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Great Danes => Great Dane Discussions => : PhoebesMom September 05, 2006, 04:40:17 AM
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Hi, I'm a new owner to a Deaf Harlequin or Merliquin, I'm not quite sure since I've been told both. Phoebe is almost 3yrs old and such a joy. We've had her for one month. I'm wondering what everyone feeds their Great Danes? Phoebe weighs 95lb. She's not huge like the American lines but is an average size so I've been told for a female. Phoebe does not play with toys, balls, stuffed animals or otherwise. She loves to chew bones though. I guess Phoebe has never played with toys, I'm not sure if this is part of being deaf or just what or if she was never given any. Has anyone ever expierenced this and if so did their Dane come around and start playing? We have purchased Phoebe a ton of toys and other things but she hasn't touched them. She's new to so much it would seem as we took her for her very first camping trip this past weekend. She seemed to enjoy it but was nervous which I could tell by the fact she stayed close to me and did a lot of leaning. I would love to hear advice or anything anyone can tell me about Great Danes that I might not know. We also have a Chihuahua so this is a huge difference for us.
Megan & Phoebe
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I was told with Jaz to feed her only 5 cups max a day. The way i really do it is if she is looking skinney i give her more, if looking chubby cut back a little. Jaz is self monitoring...w hich i don;t like but she does it on her own. She is fed solid gold, prairie, wysong, and mix of all the above. She getts nupro, seameal, vit. C, Vit E, flaxseed oil, fish oil, and triple flex which is glucosimine, MSM, and Chondrotin. They are definitly a special breed esp deaf. Jaz i take off lead and she doesn't go anywhere. Luckly no wobblers or anything like that. I have heard that eaglepack has great food. If you go the www.eaglepack. com website it tells you about HOD, and how proper food can help. You can get free food too. I have free coupons if you would like a few of them. Being a trainer i get many offers on food, and i have a ton. I also have different food samples that companies sent me. But i am slow in the training department right now so i am willing to share with you if you would like to try it out... what ever you do don't feed pedigree, or purina, or yucky types.
Lauren Shelley
Four Pawsitive Paws
Teaching dogs and training their owners
Service dog training available
Nutrition consulting available
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Hi Lauren and thank's for the reply. I was told to feed Phoebe 3-4 cups a day around our meal times, and with only 8-10% fat since she's a mature Dane. The vet we see used to breed Danes and did so for 25yrs so he said we need to keep Phoebe at around 95-100lbs. He seemed to know a fair amount which really helped.
Feeding Danes sounds almost like feeding parrots. I have 4 Eclectus parrots in addition to our cat and Chihuahua. Do you add the fish oil to the food yourself from a capsule? I give my parrots Salmon Oil, Flax Seed, Palm Oil, hemp seed and lots of other additional suppliments since they are on an all fresh diet minus pellets.
I've also heard that feeding Raw to danes is the only and best way to go however I run a day home and I could get hit with some major penalty's for feeding raw.
I'm not a Pedigree/Purina fan at all and had never fed it until the vet we met said that he used it when he bred for the time he did with excellent results. He said the majority of his Danes lived to be 11yrs old in excellent health and he had been showing with a few as top show champions in North and South America. I've seen pics and they look stunning. We have been slowly converting Phoebe to Purina Weight Maintence 8%fat and just started this in small amounts but that has left me somewhat uncomfortable knowing those places reps, and my own feelings on those brands as well. I want what is best for her and her over all health and well being so I was quick to get on this site after hearing about it.
Phoebe goes in to get spayed soon and also have her ankle fixed. She was dropped off to us un-spayed, and with a huge cut on her ankle which we were told would heal on it's own until the vet looked at it shortly after Phoebe's arrival. We had blood work all done and got her micro-chipped. Blood work came back fine, no worries there. She was in heat so we've had to wait but her ankle the vet thinks is a bone split or spur. He'll know more when he does the xray and surgery in the next week or so.
Thanks again for the advice. Do you have a webpage?
