The Grooming Gallery Danes

After the loss of Duke, I didn't want another dog for awhile. After a few months, I started entertaining the idea of getting an English Setter, a breed I have long wanted. I decided also to get a puppy. I have never had the pleasure of owning a puppy, and decided it was time to fulfill that dream. After much research, I found the perfect English Setter breeder, and started devising ways to save up the money.

It was about this time that I realized that as much as I wanted a setter, I just could not be without a Great Dane in my life. I started to search for a breeder, telling myself that if I could find a breeder in North Dakota, I would get a Dane rather than a Setter, as I was not keen about flying a puppy in. I found a breeder who was expecting a litter soon, and was expecting Brindles, which was what I had set my mind to. I had heard that a local couple was expecting a litter, but I wanted to purchase a puppy from a reputable breeder, not the back yard breeders I believed this other situation to be.

About this time, these same people called to inform us that they could no longer keep the pair they had, and asked if we would be interested in them. At first I was very set on my promise that I would not adopt another adult, I wanted my puppy. But I just had to go and meet them. We set a time, and went to meet "Jesse" and Elliott, both AKC registered Great Danes.

"Jesse", whom we renamed Emma as that WAS what we thought her name was (I STILL swear they said her name was Emma...3 people hear him call her that! lol), was a 15 month old beautiful natural eared black female. Elliott was a 20 month old natural eared merle with white markings. Both were outdoor dogs and had little or no training. Emma was rather thin, and the people said they believed she was pregnant.

I do not support backyard breeders, and it broke my heart to see these two gentle giants living as outdoor guard dogs. I had long since learned that Danes thrive best as valued family members, and although they were relatively well taken care of, I did not feel they were in the type of environment they deserved to be in, especially seeing as Emma was bred at a much too young age, and to a male that was not suitable for breeding.

We brought them home to try them out, a little leery of the fact that they were not technically indoor trained and had no behavior training whatsoever. They both adjusted wonderfully, coming home and going straight into the bath (both REEKED of the farm). It didn't take them long to discover the couch, and they both adjusted very well. It was obvious to me they were home.

We paid $750 for the pair of them, and got Elliott fixed straight away to avoid any more unethical breeding situations. After about a week with us, it became evident that Elliott was not going to fit in well in our home and be happy. He became very attached to me, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but nothing could keep him contained. He wanted to be by my side even when I was working, which was dangerous, not only to him but to my clients, and I did not want to keep him crated all day. He started to jump our six foot chain link fence, running out onto the highway and nearly getting hit quite a few times. We tried to solve this by adding a hot wire to our fence, which worked for awhile, but he soon figured out it wasn't THAT bad, and would jump the fence anyhow. I was very worried about handling a male, a pregnant female, and puppies...that was a little beyound my experience range, and decided to see if I could find him a home where he could get the attention he needed and would be safe.

We found a foster home with a lady that did dane rescue on the other side of the state, and another lady that had just adopted a dane from her was going to be in a nearby city soon, so we made plans to meet her to transport Elliott to the breeders farm. He found a forever home before he ever made it there with the lady's niece and her family, and is now a permanent part of their home and their lives.

Elliott's breeder, Merrilee Bauman, tracked me down and we have been communicating. She is a lovely, wonderful woman, and I wish I had been able to get in contact with her sooner. She was not aware that Elliott was being used as a stud, and had no idea the original owners were selling him or she would have taken him back in a heartbeat. She sent me a wonderful letter full of facts about him, his history, and pictures of him as a baby with his parents and litter mates. It's great to know he came from such a wonderful, caring breeder!

Elliott is still doing wonderful in his new home, I hope to have updated pictures soon.

Well, things have been pretty complicated with poor Elliott. He was doing fine in his previous home, they had set up a great kennel area for him with a heated shed that he could not escape from while they were at work, as he was extremely destructive in the house and hurt himself when crated. Unfortunately, the shed caught fire. Elliott was just fine, as they were home at the time, but his kennel and shed were destroyed. The woman's husband decided he was too hard to contain, and that he needed to go. She agreed to transport Elliott back to his breeder, Merrilee, as she wanted him to be safe. Merrilee couldn't take him back into her house at that time, because she has 9 danes of her own, one that was injured at the time, and was having troubles with fighting...adding Elliott to that mix would not help anyone. So she go in contact with a vet in her area that knew of a lady that did rescue and specialized in separation anxiety. She agreed to take Elliott and work with him. We were ecstatic, as this sounded like exactly what he needed...unfortunately, as good of care as Elliott got with her, she is not very forthcoming with information on him as she refuses to correspond with Merrilee or I regarding Elliott for reasons we do not know. We are both heartbroken and angry not knowing where he is or who adopted him as that was not the arrangements we had agreed to when we turned him over to this woman, however, we know he is in good hands and has a new home which we hope will be his last.

If you have any information on Elliott, please email me. We would love updates and Merrilee would love to see him. The woman that rehabilitated and placed him does not have or understand the entire story of his history and is making unfair judgments based on assumptions. We would love the chance to set the story straight and see our sweet Elliott again.