could someone please help, i have a great dane dog and am trying to find out at what age i would be able to stud him. I have asked my vet and he says that the earliest this could be done is 2 1/2 years old which seems a bit wront to me, i would be grateful for any help or advice thank you

We get queries on the board like this a lot.

Basically responsible breeders are looking for the best possible dog for their bitches and you want nothing to do with the other sort of breeder!), this means that they can be very choosey, and will be looking for certain bloodlines and a good show record.

Unless your boy has done really well at shows, then no-one is likely to be interested in using him. What he has never had he won't miss honest!

If your aim is to become involved in the World of the Great Dane, and the breeds betterment, then I suggest you join your National, and nearest Regional breed club, attend shows, health seminars and other educational events.

Breeding is a big commitment. The stud dog owner has an equal responsibility for the lifetime welfare of any pups produced. would you be in a position to help and advise a new owner of one of your boys pups who was having problems, or have into your home a dog that needed rehoming?

brainless
very well put and said,you will also see stud dog to approved bitches only meaning that again they are choosy and the stud dog will i have been told get the blame for producing bad stock if not put to right bitch,
another dane poster asking for advice on wether to get a play mate for his 8 month old dog after all the advice offered about waiting until it matured a bit wich can be 2-3 years said he was going to get one anyway rest my case. regards tina

Tina, Fred also got advice to the effect that as long as he was willing to put in a lot of effort, there was no real reason not to go ahead. Maybe we can sometimes be too dictatorial about what is "right"?

hi sharon
dictatoria about what is right, don't mean to get on my high horse maybe i do, but having read most of the boards when it comes to people wanting to breed buying another bitch wich fred wanted to do to show and breed from felt he was rushing to far ahead, if by being somewhat brutal in trying to help stop people making mistakes then so be it only trying to protect the breed
have you noticed that most of the advice is the same and haven't noticed fred or some others come back. if these boards make people think twice then thats a good thing,then on the other hand does not matter what has been said they will still do it any way hence the comment i rest my case regards tina

I must agree with Brainless and aoife. I have Great Danes and show them, I have had some good sucess in the ring however there are a lot of dane stud dogs out there to choose from. Depending on the bloodline and quality of your dog will depend on if anyone would like to use him at stud.

I suggest (if you don't already) that you show him to see how he fairs amounst other Danes and to get him seen so prospective people who may like to use him can see what his qualities are.

As for the age of stud I think this is difficult I have known danes breeders use dogs at a young age 12-18 months however I am not saying I agreed with it, as danes are a slow maturing breed. I personnal would only let my dogs be used from 2 plus, this would also depend on the dogs stage of maturity and quality. I personnal have had a young dog castrated as he is not up to my standard nor do I think he would add anything to a breeding program.

Hope this helps

Anna

Hi Anna, agree waith Brainless in this instance, but I'm curious as to why you wouldn't you let an 12-18 months old dog be used at stud. It can be hard to see just how good a slow maturing giant breed youngster is likely to be, but by a year old most serious faults will have revealed themselves (unless there is something specific to danes?). If I wanted a boy of less than 2 for some particular reason, I wouldn't hestitate to use him, and I'd be delighted if someone with a suitable bitch wanted to 'start off' a 12-18 months old boy of mine :-).

Hi Anna, I have Wolfhounds, and would hope to use a male well before 18 months of age, otherwise he probably wouldnt do the job, lazy old things they are!! :D

I have no objection to dogs being used youger however I personally like mine to mature a bit further. The father of one of my dogs was 12 months when he was used so as you can see I do have no problem with it.

I know what you mean about them maybe not wanting to do the job Phillipa as the large breeds can be lazy! Its just my personnal preference, they can get a bit of a handful once they have had a girl!

Anna

i want to thank you all for your help and advice, the only problem i have with showing shadow is that i live in the highlands and one thing that is rare is great dane's i have never heard of any shows that have dane's in them here. I am also finding it hard to find a club for dane breeders/owners.

Highlander if you contact the Kennel Club they will put you in touch with your nearest Dane Club. I'm sure that you live in a very beautiful part of the country but one of the disadvantages is that you DO have to travel a distance for many things. Dog Shows will be one of those things. I have a friend from Scotland who frequently drives 300 miles each way to and from dog shows and 600 miles each way when he comes down south! If you buy one of the dog papers, either Dog World or Our Dogs (you may well have to order them from your newsagent) you'll find shows with classes for Great Danes. It is important that you find out from experienced Dane folk if you boy is a good enough representative of the breed for others to want to use him on their bitches.

Also don't completely discount shows that don't have Great Dane classes. Very often the Variety (mixed classes for more than one breed) are judged by a very experienced person like the Group or Best in show judge.

If you do well consistently in these under well respected judge it will help you to know if he is a good oe, though of course breed classes are better. You may have to wait until you have been to half a dozen Championship shows to realy know, and that is once you have become adept at showing your dog.

So start at the smaller shows, even if it is in varieties, you willlearn how to present your dog to best advantage by wathcing others whose breeds are presented in similar way (Dobes Weimeraners etc)>

I f you can find a ringcraft class within reasonable travelling then do much the better. Apart from training your dog, you will also have a chance to meet and exchange information with other exhibitors with varying levels of experience and expertis. with you being so far from many shows, you may even find someone to share with when traveloling to shows, thereby halving the petrol, and driving!

