A Lesson Learned
This is a lesson I learned the hard way! I knew better and over the years of working with horses and dogs, I often told people NOT to do what I did. Did I listen to my own advice? No. Did I pay the price? Yes.
I did a lot of research and studying before I got my first Great Dane. I decided a Great Dane would be perfect for me. My sister offered to pay half for a Great Dane for my Christmas present in 2000. I checked into one breeder that was recommended to me but that didn't work out and is a whole other story. I had a breeder recommended to me that was 2 1/2 hours away, so I gave her a call. She did have a litter but only one female left. The baby was 2 weeks old and I made arrangements to go and see her. I was so excited that I couldn't stand it!
I got there on a Saturday morning and found lots of different kinds of dogs. Yes, I know my first warning bell was quietly sounding but everything was very clean and the dogs all had good weight and were clean themselves. I went inside and she brought me this tiny bundle with just a few brindle stripes. I fell in love. She was so little and so sweet. I asked all kinds of questions about nutrition, care, behavior, etc. Everything I had read up on and the breeder was very knowledgable about Great Danes. She told me what to watch for as far as growth spurts and possible bone problems, bloat, diet, etc. I was very impressed because she did know her stuff.
Then I went outside and met her parents. Mom was a beautiful brindle that was very sweet and friendly. Dad was a fawn with no mask who was not the least bit friendly and didn't really want anyone around. Apparently her daughter's boyfriend had him and then gave them to the breeder because of moving into an apartment. Recently when the boyfriend moved back to a house, the dog wouldn't have anything to do with. In fact, she told me only her husband could feed him. That should have been my major warning bell and I should have thrown in the towel at the point! After all, how many times had I told people to investigate the parents attitudes and nature before buying an animal. Did I listen? No. I gave her the deposit.
I went to pick up Image (her registered name was going to be Imagine Stripes cause her brindle markings had faded and she was fawn with no mask) she was 7 weeks old. I fell in love all over again. She sat on my lap all the way home and was such a good puppy. She got along with my other 2 dogs wonderfully and we started the housebreaking process. She caught onto that very well and I thought she was perfect. She loved me and stayed with me on my lap lots and there is nothing better than cuddling with a puppy.
I have a very good friend that has worked in animal welfare and at the local shelter for years. When Image was 8 1/2 weeks old Leslie came to meet her. Image really didn't want anything to do with her. Leslie held her but Image was stiff and wasn't comfortable at all. I put it down to her being shy and figured she would grow out of it. Looking back, I should have realized that most puppies when they are so young and have not been mistreated enjoy other people playing with them, but I didn't.
Over the next couple months Image went with me in the car places and, of course, to the vet to get her shots. She wasn't thrilled with any of these trips but wasn't too bad. She loved going in the car with me, just didn't like getting out to meet anyone.
After she had all of her shots and she was about 4 1/2 months old I started taking her to the park. The state park close to me is not crowded so I thought it would be good for her to get out and see things. Well, Image was kind of strange when it came to inanimate objects as she grew up. If a big rock in the backyard got moved she would bark at it for 20 minutes in its new position. If a 3x5 card suddenly showed up on the floor and it wasn't there when she was in the room before, she would bark at it for a long time. When I took her to the park, she wouldn't go by the signs that were for directions along the road through the park, afterall they might get her. Yes, I did think this was a little overly shy so I called the breeder. This was nothing like anything I had read about Great Danes. Her response was that bigger dogs are shyer when being introduced to new things. Unfortunately, Image wasn't shy about new things she was scared to death.
Over this period of time Leslie would come over once in awhile and Image acted each time like she had never seen her before. My Mom came over many times and she acted like each time she saw her, she was meeting her for the first time. By the time she was 6 months old I was taking her to the shelter just to visit my friends that worked there. I went almost every weekend or at least every 2 weeks but she was terrified of my friends each time. They never forced themselves on her and each time they would wait for her to approach them to be petted rather than approach her first. I was getting worried by this point. I talked to 2 different trainers one of which met her and observed her for a few days and both said that soon she would be a dog I wouldn't be able to trust. She was just too terrified of life and everything in it.
My vet kept her for a week for me and tried working with her. By the end of that time, she was OK with the people there and him, so I thought maybe there was hope. A few weeks later I took her back and she didn't know any of them and tried biting him. I was frustrated. This was my baby and I loved her so much.
She was fine with me but during this time she was also getting to where when it was time to go outside in the backyard, she didn't want to leave the house. I just didn't know what to do. I joined some dog email lists and asked everyone for suggestions. Most of the ones I got were things I had been trying all along. I did appreciate all the support I got from people all over the country though. They all understood the worry, the frustration and all the jumbled feelings I was going through at the time.
When Image reached 8 months of age she started having spells that lasted anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes where she didn't recognize the other dogs. She had always loved the other dogs and any dogs around. I guess she felt more comfortable with them. Image would be laying on the floor and they would come up to play with her and be playing around her when a blank stare would come over her face. You could see her sitting there wondering who they were and what they were doing around her? It was spooky let me tell you.
I called my vet and the trainers to see if they thought there might be a physical problem going on. Unfortunately, none of them thought this was the case. My vet as well as the trainers thought this was a genetically inherited personality disorder from her father. All were aware of his personality which was when looking back aggressive more so than anything else. All were afraid that if her present course continued it would be just a matter of time before someone, even me, would get hurt or that one of my other dogs would be hurt. I was heartbroken. I had been battling the last couple months with the gut feeling this was not going to be a fixable problem and now I had confirmation.
I made the decision to euthanize her but to this day I still wish there had been a way I could help make the world OK for Image. My vet took her in the morning and it was hard for him too, since he had been helping me throughout all this. He wanted to keep her all day and have a last ditch effort to see if he could get through to her. He called me late in the afternoon and told me he had seen the "blank stare" a couple times during the day. He also had talked to one of the trainers that day and the end result was that there was no helping my baby. I was devastated. I guess I had hoped that maybe there would be some miracle happen that day to get Image over her fear. She was euthanized that evening.
Please take heed when you are going to buy a puppy or a dog from a breeder and make sure you assess both parents personalities and attitudes. It is important! They do pass them on. If one is not good, go to a different breeder cause there is a 50/50 chance the puppy will get the bad personality. Take it from one who has been there IT IS NOT WORTH it.
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