Megan
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Welcome Phoebe's mom! I am Rebekah and I am mom to two danes and many other mixed breed dogs.
I have Leeloo, a 5 year old female Dane who weighs about 90 pounds now. She had been up to 100 at one point but we realized she was chubby... heehee... so we fed a little less for a while. She gets about 4 cups a day (split into two meals), we feed Natural Balance Ultra Premium. We adjust according to how she looks, every now and then if we think she looks too skinny we give her some cottage cheese and she really goes for that. ;D
Connor is almost a year old and probably about 110 pounds (maybe more?), he eats 8 cups a day of the kibble and that is working out great for him. He had digestive problems FOREVER and I fed him home cooked meals for months to rehabilitate his digestive system. I am so pleased I can finally feed him kibble again. He gets the same food as Leeloo.
Danes are such a joy! Your dog might not know how to play with toys so it might be really fun to teach her and encourage her! Many of our dogs have learned how to play with toys and they love them now. Everyone seems to have their preferences. Stuffed animals are a big hit around here but we have to keep a close eye to make sure no one tears them up and eats them! Otherwise a kong filled with peanut butter or frozen yogurt really keeps them busy for a while and doubles as a tasty treat.
After Phoebe has been with you a little longer she probably won't be as stressed out in camping situations and stuff like that. When we first adopted Leeloo, I think when we brought her different places she got super stressed because she thought we were going to leave her somewhere, like her previous owners had done with her. She has been with us now for about 9 months and I think she finally feels secure that we aren't going to abandon her! Poor gal! Rescues of course will have baggage sometimes, so it's good to keep that in mind and help them move on by giving them security and leadership. :)
I'd love to see some pictures of Phoebe! :D
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The amount of abuse some of these dogs go through and they still loove humans...poor baby. I use what ever comes to me. Since trainer, i get free samples in the mail. I use olive oil too. I used to use the liquid flaxseed oil, she really likes it...but it is so much more expencive then the caplets, and the caplet last longer. So for now i use the caplets and use 1 tablespoon of olive oil.. she likes it. even though they are deaf they can still know what you want from them. Jaz knows no, sit, down, roll over, walk, poo/pee, come, heel, paw, sit pretty, crawl, up <-- on my shoulders, up <-- on bed, sit on couch, stay. There is so much they can do!
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oh yeah jaz is 10 months old, 115, and 32 inches She is skinny now, still growing. Her sisters were 34 inches at 6 months old, so i know she is going to grow more.
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Thank you for the reply. I was contimplating Clicker Training with her to interest her in toys. I used this method with my parrots for training with great success however with Phoebe being deaf I think it's another story. I will try a kong stuffed with some yummies with her. I do that for my parrots hehe. I tried throwing a ball and she watched our Chihuahua Thunder chase it and having a blast and she ran with him and went into this cute puppy mode but did not pick up the ball or show any interest herself. She loves bones and that's a big goodie for her. She won't touch stuffed toys but will lay with them and cuddle with them. I'm going to have to get pictures up soon. She is so pretty. Phoebe has one blue eye and one half brown/half blue eye with very pretty markings.
Megan
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Jaz has very bad vision, so clicker training worked ok with her. Although a vibration collar made my life as well as her's a lot easier! There is a book called Liveing with a deaf dog (find on dogwise) or look online for crickets website... deaf dalmation..lot s of hand signals you can print out an use. Jaz is blind at night, limited day vision, deaf, and brain damaged. If she can be taught anyone can!!!!
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Is there a list of Dog Foods/Brands on Big Paws listing ingredients? I know on one list I'm on for my parrots we have a list of Pellets and what ingredients are in each which also list all the bad ingredients, it was an excellent source of info and new brands are added all the time with ingredients.
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There is ... but only the food list, not the ingredients. Look at solidgoldhealt h.com and eaglepack.com Both of those show everything. Flintriverranc h.com is great too.....
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Welcome! I'm Tessie, mom to Belladonna, a Great Dane. She is my first and has taught me plenty.
