Vol 01 Edition 02

We have had an excellent and very encouraging response to the first Newsletter of the Great Dane Health Group and we hope to build on this in the coming months. Can people please register with their email address so we can automatically send them the Newsletter. Currently we have no plans to restrict areas. Anyone can go on the website but registration means we can contact supporters easily if we have any breaking news or require help with health surveys.

Health in our breed is such a major issue it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. We have a beautiful Breed and in order to go forward on health we need to dismiss some of the negativity people seem to carry around with them. Attitudes like ‘there are so many health problems in Great Danes we can’t do anything about it’ or ‘health is so bad in Great Danes it doesn’t matter what dogs you breed from anymore!’ are simply not acceptable. What has gone in the past is done. We cannot turn the clock back. We have to work with what we have now and take it forward. We can take some inspiration from other breeds and look at what they are striving to achieve. I think many Great Dane owners will be pleasantly surprised by what we can learn by their efforts.

The welfare of many Great Danes leaves much to be desired. There will be a section on Welfare on the website in the coming months. Rescues are struggling to help as many Great Danes as they can but they are often up against ignorance and peoples’ desire to make money from their dogs. The Public need educating about buying healthy Great Dane puppies and Breeders could do more to safeguard the future of the Breed. Ethics and endorsing progeny should be on the Home page of each Breed Club website. Owners using their dogs at stud should be more aware of their responsibilities too. There is so much we can do to help our breed by trying to put the welfare of our dogs first. At the end of the day we have no excuse not to do things better.

There were many responses and ideas about what we should be looking at and writing about. Bloat and DCM were high on the list along with eye problems. There were some very interesting ideas regarding confirmation, vaccinations, hip scoring, culling puppies, health testing, diet and exercise regimes, treatment of newcomers into the breed and breeding. Overall it was quite impressive to see what Dane Owners were concerned about. Hopefully we can explore all these topics and more. It will be fascinating to see where they lead us.

Another good idea was to have a monthly interview with prominent people within the Great Dane Breed and from elsewhere in the Dog World. How do they view the state of the Great Dane Breed and if they had one wish for the benefit of the Breed, what would it be? What is the impression from someone outside the breed and what experiences can they bring to us which may be beneficial to Great Danes. All I can say is watch this space!!!!!

Sandy Lipman’s personal account of the loss of her beautiful Great Dane bitch and puppies. The article by Barb Wohlferd may just help a Great Dane Breeder save their pregnant bitch. Read more

This disease is one of the most life threatening and devastating conditions in Great Danes. Looking at the Great Dane books we all keep on our shelves, there are is little or nothing on DCM and heart problems. It can be a wasting disease or Danes can drop dead with no warning. There is no cure and often Danes affected show no outward signs of the condition. We have the LUPA project screening Danes and we hope to have continuous updates on their research and work from Liverpool University. We also want to give out information to encourage more Dane owners to become involved in the screening program. In the coming months we will endeavor to put more information on the website and links to research on DCM from other countries. Read more

Read Bubbles sad story

Quite a lot compared to what has been happening in the Great Dane breed! It’s inspirational to look at some of the websites for their Breed Clubs, Breed Councils and Health and Welfare Groups.

The Karlton Index is an excellent source of information about what other breeds are doing for breed health. It lists the Top Twenty Dog Breeds 2011 and provides information about how “the health and wellbeing of these dogs are being prioritised in a systematic way”. The Index covers 180 breeds but the Top Twenty are certainly inspirational. The opening sentence on the Home page of the website is “This entire project is dedicated to improving the health and welfare of our dogs”. There is a link to the Karlton Index website on the Great Dane Health Group website. It is well worth a look to see what is going on in other breeds. Read More 

We need your help and would like you to send your Dane photos so that we can show your fabulous Danes on the website in all their glory
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Want to be part of a heart testing clinic?

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We’ve got some questions on breeding bitches.

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Well loads actually see the what’s new on our tree.

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