Velcro Danes
Our Breeding Philosophy & Ethics
A lot of terms are thrown around in the very political world of purebred dog breeding. Ethics. Reputable. Backyard Breeder. Hobby Breeder. Conformation. Color families. Show Dogs. What do they all mean, and how do you apply them to your search for your next family member? How do WE apply them to our breeding program? Every program is different and we encourage you to find a breeder compatible with your views.
We aim to constantly improve. Sometimes this means retiring a female early or avoiding a convenient stud if we have not been thrilled with the total package they produce and that's OK!
Our Goal
Our goal is simple- to produce quality purebred Great Danes with strong conformation, excellent health, and excellent dispositions. We strive to constantly improve by implementing the tools available to us and always expanding our knowledge base and network. We strive for longevity so your new companion can bring your family many years of joy.
Our Ethics
There are many opinions on what makes a dog "breed-worthy" and we look for some specific things when aiming to add to our program and when planning litters.
We health test our stock prior to ANY breeding taking place and are happy to show the official certificates. We acknowledge that this does not guarantee that the offspring will have no health problems but we feel it is our duty to use the tools we have to minimize those chances in our effort to produce only healthy animals.
We do not produce more than 2 litters per year- usually less. This is to allow us to find quality homes for every puppy we produce, and we take our time planning carefully each litter.
Our females are not bred following any particular heat pattern. We work closely with our vet and mentors to decide what is in the best interest of our girls and their pups. We allow adequate time for them to recover from their previous litters.
We only plan litters when our personal lives allow us to devote 100% of our time and attention to raising these puppies right. We apply ENS and enure our puppies are well-loved and used to being handled before going to their new homes. We begin potty training at 4 weeks of age and work to acclimate them to typical household noises and happenings. During the time we have pups, I do not leave my house for more than a couple hours per week.
We have a visitation policy. Once puppies are of appropriate age (4 weeks) we encourage their new families to come meet them, see how we do things, and get to know their puppies. We are proud of our Danes and have nothing to hide!
Colors
We recognize that some of our Great Danes are paired outside of the “color families” set by the GDCA and acknowledge that there are some breed enthusiasts who find this unacceptable. However, we feel the color families are NOT in the best interest of the breed, and unnecessarily bottleneck the gene pool. After learning extensively about genetics on a college and professional level, we have determined it is in the best interest of the breed to disregard color save for those cases where it may effect health. Currently under GDCA guidelines pairings known to produce deaf, blind, and otherwise defective puppies are accepted in the name of producing more show-marked dogs and “color pure” pedigrees. We cannot in good conscious employ such practices in our own breeding programs.
We enjoy the rainbow of colors produced by this wonderful breed. It saddens us that many breeders lacking ethics aim to produce these colors, and then mark them “rare” to make more money off these puppies. Let it be known: There are not rare or novelty Danes, there are simply more colors than most people realize. Our show marked puppies are the very same price as any other puppy produced by us because within our standards, coat color makes NO difference in health, temperament, conformation, or longevity. We stand by our dogs and puppies 100% and at the end of the day we are doing what we honestly, truly feel is in the best interest of our Danes.
We respect that every Dane lover and breeder will have a slightly different outlook on this issue. There’s many who disagree with us, and there’s plenty who agree. We encourage you to find a breeder that has a similar opinion on the issue as yourself to set yourself up for a positive relationship with the breeder your new pup comes from.