First of all, everyone here can give you great advice about what to feed. Pheobe will let you know what will work for her. For example, Solid Gold Wolf King is a great food, but doesn't agree with Bella. (Soft stools for 3 months!) I now feed here Nature's Recipe Venison (I think that's what it's called). She's done great on it. Every day or two, I pop open a fish oil capsule and put it on her food(great for skin and hair). She pretty much eats as she wants, but I put out 3 cups twice daily. She is 13 months and about 105lb or so.
As for toys, Bella loves them, but she started out with plenty of them. I would think the best thing to try would be a kong filled with treats and peanut butter. This should spark Phoebe's interest.
Good luck with her, and please post some pictures!!!!
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Hi Tina, Thank you sooo much. I'm still so new to this site but I found it. What a great post. I'm now looking at which brands are available in Canada and which might suit Phoebe best.
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Hi Phoebes mom, I have an almost 6 month female newf named Joy and a 19 month male rotti named Tiny. I feed my dogs ACANA dog food. I get it in Canada? I am from Canada. Where are you from, they have a nice website, that lists ingredients, feeding instructions, everything. It is very informative. They also have a link to find out where the closest retailer is to you. The website is www.championpe tfoods.com
Its made in Alberta, I found it through my breeder and I cna't believe the difference between the food I was giving my dogs before as to now. I have also sold to numerous customers who have been feeding their dogs food from grocery stores, and they can't believe that their dogs like ACANA more. It is all natural. Home grown chicken and vegetables. Or Lamb and Rice or whatever your dogs likes.
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Hello and welcome to BPO! Glad to see you are finding your way around.
My name is Chris, and I am owned by Keiko, a husky/shep mix, Gunther, a great dane, and Nigel and Posey, two rat terriers.
My guys were all on different brands of food and I had wanted to get everyone on the same brand, even though they would all need different types. They're on Nutro Natural Choice right now (large breed, senior, and high energy), and if there is a place that sells it when we move I may switch everyone over to Canidae.
Gunther's favorite toys are stuffed ones, and he is almost always carrying one around in his mouth. His next favorite kind of toy are ropes, then bones (stuffed or plain). He also enjoys the occasional tennis ball. Keiko doesn't really play with toys, as everyone will steal them from her, and the little guys will play with anything, including things they're not supposed to......lol. It may just take her awhile to get used to the "play" concept, especially if she's never had toys to play with before. Give her a few months and see what her preferences are. Who knows? Some dogs never really play with toys.
Good luck with your new family member, she seems like a real sweetheart. Can't wait to see her pix.
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Just wanted to welcome you to big paws! I'm Marissa, mom to Zoey an Alaskan Malamute and Dolly a Saint Bernard. You'll find a ton of info here. Glad you're here!
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Welcome to BPO Megan :) Another fellow Canadian - YAY! I'm Kelly and I'm owned by Kate, a 13 month old Leonberger. We live just outside of Calgary ;)
Just wanted to welcome you - we'd love to see pics of your lovely girl Phoebe! :)
Kelly & Kate
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Thank you everyone for the great replies. I've been looking into foods for a while and all the info really helped while I was researching yesterday. We're in Canada, Calgary, Alberta actually. I'm going to look for a foal coat for Phoebe for this winter since she was very chilly camping this past weekend. With the short hair I think she could use a nice warm coat come winter and this winter in AB is supposed to be the coldest in 100yrs! Ouch. I'll keep everyone posted with the food we choose to get Phoebe moved onto. I may wait to convert her until after she gets spayed and gets her front ankle fixed so I don't stress her anymore then she will be. I'll also make a point of getting some pictures up today for sure. Keep a look out I should have some by this afternoon. ;)
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How do I get Phoebe's pics up?
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OH SHE IS GORGOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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YAY pictures!!!! :D
She looks "merlequin" to me!!! ;D Stunning gal!!! :-*
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Isn't she? I'll have to get better pictures of her to upload showing her eyes. I just can't get a good close up face shot to show the one blue eye and one blue/brown eye.
