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WELCOME to our home if you are interested in adopting one of
our Designer Danes or just want to learn about Danes and see the
many (approx 64) beautiful colors they are available in. My name is Kay Roush and I'm addicted to Danes,
especially the chocolates!
"Thank You" for taking the time to visit
us via the internet! We hope you enjoy your tour of our home and
the lives of our AKC & CKC registered Danes. From viewing
the pictures on our site, it will be easy to see how we came up with our name. One thing that sets us apart from most
breeders is that we like to stay in contact with our new "extended
families" and get
updates
on our adopted
Danes for as long as
they wish to send them!
As for our
breeding Danes, we do not inbreed. We have seven different
lines we are working with for our chocolate breeding program.
We are not a "hobby" breeder nor do we breed for
"profit." I am yet to get out of the red with my Dane
expenses. Not because I have sick animals but because I put
everything I make back into their care, well being, living
conditions and... they even have their very own ride!
I want you to know our first priority is to produce
quality puppies that are healthy, well socialized with good temperament and conformation that
represent the breed correctly. Then, and only then, does the DESIGNER
coloring factor in!
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LOL, I got up to get a drink and Zoey
stole my spot! |
With that being said, our favorites are the
chocolates, fawnequins and brindlequins.
Over the years we have seen an increase in the desire for "DESIGNER" Danes vs.
the qualifying show colors so we are very pleased to be breeding
specifically for the colors we happen to love best. Personally I
find it amusing when the show people criticize me for "breeding for color" when
in fact isn't that exactly what they are doing? They choose
to breed for only 6 specific colors just as I choose to breed for what I
consider the 7th color that
appeals to me, chocolate. I refer to chocolate as the 7th color
because it can be breed for just as consistently as their six colors.
After all, blue is a dilution of black, just as chocolate is, and it's an
accepted color.
I've read on many of their forums that they agree it's not the mixing of colors
that's causing health problems with designer Danes but the
actual dogs that are being used for breeding. Some have even
admitted there's nothing wrong breeding outside the GDCA guidelines as long as
one has done their research. Many even admit color has nothing to do with
temperament and that health testing will not guarantee that some genetic disease
will pop up sometime along the line.
Well, I have good healthy Danes that I am working with in
my breeding program, have researched the colors as well as the backgrounds of my
Danes and they are producing healthy puppies that my customers love!
We have had customers
return to adopt a
second puppy or refer
friends and family to us. We're
very proud to say we've even had several of our Danes
become or are soon to become
Registered
Therapy or
Service
K-9!
Furthermore, we're proud to say that
none of the Danes we've produced thus far have had any health issues any
different than a breed standard colored Dane produces. We've had a couple
with overbites and a couple of umbilical hernias, all of which were disclosed
prior to being adopted.
In the latter part of December 2009
I made the decision to concentrate my breeding program primarily on the
chocolates thus putting some of my brindlequins, fawnequins and other colors up for
adoption. It was not be easy to part with them, however, I will not be
one of those breeders having too many dogs... more dogs than I can care for properly!
I love all of my Danes and their wellbeing comes first.
My Danes live in a clean environment, have 3
doggy doors to choose from to go outside to potty and as they eat their
breakfast and supper I clean my floors and pick up their deposits from the yard.
I also do this mid-day as they are taking a nap and then again at night before
going to bed as I have flood lights for the back yard.
Hopefully the information on our web site will put your mind at ease about
us. I have had dogs since I was a child, been raising various breeds of
dogs such as Aussies, Dobermans, Boxers and Pomeranians since the
early 80's and became totally committed to Danes in 2007.
Our puppies are
handled from the minute they are born; actually before then, as I rub the
pregnant mom's belly several times a day while laying with her on the couch and
in the bed at night. We raise healthy, happy puppies because my life is
devoted to my Danes. My husband and I are both retired so our Danes are
totally spoiled, therefore, if you don't want a puppy that's been loved on 24/7
and has butterfly kisses for you, then I suggest you look elsewhere for your
puppy.
I have three (3) Dane size doggy doors so everyone can
come and go as they please from the house out into the fenced 3 acre area to play and/or potty. After breakfast and
supper, while they are outside playing, I brush them down and check each one for
any soars from their biting one another during playtime, insect bites (we have
wasp & tarantulas in our area) or change in coat condition. I disinfect all
feed, water bowls and bedding every day and wash all bedding
every other day.
