The GDCA board is
currently polling the members of the
parent club to determine whether
puppies should be entered in the
futurity only if both parents have
taken one of several specified
health tests*. The same requirement
would apply to list breeders in
breeder-referral lists. Surely such
tests will lead to healthier dogs.
Who wouldn’t want healthier dogs?
What a boon to our breed!
In addition to good health, we all
want our Danes to have good
temperaments. Danes are put down
every year for temperament problems.
We can use the same device: require
the parents of any puppy entered in
the futurity to have at least a CGC
(AKC Canine Good Citizen
certificate)*. Some suggest that the
sire and dam also be temperament
tested by an approved evaluator. If
only puppies with good temperament
parents could enter the futurity, we
could be certain that more Danes
would have friendly and stable
temperaments. Who could argue
against Great Danes having great
temperaments?
All good breeders constantly strive
to improve their stock, selecting
and evaluating based on our standard
describing the perfect Great Dane.
How much more successful would we be
if we insured that only champions be
bred? As with the previously
mentioned precedents, only puppies
whose both parents were champions
could be entered in the futurity*.
Imagine how much better our breed
would be, what higher quality dogs
would grace our rings, with this
condition in force!
We all lament that our breed is
relatively short lived. This is
another opportunity. While the
actual parents may not be old enough
to be long lived, we could establish
criteria for grandparents. We could
require of futurity puppies that
their grandparents be alive if they
are less than seven years old*. We
could apply it to
great-grandparents, also. How proud
and happy we would all be to
gradually see a longer life span for
our beloved Danes!
Part of the GDCA breeder’s code
specifies breeding certain colors
only to specific other colors. This
maintains our predictable six
approved colors. We used to require
a four (or five?) pure-color
pedigree for a litter to be futurity
nominated. With the other
requirements described above, it
would make sense to reinstate this
qualification again.
I am now removing my tongue from its
extended position in my cheek.
Breeding dogs is a matter of making
choices. Some of us apparently make
better choices than others, based on
our different levels of success. I
would love GDCA to have an extensive
breeder education program that could
help breeders make better choices.
The information provided should not
only cover the mechanics of breeding
and whelping and caring for puppies,
but also evaluating breeding stock
and what to consider in selecting
dogs to use with their bitches. It
could include information on which
traits are dominant and which
recessive; how to evaluate the whole
dog; which virtues are most
important, which less important, and
which “nice to have;” which faults
are most serious, somewhat serious,
or minor. We could have a mentors
list for breeders. The mentors would
be breeders with a lot of breeding
experience and success. We could
consult these mentors to discuss
breeding stock and potential
breedings. Mentors could provide
help in evaluating puppies.
We see pictures of champion Great
Danes in our yearbooks. How helpful
would it be to have pictures of
champion males with their pedigrees
on the parent club web site! This
gallery would be invaluable when we
are researching dogs we might breed
our bitches to! A dog’s photo could
stay on the site as long as they are
available for breeding.
The web site and the Bulletin could
be used to communicate the
information. There is so much to
learn, and the GDCA could and should
be in the forefront in educating its
members. GDCA members want to breed
good dogs. I think that education is
the most effective way for the
parent club to help them do so.
* Puppies produced using frozen
semen stored prior to enactment of
this provision would be exempt from
the requirement