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that is definitly a merliquin... jazmine is a merliquin too, but somewhere they forgot to give her color.. so she is a whitey...
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Jazmine is very pretty I've seen an all white Dane before, would that amount to an Albino? The Dane had dark brown eyes and was white as snow with a pink nose. I love the white danes.
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Ooooh, Phoebe is gorgeous! What a cutie!
A white dane wouldn't be an albino unless they were completely void of pigment. Red eyes, pink nose, no spots on gums/toe pads or nails. An all white dane isn't all that unusual. Most deaf danes I know of are all white or mostly white.
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Thank you everyone for the great replies. I've been looking into foods for a while and all the info really helped while I was researching yesterday. We're in Canada, Calgary, Alberta actually. I'm going to look for a foal coat for Phoebe for this winter since she was very chilly camping this past weekend. With the short hair I think she could use a nice warm coat come winter and this winter in AB is supposed to be the coldest in 100yrs! Ouch. I'll keep everyone posted with the food we choose to get Phoebe moved onto. I may wait to convert her until after she gets spayed and gets her front ankle fixed so I don't stress her anymore then she will be. I'll also make a point of getting some pictures up today for sure. Keep a look out I should have some by this afternoon. ;)
Phoebe is GORGEOUS!!! What a lovely girl!Â
Megan we live in Airdrie, just 20 minutes north of Calgary. We'll have to have a meet-up sometime, I'm sure Phoebe and Kate would love to play together! ;DÂ
Where did you go camping this past weekend? We are AVID campers and go all the time. There's just so many beautiful spots in Alberta to camp, we're quite lucky actually ;)
As for a foal coat - I would go to Greenhawk. It's a Canadian Horse supply store, based in Ontario but just came out to Calgary (in the SE) last year. You should definitely be able to find a good foal coat there for Phoebe. :)
Keep us posted - and more pics please! ;D
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Hi Kelly,
I think Phoebe would love to play. I cannot allow her off leash but she enjoys other dogs company as long as the dog is not too pushy as she gets intimidated and then lays down or hides behind me.
We generally go to Sibald, Ghost Lake, Sylvan, or Rocky Mtn. House for weekend trips, anything longer and we head to BC.
Thanks for the mention of Greenhawk. I'm in the SE so it shouldn't be far, I'll check it out for sure.
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Hi Kelly,
I think Phoebe would love to play. I cannot allow her off leash but she enjoys other dogs company as long as the dog is not too pushy as she gets intimidated and then lays down or hides behind me.
We generally go to Sibald, Ghost Lake, Sylvan, or Rocky Mtn. House for weekend trips, anything longer and we head to BC.
Thanks for the mention of Greenhawk. I'm in the SE so it shouldn't be far, I'll check it out for sure.
Sounds good - we'll have to get together sometime then, before it gets really cold out ;) No worries I don't go to dog parks around here, just leashed parks. Off leash parks actually intimidate ME, not Kate (ha ha). But I've heard lots of horror stories, so I try to stay away... ::)
We camp out by Rocky Mtn House ALL THE TIME! It's such nice country up there :) Ghost Lake a few times, and just went to BC for a week and a half :)
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We stay at Wilderness Village Campground when we go to Rocky Mtn. House. We're going to try and get out one more time before it gets too cold. This past weekend they had a bear sighting, that always makes for fun.
In Calgary we walk along the Ridge in McKenzie Lake as well as Fish Creek Park and sometimes Confederation Park. We love Confederation Park, we used to live in the NW a block from the park and really miss having all the mature trees.
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We camp on "crown land" or in the "free zone" when we go up to Rocky. It's so nice and (usually) quiet. We're hoping to get out once more (not too sure where) this year, hopefully we will! ;D Kate LOVES camping ;)
Those parks sound really nice - I've been to Confederation Park (and it's beautiful) but that's it. And Princess Island Park too...
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Welcome Phoebe & her mom to BPO!...I'm Chelle & I live with 3 Great Pyrenees...Sam son (the moody one) Pippin (my golden boy) & Sheba(my wild child).
