What is going on in my life??

Not at all Lori. Not at all!   I know the breed comes with its problems..and the biggest is life span.   And it certainly is harder to take care of a giant breed than a small one...for sure.

But again.... I wouldnt choose a little dog...they are just not for me. I would probably get one that would still be large enough to cause me a problem if I had to take care of it if it got sick. And of course.... giant breeds are so much more expensive to keep while they are well and worse if they are sick. The vets charge twice as much for meds. I paid almost $60 for antibiotics for a UTI for her... and thought at the time... if it were me...I would have gotten the medication at my Pharmacy for $4.    But,,, I just feel like I have time for one more Dane before I have to go down to a smaller dog.

But as far as rescues... after looking at a couple here...that is all I read was NO FENCED IN YARD.. I even wrote to one...assured them of how well I took care of my Dane...walked everyday at least once......etc etc...they wouldn't even consider me at all. They flat out said "sorry,,,no exceptions to his rule!" So I gave up on rescues.

dyan

So I gave up on rescues

Well, at least you know the direction to go, then. Your next dog is somewhere out there.

Do they do in-home interviews? If not, I could loan you some of my pics of my back yard. Then, just to get past their picayune problem, you can say yes. The yard is approximately rectangular, 52 feet by 104 feet, offering 5,408 sq feet.

How have search results been at your local shelters?

Ha ha Ron.........good if I could get away with it, huh?????

Funny thing about the fenced in yard rule...if I would have had one with Bubblegum,  I probably would have had her about a week before she would have jumped it and been gone. I didn't know how high she could jump from a stand still when I got her. I had taken her for a walk down my street and was talking to a friend down there when Bubby spotted a Dobie in a back yard that lived down there...she started jumping and yelping..I think she wanted to go play, but she jumped higher and higher each time while I was holding her leash end. The friend and I were watching in awe.  I emailed Bubbys breeder that night and told her...she said "yes, Bubblegum can jump at least 7 ft from a stand still!"  So she would have been gone in a fenced in yard, and I would have never known it.

I have checked the couple shelters online...and have a friend that writes pet articles for our local  newspaper...she is knee deep in rescue here. She had emailed me several times over the past couple of years about Danes needing homes and has told me that she contacted several rescue people that she knows to let her know if they see any Danes.

Right now..I am going a different direction. With all this talk about Danes life span and my two sons saying "why don't you get a puppy instead of one that is half way thru their lifes, " I think I am going to look in that direction.  One thing,,, its nice to have a house broken dog that might be past the chewing stage.....but then they are set in their ways..which may be sometimes hard to re-direct. So maybe this is a good idea..

dyan

two sons saying "why don't you get a puppy instead of one that is half way thru their lifes, " I think I am going to look in that direction.

Always an excellent idea to go with a good breeder. And if they give you any flack about your home, I'll just have to drive over there, whereever "there" is, and tell them all of my corny jokes and puns until they give up, just to hear me shut up.

I really wish you the best of luck and, of course, you must supply pictures when things work out.

I really wish you the best of luck and, of course, you must supply pictures when things work out.

Thanks Friend!    I am in the process of making plans to go see a puppy now.  It is a reputable breeder..... the pup I am interested in is a merle..... male I think. They have a female also but the male has a lot of white....so much better for my white carpet, white floors, white walls and with washed curpboards.   

OF COURSE I will post pictures when I get it.

 Dyan, I wish you luck.  I've been following this thread but haven't posted because I really didn't know what to say.  I tend to agree with Ron's advice, but perhaps that is because I know its what you want to hear.  On the other hand, I can't imagine getting a small dog 'just incase' either.  I'm not a little dog person.  And I can't justify settling.  I just doesn't seem fair to anyone, least of all a dog that will never be able to be the dog I really wanted. 

So, good luck in whatever you decide to do.  I also wanted to add, that I am so very sorry about Bubblegum.  I don't think I ever really posted that.

 Good luck Dyan, I wish you were closer to me. I just saw a blue merle listed in our shelter 10 months old. there out there just waiting poor babies.

Thank you Candace and Cazzy!

I have always had what ever dog came into my life before.   Cindy was a Dane mix...and she had a personality that I loved. My son got Ollie, and I fell in love with him....he is what brought me to this forum actually. That is how I came across the Great Dane breed.  Bubblegum can to me by accident in a way. I was not looking for a dog PERIOD.  I used to take care of Ollie all the time, but Mike moved to the other side of town with him. My other son worked with Bubblegums breeders husband...and told me that if I ever wanted a Great Dane from a reputable breeder,,,now is the time I could afford one because they had way too many in their house and the husband said they are living and breathing Great Danes. Bubby had 18 babies in November and they still had a couple older pups from a different dog in their house. So I checked it out, when I went there they told me Bubblegum was available because she could no longer breed. DH talked me into the older dog.  WHAT A GREAT DECISION IT WAS! 

Great Danes are not the easiest dog in the world, nor are they the least expensive to care for. But that is true for everyone that has one..not just me.  I will always walk across the street to see someone walking a dane... I am a pain in the butt when I stop people in PetSmart when they walk into the store with a Dane.   I see many dogs every day at work. I like them all,,, well most anyway. but I die for the Danes that come in.  So at this time, I feel that the Dane is what I want to have. 