Scottish Great Dane Club.
Mrs.Christie.
Tel: 0141 776 3665/4

Just another thought, does the breeder show? Prehaps they could point you in the right direction if they live in your area?

Have you asked the breeders opinion about the quality of your dog? He/she may wish to use him back in their lines if he is of good quality, you never know it may be worth a try.

The Scottish Champ show working day is 25/8/02 at Edinburgh (Ingleston)show ground it may be worth going to look at the other danes to see what kind of quality is around. The Scottish Great Dane club hold 2 shows a year in Scotland, a champ show and an open show I believe someone has already put a contact number up for you.

It also depends on the colour of your dane as to what colour bitches he can be put to, some colours are more popular than others. I see your dog is called shadow a black prehaps? There are fewer blacks shown and bred as they don't tend to do as well in the ring. Don't get me wrong I'm not colour prejudice (my first dane was a black the love of my life) but its a fact it is more difficult to sell/show black dogs.

If your are remote it will be more difficult for people to use your dog as generally the bitch comes to the dog, however if hes nice people will travel to use him.

I wish you luck but most of all enjoy your dog for what he is, a very special animal.

If I can help you in any way please do not hesitate to contact me.

Anna

Hi Highlander I assume you are new to or have never attended a show if you do go to Edinburgh don't take your dog as you will not be able to take him into the show as entries have closed nor will you be able to leave him in the car. Show car parks are patroled to make sure dogs are not in distress and I have a feeling that SKC who run the show state that dogs are not to be left in cars Anne (a fellow Scot)

Hi
Just had to write and tell you that I am also a Great Dane Owner and my Danes name is also Shadow. Weird!! He is a Blue 2 year old male and we recently tried studding him with a friends black Dane. Unfortunately Shadow was not quite sure what to do!! He tried all possible positions, including trying to mount her head !! She was quite happy to let him carry on pursuing the matter and we ended up with quite a few good photo's for the album!! But nothing happened between them in the end. I think maybe he is still not old enough and have decided to wait another 6-12 months before trying again. ANy helpful hints would be appreciated.

Hi Lynne
Did you get Shadow hip scored etc in the end then?
Nicky

Hi all, well thanks for the help you have all given i am going to try and go to the show on the 28th and i will also call the breader of shadow ( something i never thought of ). Shadow is a harlequin mismark he is silver with black spots and a white belly. Just thought you might want to no :-)

I hope you enjoy the show and seeing all the other dogs around.
I don't know if you realise as he is a mismark you will not be able to show him at open or champ shows, as this is not a recognised breed standard colour.

This does not mean he cannot be used at stud, if he is of good quaility he may be beneficial in a harli breeding program. You can find if you breed a litter of harlis the best quality construction wise can be the mismarks!

Good luck with your search

Anna

He will be able to be shown, as in UK there are no disqualifying faults. He is unlikely to do well if he is mismarked. Same as trying to show a long coated GSD, or one that is a non standard colour.

Brindle Basenjis were shown and won, even though they were non standard, as a lot of the breed wanted them included, which they now are. It all depends how mismarked and how hard the breed is on this fault!

Brainless

A silver background with black spots in danes as described sounds more like a merle and these are not shown in this country nor are Bostons (black with a white marking on the face) if the breeder has registered the dog as a harli mismark is is highly unlikely it is of show colour. A harli should have a clear white background with black patches.

This type of colour fault is highly frowned upon in the show ring. Don't get me wrong I quite like the blue merle colour but the dog even if he was the best of quality would be marked down heavily because of the colour.

Anna

Scooby, I can remember when merle danes went in the bucket!!!
I have a friend with one and I think that she's very beautiful but I was shocked how much is charged for a mismark!

Yes Val some people charge the same for mismarks as they do for a harli!
But then some harlis go for 4 figure sums! They might even not be correct construction wise! Some of the top breeders are really good when it comes to the harlis they seem to know what to put with what to get good marked dogs, there are some who keep blue merle bitches for breeding the harli lines! I must admit it gets a bit complicated even when you are in the breed!

I think I'll stick with fawn danes for showing although my first was a black! Changing my breed at the moment to bullmastiffs but the danes will always hold a special place in my heart.

Anna

hi everyone,
had my sisters blue dane for awhile asshe was reg as harli mismark ,she had a bit of white on the tum and white socs, told by someone well known in the breed she should of been reg as just a blue,can i make a point can we all be carfull here when talking money esp four fig numbers, might attract the wrong people are we not trying to protect the breeds from people thinking it's a get rich quick thing please no more money talk even prices for stud fees thanks regards tina

hi highlander,
glad that you found all the replys of some use,hope you anjoy your show,expect to be gob smacked when you see show quality danes to those that are just pet quality, you arein for a treat,were ever you got your dane from did the breeder say that they bred show lines and stock, did they say wether it could be apromising dog or it is only pet quality, as i have said enjoy the show will also give you chance to see other breeds, boy will this open your eyes to the dog world have fun, if your dog is only of pet quality the experience that you gain from seeing good stock, perhaps another point to make the dogs there will be judged and then hopefully given a critic,you will get these in the dog papers our dogs and dog world, good start to seeing what is out there and the different points the judges make of the dogs on the day,sometimes the critics for open shows are not printed for ages but ch shows are normally coming in the following week.regards tina