Hello!

Wow...it's been way too long since I've blogged! I'm so bad at this! LOL...but here's a quick update for everyone! My Great Dane Meetup group has grown to almost 80 members now and we have had some pretty fun meetups! It's been so great to have met so many Dane lovers, and to have met so many great new friends!

My Danes are doing good! Diesel is a year old now, I can't even believe it! Russia is pushing 11 and still doing so great! Roxy is still her usual "black" Dane reclusive self, and Turbo is almost 8 months old and is FINALLY calming down! LOL!

My most exciting news from the last two months is we got horses!!!! I have wanted horses forever, and we finally got the barn and corral fixed up so we could get some! We got a 15 year old Thoroughbred gelding named Deesyl (he came with that name and responds to it, so we have 2 Diesel's now! lol) and we also got a 1 year old Belgian filly that we named Fiona. After Fiona Apple, not Shrek! LOL...She loves apples and is an ornery girl, so I thought it fit! LOL ;)

So our farm has grown...now we have the 4 Danes, 1 Cat, 1 Macaw, 1 Cockatiel, and 2 horses! Life is good!!!

Our first official Great Dane Meetup!

So our first official meetup for the Great Dane group I just started was last Saturday, and even though it was rainy and cold...22 Danes showed up! That was amazing! We had so much fun and it was so great to meet other Dane owners and their beautiful dogs! I seriously encourage anyone who doesn't have a play date going for their Dane to get one started. They are so fun to see running around together, and they truly enjoy the company of other Danes. Not one fight broke out, and that was with a group of mixed age, and sex Danes. It was awesome!!!

The trouble with Turbo!

First off, I'm sorry I haven't been posting as often the last 2 weeks. It's been a crazy month, and I also started a Meetup group for local Great Dane owners, that takes up some time I wasn't used to! ANYWAYS...

So the trouble with Turbo is he has the strangest potty issues! First off Great Danes by nature are super easy to potty train! I have never had a Great Dane act like Turbo, and I think it has a bit to do with the breeding that threw his color. He really just isn't all there....seriously! He is GREAT in his kennel, and will hold it overnight for 10-11 hours sometimes! He has slept through the night since he was 10 weeks old. He is REALLY great at potty commands! When he goes outside, I tell him to potty and he potties immediately, I tell him to go "poopies" and he goes right away. So in that respect he is pretty smart. So where's the problem? When he's distracted, i.e. when he's sniffing out something down the hall, kitchen, etc. he will pee as he walks!!!! He NEVER stops and pees a huge puddle, just a trail as he's walking! It's crazy and I've never seen anything like it! My vet is a bit perplexed too. I do the usual going out after eating, playing, etc...but it's not like he's actually needing to pee, so he pees a lake...it's more like he can't multitask and when he's distracted doing something he deems important he just starts to pee as he walks! When I yell his name he quickly stops and then runs to his kennel. Seriously the weirdest thing ever, and I've been raising puppies for 15 years!

Outside Fun!

So we used to have our sheep and goats out in our corral, and then with the addition of Turbo, we decided to move the sheep and goats to the back yard, and open up the corral for doggie playtime! That was the original plan, and then Dan decided to put a track in complete with jumps for his RC cars. Every night he gets so frustrated because the dogs will run and jump up on the jumps he's made and completely destroy them, so every night he re grooms his track in hopes the next day will somehow be different! LOL...makes me laugh. So tonight he decided to share his run time with the dogs, and it was hilarious! Turbo and Diesel tried to follow Dan's truck all over! Dan basically had to play keep away with the dogs! It was great exercise for the dogs and a great exercise of Dan's patience! LOL...B even came out to enjoy the time with his little RC! All in all a great corral space that was shared tonight and enjoyed by all! :)

Bed potatoes!

So I was chatting with some people about my Danes today and they asked if they were big couch potatoes. And I said "Of course, but mostly they are bed potatoes!" I tell you what, they love the couches, but if they can get up on a bed, they are stoked! Our bed is pretty high, so the older ones can't get on it very well anymore, but B's bed is just right. So if bedroom doors are left open the beds are up for grabs! And how can you say "Off!" when you have these two looking up at you!!! :D

New Great Dane Meetup Group!!!

So I decided that since our meetup on Saturday went so well, I would start an official Great Dane Meetup Group! It is a site that will not only post information about future meetups, but will also have a forum that is open for any stories, comments, questions, etc. that can be available to the other members to comment on. There is also a place to start a photo album for your Danes! I hope to make this a positive connection for Great Dane owners, and a place to get questions answered, or advice in general.

Now I know a lot of you that read this do not live in Salt Lake City, however, it's not limited to those in this area. Like I said there is more available to members than just meetup information! So I would love to have you stop by and join!

www.meetup.com/the-salt-lake-city-great-dane-meetup-group

Playdate!

I am so excited to have put together a playdate for some local Dane owners! I know this post won't apply to a lot of the readers, but I just wanted to put it out there for other people in the Salt Lake Area that I might not have gotten in contact with. We are meeting at Tanner Park on Saturday at the East Pavilion at 11am. For those of you who might not know where that is, just leave a comment and I will get right back to you!

And for those of you who don't live here in Salt Lake, you should think about getting a fun group together if you already haven't. Great Danes LOVE to play, and they are so much fun to watch when they are romping around in a big group. It was really easy for me to set this up. I just posted an ad on our local Craigslist, and our Channel 5 news website in the classifieds, and went from there. You will be amazed at how many people live right by you that have Danes! I was a least! It's something fun for you to do for your Dane and a great way to meet new people that share your love of the breed! So I hope if you don't already have a playgroup set up, that you will try and get one together!

I will post pictures of our get together next week, and would love to hear your success stories of playdates you already attend, or plan to start! I hope everyone is having a great week!