So far as food goes we have been very happy with Canidae All Life Stages.
I hope you'll enjoy your time here! :)
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Oh Phoebe is a gorgeous merlequin!! I have a deaf merlequin too. I've attached pictures but I don't think you can see Boo's eyes. She has one blue eye and one brown/green eye. ;D
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BBBBOOOOOOOOOO OO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Boo is so pretty!! I love the markings. I think it's so neat that they can have a half and half eye. I've seen the two different colored eyes before but never an eye with two colors. Until Phoebe of course. Do you find that with Boo being deaf she's more easy going around other dogs? I find Phoebe is shy and a bit of a push over, she really allows other dogs of any size to climb all over her and push her around. While she did do a puppy pounce stance once with another Dane she didn't seem to understand how to play or interact. She follows our Chihuahua around and sometimes gets frisky but that's pretty much the extent of play for her.
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I can tell you that jaz, is great around other dogs although she doesn't get the hint that others don't want to play with her. ESP. small dogs. She loves small dogs, the excite her a lot!! I mean a lot!!! They will growl at her, and she doesn't hear them, and keeps going. Then she gets her nose nipped. One time they made contact and her nose was black and blue for a while. Fine now though. Jaz had to learn from others how to play with them...danes are so lanky that they don't exactly know how to play, although once they get to know you they will paly, she is jsut getting her surroundings.
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Phoebe gets that alot. Our Chihuahua is intimated by her size so when she towers over him he will growl or turn and chase her or nip at her and she doesn't seem to catch on. My sisters Tea Cup Chihuahua was a real brat and was not nice at all to Phoebe who is so laid back that she followed Stella even with Stella's threatening growls. I don't think the little dogs get that Phoebe won't hurt them she's just curious. Or they have little Dog syndrom where they think they are far bigger. I know our Chihuahua Thunder suffers from that. Phoebe does like to tap Thunder on the back once in a while during passing with her paw and Thunder sees it as teasing. LOL
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Boo is so pretty!! I love the markings. I think it's so neat that they can have a half and half eye. I've seen the two different colored eyes before but never an eye with two colors. Until Phoebe of course. Do you find that with Boo being deaf she's more easy going around other dogs? I find Phoebe is shy and a bit of a push over, she really allows other dogs of any size to climb all over her and push her around. While she did do a puppy pounce stance once with another Dane she didn't seem to understand how to play or interact. She follows our Chihuahua around and sometimes gets frisky but that's pretty much the extent of play for her.
Boo is a brat!! We have an American Bulldog/Amstaff mix and she's always bothering her! The two of them go nonstop. But then our Bully will want to stop and Boo will continue to annoy her. She'll get a growl (not that she can hear it) and then a nip. I have to say, that doesn't stop her really. One of us usually has to step in and tell her "no". And Boo pretty much likes every dog she meets. She can be a little skittish at first, then she goes into play bow and wants to fool around. We met a 5 yr old Great Dane where my daugther has cheerleading practice. Boo wants to play with him sooo bad but he had growth plate problems and may have some hip issues so his mom doesn't really want him to play (which is understandable). BTW that picture of Boo on the bed, the bed is actually a queen size bed. It totally doesn't look like it with my giant lump of a dog on it ;D Boo is tall but not very heavy. I can't tell you her exact measurements for height, but she weighs in at 120 lbs at 14+ months. Her head reaches above my waist though.
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Boo sounds like Phoebe a lot. I had seen the pictures of Boo on the bed and wondered if it was a double bed. She is so big. I find everything about the Danes so amusing since Phoebe joined our family, they are very unlike smaller breeds. It's been especially interesting living with a deaf dog. Friends of ours call us the Sympathy Zoo since all of our pets are either rehomed or rescued. We just have such soft hearts when it comes to animals that need a loving forever home. It sucks sometimes having so many considering I have 2 young children and run a day home as well because it makes for so much work but like raising children it's been the most rewarding joy to see animals from past homes come around and learn the joys of toys, people, food ect.