You see, not only do I want my Danes to have a safe and cool environment to live
in but also a clean one. Duhhh, we live here too you know!
All puppies being housebroken are put in the nursery where there
are appropriate sized doggy doors for them to go outside in fenced in areas...
away from the larger Danes so they don't accidentally get hurt because of the
size difference.
As you can see below I "puppy-proof" the outside steps with a side barrier so no
puppies will fall off the sides of the steps by accident. Although our
pups are raised in doors, they have the freedom to go outside whenever they want
so some may have small calluses on their elbows from laying on the concrete
steps or in the yard. I'd rather do this than confine them in cages or
kennels!
I also keep puppies safe from the older Danes with use of an exercise panel on
it's side dividing off the house as shown below.
We purchase our Dane size doggy doors from Moorepet.
 to see the
door mount one (see
bottom of their page, Behemonth.) The dual flap ones are great if you get a lot
of wind and/or rain in your area. Here is the link if you need a wall mount one
(see bottom of
their
page, Behemonth.)
S ome of our puppies may cost more than
others you'll find in the newspaper, being sold on the side of the road, in a mall parking lot or on the web,
however,
you can rest assured ours are of high
quality and taken care of properly so they will be great life long companions
for you and your family.
A cheap puppy will usually end up costing you more in the long run anyway with vet
bills! You can watch some of our
YouTube videos on how our puppies are actually raised for their prospective
new owners!
Our 4-legged kids are fed properly in raised food and water bowls and
no stressful activity one hour before or after eating, all are on
supplements (Nzymes, Ox-E-Drops and 4-N-1 Probotics) as well as receive routine
health check-ups and other services as needed. The Nzymes and any prescription
medications are kept in the large
red dispenser you see below. It can be found at your hardware store...
it's really for nuts and bolts but makes a great vitamin/pill dispenser!
Each Dane has their own drawer for each day of
the week and the drawer is divided in half for a.m. and p.m. tablet supplements
or medications. The powdered Probotics is pre-measured in the pill boxes
for each day of the week for each. This takes the guess work out of how
much to give and "which one did I give the supplements to?" I've made
it so simple, even my husband can keep up with it and it makes it easier for the
babysitters too! Yes, we have babysitters for our 4-legged kids when we
will be away from the house for any length of time. My husband is very
good about helping stay on top of things so we always have plenty of supplements
on hand and never run out.
How our puppies grow and adult dogs maintain their weight is
so important to us we purchased a heavy duty professional scale
just like vet clinics have. We also have a smaller one to weigh the
puppies when they are born. There won't be any "guessing" what our puppies weigh like so
many breeders do... a good breeder will have a scale! We'll even be more than happy to take a picture of your future puppy on the scale so
you can read the
weight for yourself! (Oops, guess I should have cleaned the
scale's mat off before I snapped the picture below but, at least you know we do use
it! LOL, I had just finished weighing some puppies.)
All the Danes get fed at "feeding station" in the
side nursery, this way everyone gets their own supplements, there is no
fighting, no one eats someone else's food, when I bring their food they sit
quietly for me to put it in their tub. By feeding my Danes in this manor I can monitor if
each one is eating properly.
One of the first signs of a dog not feeling well is their not eating! In
short, all my kids have good manners so there's no feeding frenzy.
When my Danes were small we'd take them all for truck rides INSIDE our crew cab
truck around town because they love going Bye-Bye! However, as they
grew there was less and less room for everyone and we had to start making three
trips around town! So, in 2008 I bought them their own van and in 2009 had our signs
put on it so everyone would know who we are where ever we go! I love my
Danes and am very proud of them and the colors they are! The van
also comes in very
handy when taking puppies to meet their new owners or taking them to the
airport for shipping!
We do have an order form, a short interview and a
contract to be filled out because we want to make sure our puppies go to good,
caring forever homes. We never want to sell to brokers and have a contract
that discourages them from even wanting to buy from us! Pet shops
have called and wanted our puppies but I turn them away each and every
time! We are NOT a puppy mill by any means.
We support our dogs, they don’t support us!
Pictured below: Babydoll (Chocolate Merle),
Pretty Girl (Fawnequin) and Kassi (Blue Brindle Merlequin). One of the
things I love most about breeding Danes is the variety of beautiful colors
they can come in, which is way more than the breed standard of 6!! Just
see the color chart I've made, it's totally awesome!
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