo came into the shelter. I am pretty sure he was the last of a backyard breeder's litter and he wouldn't sell. He came in with 3 purebred basset hound pups. All were so cute... and all ended up having Parvo. That's another story though. :)

I have never heard of an aggressive Dane. Odd isn't it? Apollo's girlfriend the Shiz Tsu calls the shots. She will take one of his toys and she has to use her entire body to drag it away from him. Then he just sits there and whines until someone takes it from her and gives it back. They are so funny like that!

This is my Dutchess, a blue Merle Great Dane. She just turned 9. She's pretty shy, but she posed for this one.

I'm not into Danes, in that I don't know the breed standard, but the black Dane is a knockout. How is she maturing?? How old was she in that 'ear' photo?? Very nice bone, structure, that I could see. Was she bred to show??

Duchess is very nice...its so funny we all have Danes and brugs!Chucks brother use to have a Blue Merle...and I was told if I breed Vixen to a Brindle I would end up with a blue brindle(since she comes from a blue X black breeding),wonder if thats similar to a blue Merle?

Sherry,the picture of Vixen with the cat is recent....took it a few weeks ago,she is maturing nicely......the "sponge on her ears" photo was taken when she was 13 weeks
And yes she was from a good breeding to try for some show pups,her bone structure,head,and size were all out standing,her brother was just like her ,she was a little bigger and had only a hairline of white on her chest.Her brother had a fist size white blotch on his chest(the less white the better).......hope she turns out good cause I really would like to start showing again....but this time I'm using a professional handler
heres a link to the breeders website if you scroll to the bottom left "Grayson" is Vixens Daddy
http://www.hometown.aol.com/kimsdanes/index.html

Whose dog had the itchy eyes? Have you tried California Natural? It has no beet pulp in it(most brands do, it's a stool hardener). We bought a Weimaraner and the breeder fed all his dogs Calif Natural so we kept on feeding it. Our collie has an allergy to red dye(natural and artifical) and her skin is sooooo much better on the CN. We tried Natural Balance but the collie lost so much weight on it.
CC, Cinders looks great and the puppy has grown so much.
Bagpypr a man sat behind me at church and he was wearing a kilt.

Susie it was Texas garden with Apollo ....he has itchy eyes,maybe she can get that brand since you're both in Texas
I've never seen it here....


and Susie.....can you now answer the question as to what men wear under their kilts...?????huuummmm?????

My cats used to eat California Natural. I am pretty sure it's one I used to order online. I have been switching this poor dog's food so much that I feel like I need to give the Natural Balance a fair chance before switching him... again! He never acts like his eyes itch, but they are always red. Dutchess is really sweet- I love to see the older danes. Gives me hope that my guy will live longer than the 7-10 years you always hear. And yes, all these brug lovers with danes is really odd!

Jamie

Hi everyone! Here's the second thread of pictures started some time ago. Enjoy!
Terrie
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/476183/

Thanks, guys. Dutchess is actually very sick right now and has an appointment at the vet tomorrow. She has not eaten in three days and has been fighting off a urinary tract infection for months despite being on antibiotics. I am preparing for the worst. It is so sad that these big dogs have such short lives. I've had her ever since she was 12 weeks, and I did get her from a breeder, but I would never buy from a breeder again. There are too many unwanted dogs in rescues and animal shelters and humane societies, and too many are being put to sleep every day. It is heartbreaking to think that there are so many unwanted homeless animals in this world already. Sorry for changing the subject of this thread... I can think of nothing but Dutchess right now.

Oh Clare, I am so sorry! We derailed this thread a bit before you posted so don't feel bad. But I am sorry that I contributed to it getting out of hand.

Again, I must reiterate that I don't have any ill feelings from people who get dogs from breeders. BUT, you are correct about the number of homeless ones needing homes. A good deal of these are purebred dogs. So unless you want to show them or something, you can get the best of both worlds by rescuing a purebred dog. :)

Again Clare, I am sorry about your baby and hope she gets better soon.

Jamie

Hey CrestedChick,
I know this will sound like bragging but it's absolutely true. I was working at the Renaissance Faire here in California and three women came into the back of our beer stand. One of them asked me what I wore under my kilt and so I showed all three. One of them hunted me down after faire had ended and asked me out. We were married a year to the day later. When my wife tells people how we met, she always says she's a pig but a very happy one. To answer your question- Nothing is WORN under a kilt, everything is in excellent condition;)-Bagpypr