On April 29th, we brought our new blue great dane puppy home from Wilmington, NC. We found her on the internet a month before and knew right away she was exactly what we had been looking for. We met her breeder half way in Lumberton, NC and brought her home. She weighed 12 pounds on that day and now, three weeks later, she weighs in at 18-19 pounds. She is growing so fast. When we spoke with the breeder before we brought her home, we were told that her eyes would be darker due to her parent's eye color, however, when we picked her up we saw, immediately, that she has those gorgeous blue dane eyes. I think they will turn grey as she grows, but either way she is absolutely beautiful.
Casey and I have grown to love the breed. We had a 9 month old blue great dane that we bought in August 2010 and then had to put down in March 2011 due to health concerns. So, ever since that time, we've been waiting for the opportunity to bring another dane home. This little girl, will be an indoor dog. Yes, she will weigh in at around 150 pounds when she is full grown and we are prepared for the large, clumsy puppy running around but we feel that even though they are one of the largest breeds, she deserves to be indoors with us.
At this point, we are working on crate training and house breaking. She has been fabulous. She has only had a few accidents inside the house, mostly when we haven't been paying attention to her and she hardly whines when put in her crate. Once she is 9 weeks(which is this week) she will be able to understand and comprehend training a bit better. The only issue we've had is her teething. Since she is 8 weeks and cutting puppy teeth and then will turn around and cut adult teeth, she has been nipping at our hands and fingers. So far, we can give her a toy and she is content but when she is excited, it is much harder to calm her down and refocus her attention. I hope that as she grows, she will learn that she cannot bite/chew skin and she won't be so aggressive once her adult teeth come in.
We've also switched her over to adult large breed dog food as of 7 weeks. Great Danes are different than other breeds; since they grow so fast, they shouldn't have more than 24% protein or 14% fat content. We feed Eva Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice formula. If great danes are fed high protein diets, their muscles and joints can grow too quickly causing other health issues. At this time, we're also watching her exercise. We let her jog a bit while outside, but we do not encourage her to rough house or run. As she is growing so quickly, we'd like for her to be gentle on her joints.
All in all, she is one great puppy and an amazing companion already. I will continue to post pictures of her as she grows. Please message me if you have any questions about the breed or need help with your great dane. We have loved our little girls and look forward to learning more and more about these beautiful giants.