As far as I am concerned...its a darn shame that there are rescues like the one I checked into here in Ohio..had probably 50 Danes available, all ages and colors...but they won't even talk to me because I don't have a fenced in yard.

 Dyan, you and I both know that fences are not always in the best interest of a dog.  People grow overconfident in them and the dog goes over and in a lot of cases is never seen again.  Or other animals get into the yard, and then in a panick don't know how to get back out when the house's dogs come out to defend their territory.  But...is there anyway you could put up a fence?  Or are you in a place where you aren't able to do that?  Maybe even one of those Rent-a-fence type things, just to appease the rescue?  Maybe even a dog run would be sufficient?  Its such a frustrating rule.

huskymom

Dyan, you and I both know that fences are not always in the best interest of a dog

Amen to that. The hound mix next door, no more than half of Shadow's size, gets out of the yard and they have 7 foot fences from post to their house. Shadow could easily get over our chain link fence but does not. A fence will not stop a determined dog. So, just because a Great Dane is tall doesn't mean they will go over the fence. And a fence won't keep them in if they are determined. Our friend had the Great Pyrenees, nearly as tall as a Great Dane and at 140 lbs, she could have hurdled the chicken wire fence she had, if she chose to jump it. And never did.

Now, I'm thinking GD puppy vibes for Dyan.

Om mani padme GD puppy, Om mani padme GD puppy, ....

Now, I'm thinking GD puppy vibes for Dyan.

Yep! Me too at this point! I was hoping to find another little older dane...one that we could just give love to...one that would be our friend...sleep by us, walk with us,,,etc.   But this is not working out...tired of dealing with people. I guess we will look for a puppy and start from scratch. And we will make him/her our buddy!

Yes, fenced in yards are not necessarily good for some dogs.  1. Bubblegum jumped at least 7 foot from a standing position...I did not know that until the end of  the summer that I got her (which was in Jan. ) so she would have been long gone by the time summer came.   2. A girl told a horrid story on the Great Dane forum that I am on just this month. Her kids let the dane out into their yard.   They went to let him in and he was not ready to come in,,,then they forgot. The mom asked where the dog was a little later and the kids said "outside!"   She went to the door to  check and he was laying of the deck.....blood in his mouth DEAD...and she doesn't have a clue why.     There are just so many things that could go wrong inside of fenced in yards........including jumping them, that I can't see that being the criteria for rescuing a Dane without regard to any other information that they might gather of the person trying to rescue.  As far as I am concerned...they don't want to find their dogs homes.

Dyan, I'm surprised you are going to get a puppy but very excited for you.  I can't wait to see pictures. 

dyan

The vets charge twice as much for meds. I paid almost $60 for antibiotics for a UTI for her... and thought at the time... if it were me...I would have gotten the medication at my Pharmacy for $4. 

Heh, as long as you don't have a gouging-type vet, they should be HAPPY to write you a prescription that you can take to a pharmacy just like your own. I think they just don't offer it because 1) yeah, it makes them money if you get the meds from them, and 2) most people just don't FEEL like going to the pharmacy if they can get the med from the vet. But I know if I asked, my vet would gladly write a prescription instead of handing me a bottle of meds. And with Target, Walmart, and who knows who else doing $4 prescriptions, I'm sure they'll understand.

I just learned about Bubblegum tonight (and cried my eyes out for about 10 minutes reading through her thread), and I just wanted to say that I'm sooo sorry for your loss... But I'm so happy for you that you're getting a puppy! I can't wait to watch it grow up.

Thank you Chelsae...    it was a nightmare, to say the least. And I miss her everyday...all day. Now its getting nice outside,,,she should be out with me while I start my gardens. She loved to lay on the deck in the morning while DH read the morning news and I was at work... going for walks and checking out the neighborhood.

With a lot of these prescriptions, I wonder how many can be found at a pharmacy. I know after Bubbys UTI I wrote to several of the chain pharmacys to see if they carried drugs for animals.  When Bubby was sick we got one of her human meds thru our local Giant Eagle Grocery Store, they oredered it in special for us.

Lori, I really didn't want a puppy as much as I wanted a little older dog,  but more and more I want a Dane...and I think in the end puppy might be the better way to go.  I really don't want to wait until an adult comes my way.  In the short time since Bubby is gone, I have checked out 3 of them. It might be better to try to raise one the way it will live in my home.  I THINK!

dyan

With a lot of these prescriptions, I wonder how many can be found at a pharmacy. I know after Bubbys UTI I wrote to several of the chain pharmacys to see if they carried drugs for animals.  When Bubby was sick we got one of her human meds thru our local Giant Eagle Grocery Store, they oredered it in special for us.

Sometimes it won't be classified as "drugs for animals" -- when Sammy was on clomipramine/clomicalm it was also prescribed for humans so I just took the script to Eckerd I think and it was cheaper than the vet. Eventually 1800petmeds was cheapest, but it was hard to get my vet to release the information to the company and the company wouldn't accept just written scripts.  Eckerd just labeled the bottle "Sammy - canine" and put my name on it.  But, they probably wouldn't know that the medicine could be used in dogs so if you asked about it, they would think of it being for humans. 

Anyway, just wanted to add my two cents.  I'm sorry about Bubby but I'm happy that you want another Dane and I can't wait to see pictures whether you get a puppy or an adult!!