At the top is my very own banner, with my picture and everything. Yeah, my female human said this was all my page and my banner, but she has her words beside my picture telling you the name of the kennel I live at. It's called a kennel, because it is licensed as such, so they can have more than 3 dogs and we're on a street of kennels, so I guess that's what all these humans want to do, have more than 3 dogs. But really it's just my home that I share with fellow relatives (other great danes and the over active little hairy dog they call a Corgi (but all this corgi does is bark and run around and bark) so I mostly ignore it, it doesn't seem to want to do much anyway. Also below my banner is the Awards that I get to give out. I get to roam around all these different web sites and smell everything and If I really like something, I get my female human, by the way her name is "Gloria" and she is real good to me and she wants me to have fun and search around cyber-space and when I like something and I tell her, then she goes and makes sure these people get one of my awards and get linked properly. I like this linking, I get to watch it working all the time! So if you put your pointer on my award and click you will get to see all the great places I've been and left my mark. My mark... that's what I call my awards. That way I can mark without getting into trouble for it... a little dog humor here!

Now we are all house dogs. Spoiled house dogs. Now that means we spoil our humans superbly. We let them do all kinds of stupid stuff to us, which includes hugs and kissie kissie noises while kissing us and stuff like that. They like it so we spoil them and let them do it to us, that way they always feel good. So the better they feel the more we get, so that's why we spoil them.

Now we get to sleep or sit anywhere except in their bed. Now that's because she found out I belonged to the Bed Hog Club. But I say, who wants to anyway, it's 3 feet off the ground and like a rolling ocean. I jumped up and tried it once and I couldn't get my balance to get off it fast enough. I hate that moving thing, but I wouldn't let them know that, so I make them think that I really do know how to understand "staying off the bed". Now that's another way that I spoil my humans, by making them think that what they want me to do is what I want to do. If your a dog you will understand this, if not, you probably wont understand. But really you don't have too.

I spent several years being a show dog and traveling to lots of great places with my humans. It was a lot of fun, but believe me, it was a lot of work too. Now my humans are good to me, but they wanted me to do real boring things for them. Like stand still... I mean, stand still for long, long, periods of time and when that's almost all your doing it seems like forever. Now for a dog that likes to smell things on the fly, this standing still thing is real hard. Now here is a real tricky thing, you have to learn to stand still, after they have moved all your legs into different positions and these positions are not at all the most comfortable to be in, most of the time that is. Sometimes they get it right and you are actually in balance, if not, which is most of the time, you might even get a backache. Now besides my moving all over the place, which they refer to as fidgeting, how else do you tell these humans you've got a backache from what they are doing with your legs and you don't want your legs in that position! Most of the time it is real hard to train humans. They think they are real smart and were dumb animals, but we are always trying to communicate and teach them, but their not smart enough to even know that.

Another thing about those darn dog shows. You are standing still and mostly in an awkward position, that they think looks beautiful (there always saying, "your looking good, don't move"... right!). Now to them your looking good, standing still, (boring) and now they want you to look alive, happy, up, sharp. So they take this great, yummy, piece of liver (they call it bait) and tease you with it. Now I say tease, because you have to stand still, don't move, look good, while drooling because you want that yummy liver (oh, and your not supposed to drool... right!) Have you ever tried this? Well let me tell you, it's hard, real hard. The smell is driving you crazy. Your juices are running. You want it! It's so close you can almost grab it. But instead of getting it, this human in front of you is moving it up and down, up and down, closer and closer, farther and farther, up and down. Now it's all you can do not to go cross- eyed and fall over. Now you tell me this isn't hard work for a show dog.

There's more though. You stand still. Look sharp. Watch the moving bait without moving or drooling. The collar around your neck, right up behind your ears, is pulled upward and your almost standing on your very tip-toes and standing still without gagging or choking. Now if that doesn't give you a backache, neck strain, growling in the pit of your stomach, nothing will. Oh I forgot to mention, you don't get breakfast before showing. They think you will embarrass them by dumping a load (you know, taking a crap) and this they do not want in the show ring. Also my human has been heard saying "when he's hungry he looks and baits better". Besides my really liking the taste of liver, I am hungry, that's why the drooling and stomach grumbling and fidgety fussing. I just want to eat. Besides you know were talking about a real piddely amount of liver here and it's doled out like it was gold. The real good part about this liver is these other humans sometimes throw this stuff real close and if your fast, wham, you just bolt for it and scoop it up. I've been know to scoop it up while trotting. If you practice you can get real good at this. The humans don't like it though and you usually get a sharp correction for it, but believe me, it's all worth it, yum, yum.

All this time you are in this small enclosed area they call a ring. Now this stranger, human, who most of the time you have never seen before comes up to you. This approach to your face is not always a good experience. Sometimes they rush at you and firmly grip your head and stare in your eyes, and measure your head, then pull your lips back (not always in a gentle manner either) and look at your teeth. Don't get me wrong, sometimes the approach is nice, gentle, great hands that stroke your face and a soft voice that reassures you, and this experience is quite pleasant. So a lot of this part depends on the human and his/her approach. Yeah there are both sexes doing this thing called judging.

