Van Gogh

Van Gogh is the 4th Great Dane that we have “owned”. I put the word owned the way I did, since I am not quite sure who owns who. Anyone that has a Great Dane will probably agree to this.

Our first Great Dane came as a great surprise to me. At the time, I had a German Shepard. Some friends of ours had a pair of Danes that just had pups (13 to be exact). When I was asked if I wanted one of them, I said no since I was quite happy with the Shepard. About 8 weeks later I came home and found that I had an 8 week only Dane puppy. Ever since then I have had Danes.

When my last Dane unexpectedly passed away, and being requested by my wife to find a replacement, I contacted Dane Rescue in Norco California. I had heard of them earlier and tucked away the information in case it was needed. Dane Rescue is run by Bert and Tracey Ward. Their address is 4867 Pedly Ave. Norco Ca. 91760 (909) 279-5100. When I called to inquire about obtaining a Great Dane they questioned me about what my last 190 lb Dane had recently died, they told me to come over and make a choice since I obviously knew what I was looking for.

They at the time, had about 50 Great Danes (male & female adults) as well as a few puppies. I wanted to obtain a male Harlequin (black & white) since that was the color pattern of my previous Dane and we both liked the coloration. They had 4 in stock at the time so we went out to see them. Of the 4, only 2 were really in consideration. After looking at the two, and bringing them both out again seperatly to verify which we really wanted, my wife liked Van Gogh best. Besides he is the only Great Dane that I have ever seen with blue eyes. After the second round of looking it was almost as if he knew that he was going home witrh us. Instead of walking back to the compound, he walked to the gate and waited for us. How could we resist such an intelligent dog.

When you obtain a dog from Dane Rescue, you sign a contract to take care of the dog. In the event that you can no longer keep the dog, you also agree to bring the dog back to them. They also give some good advice on how to take care of a Great Dane. Although Van Gogh was our fourth Great Dane, some of the information was still new to me and very helpful.

From the information they gave us, we were the third owners of Van Gogh. The last owner made the mistake of trying to make him into a guard dog. If the concept of being knocked down and licked to death appeals to you he would make a good guard dog. He does let us know if there are strangers around, but to date, we have never had to worry about his attitude with people. On the other hand, he almost defiantly does not like other dogs. So in that respect, we have to keep a somewhat wary attitude when walking him. On this subject, my daughter who has a Lab thought that the dogs should be introduced. She brought her dog over one day and Van Gogh tried to go through the screen door to get him. After about 45 min. of socializing and explaining to him that you don’t eat family, he agreed to accept the lab. While today he will still accepts him, II would not exactly call it a loving friendship but more or less a grudging acknowledgement of family status.

Great Danes are surprisingly good house dogs. To date he has never broken anything, although he very easily could. By the way, the contract we signed also had a provision that he would live in the house rather than outside. There are several large cushions around the house for him to be on. However, when he feels like going for a walk or being petted, it is very hard to ignore. When a dog weighs more than you, and his head through the paper you are reading. He usually makes his point quite clear.

Everyone that has seen him, usually takes to him immediately, One of the advantages of a big dog is that you don’t have to bend down to pet him. Which makes him available to anyone so inclined. All in all Great Danes are fun to own. The only bad thing about owning a Great Dane is that their life span is typically from 10-12 years. On the plus side, they are very warm, not quite cuddly, friends.