After the head checking, this human goes over your body. Sometimes softly and sometimes not so softly and sometimes they hover over you like a buzzard, now that can get scary. Then they tell your human to move you down and back, sometimes they have you do a certain thing they call a pattern to move in. But mostly you get a small jerk on the collar and turned and then you start moving. Now in this moving, they want you to trot, not gallop, not what they refer to as pacing, but hold a nice even trot. This can be real funny since we are talking a real small area now. Sometimes it seems to me, four steps with each foot and I'm there and four steps back, I can't even get my body in gear to really get my feet gathered under me for real action. Oh well, I tell you humans are strange sometimes.

Now when you get back to the starting point you are supposed to stop what they call four-square, they want all you legs placed in a specific pattern which is what they are always trying to do to you with the moving of your legs. This is where I have the most fun, I sometimes get very creative with my stopping, which just drives them nuts! They hurry/scurry to get your legs the way they want them and you just have to step with one leg to make it even more fun! I'm starting to chuckle so hard inside right now while thinking of this that I am starting to rumble. I'm so creative sometimes I can't stand myself. At this time you are supposed to be looking cool, you know alive, up, sharp, like when they are waving that liver in front of you and sometimes they are waving that yummy liver in front of you briefly and sometimes they throw a piece in front of you to make you look a certain way for the judges benefit. Now I would jerk and get that liver but usually the tight hold they have on your neck really does prevent this. Ah, too bad you think. Not really, the tension eases as they go to take you back to the end of this dog line-up and if your fast and cleaver enough and you have real good timing (which I'm proud to say I have) you pull fast and grab that liver, Wham! I hardly ever miss either.

After all the other dogs you are in this ring with have done what you have just done, then the human judge picks the one he likes best, and the next best, and so on and he gives your human a colored ribbon. Now these humans seem to really like these colored ribbons, but they seem to like some colors better than others. For me their all the same, a ribbon is a ribbon, know what I mean! Now when my human throws his arm in the air and goes "All Right", well that for them seems to be the best colored ribbon or something. Then they start talking points instead of ribbons, but I don't see these things they call points, maybe there invisible to dogs eyes. I don't really care just as long as these things help make my humans happy, that's all that I care about. I love to spoil them and help make them happy. They are so funny when they are this happy, they all get together and yak yak half the night. Me I get hugs and great big pats and get told what a good and beautiful dog I am and it's real nice. Of course if my human doesn't get the colored ribbon he likes, he usually mumbles and grumbles a lot and says dumb stuff all the way home. Me I just lay down and close my eyes and dream of great things to do.

So now you know a little about my great years as a show dog and how much fun I've had. Mostly it's the great time I've had going bye-bye! That's what they call it when they are getting my collar and leashes ready and grooming (sounds like a grand word... "grooming", but actually it means getting wet and soapy, and this is really yucky) and the biggest yuck of all is the nail grinder, oh I could just howl over that thing. But all in all the grooming part is done with pretty fast, they say I don't have much to groom, except they cut my whiskers off and I really, really, don't like that. It smarts and it is very uncomfortable and it sounds awful, the shaver thingie is loud and vibrating and awful. But afterwards my female human just coos all over me, saying how handsome I am and how good I look and how good I smell, and I really do love all that! All that other dumb stuff I let her do is really worth it just for this part. I go all mushy inside for this and I am so happy that I would do anything for her, you know, spoil her anyway she wants me to. Then we jump in the Van and go bye-bye!

Then after a few years and after I became a Champion, I got to retire and that was pretty much ok, because then I got to stay home and have girlfriends come over and play with me, you know, doggy play. And now I'm pretty much what they call a "couch potato" and I really do love that couch, so I don't care if I'm a potato to them. Now that I'm pretty old (for a great dane, so I'm told) I get to really be spoiled and now I even get to go cyber-surfing with my sweet human Gloria, we sure do have fun together and I sure do spoil her, cause she makes me feel like a king.

So now you know all about me and my award and in time I will introduce you to all my great relatives, just as soon as Gloria gets that thing she calls Snappy working, she's really not to artistic and I've overheard that said about her more than once. But it will happen and it will be a lot of information and a lot of fun pictures to see. Oh and at the bottom of this page is my very own "Dreambook" I'll dream about all the places I'll get to go when someone writes in it! It gets very exciting around here when you do write in my dreambook!

Ok folks here is my first introduction... My Older half-sister "Mel" which is short for Melody is nipping at my heels to get herself introduced. She has been watching mom and me cyber-surf and thinks she should come along just because she is older! Ha! I told her, I'm the oldest male dog here so I get to go and be the protector, so she yielded and said she would just sit back and watch. She really is a good sister and she was one real beautiful show girl too! In her picture you see her being awarded a great bronze trophy for getting Best Opposite Sex at the Great Dane National Specialty 1990. Boy were we all proud of her for that win! Here's my Litter-Sister "Koko" a real beautiful show girl and a great play-mate. Here's Koko's beautiful show girl daughter "Windy". Now for my pride and joy... My Beautiful and Smart Daughter "Karma" isn't she lovely and my young, handsome Son "Danny" now I'll bet you have just been dying to see my Mom.... well here she is "Ladyhawk" and how about her dad, my grandfather "Charlie" and my grand mother "Chi Chi" now you see why I'm so very handsome *grin*

You'll all have to excuse the quality of these pictures, my human just can't seem to get the knack of making them come out right, but she promises to keep trying, so I'll have to give her a little credit for doing as well as she has, her coding is getting much better and she works hard at it anyway.