Keymaster's Web Log

Envy Finishes Today

It’s finally beginning to sink in, Envy is a champion today. Wow.

This is an emotional day for me for so many reasons. First, a dog I love was honored with an American Kennel Club championship today. I love Envy. She is an amazing dog. So often it seems, the dog is forgotten in all this show business. The handlers hug each other on TV. What about the dog? It makes me mad. It’s their honor, not ours.

Envy is the granddaughter of Zool. So deserving of the title, she never became an AKC champion, an honor taken from her by fate.

Envy is the daughter of Schnitz. Schnitz never became a champion. Schnitz was a ground breaking dog. Now, he is the producer of two natural ear champions, Envy and her brother Otto.

Tonight as Envy makes her way back home to Seattle from Missoula, Montana

I think of Zool and Schnitz and I miss them, as I miss her. What ties these animals together, aside from my obvious and embarrassing love for them, is the loving, gentle spirit they all share.

Grandmother-son-granddaughter: all have such a grace and quietness, mingled with effortless inner beauty that simply shines out of them. They have a presence, such a beautiful presence. So difficult to put into words, I can only say as a means of explaining, when one of them leaves, it is as if the whole world is diminished by their loss.

And knowing this, every day with Envy is a blessing. I so enjoy her and eagerly await her return to make my world so much brighter. To urge me on with her own selflessness and inner strength.

Joy.

Exciting Times

It's a new era here at Keymaster. I'm very excited about breeding Reign in the summer or fall of this year

Reign will be bred to American and Italian CH. Oscar, www.theoscar.net, a blue Dane from Italy who came to the U.S. to live a few years ago and finished his American Championship . Oscar has a wonderful, stable temperament and remains vigorous and healthy at age 8 years.

So a new era is about to begin at Keymaster Danes.

My focus is now heavily on preparing to welcome a new batch of little ones into the world.

Goodbye Mr. Schnitz

Keymaster's R U Schnitzel "Schnitz" went to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday evening.

I don't even know how to begin eulogizing Schnitz. He was special in many ways. Sweet and gentle, funny and quirky at times, he was also an amazing show dog. He walked into the ring at his first fun match and performed like a veteran. He knew what it was all about - him! I couldn't help but grin each time we went in the ring, his enthusiasm was so infectious. Judges often commented on his attitude and how much he obviously loved to show.

Schnitz and I became a show team and had many adventures together. He was among the first natural eared Danes to be shown successfully on the west coast. Although he was just a few wins away from being both an American and Canadian champion, his owners missed him terribly when he was gone and finally asked me to stop showing him. I could hardly ask them to love him less, so he was retired.

To know Schnitz was to love him. A complete gentleman from first to last, he was a dog who truly never met a stranger, human or otherwise. He liked to give hugs (when invited) and rest his head on your shoulder as you drove. Schnitz was friendly to a fault with other dogs and got himself in trouble a few times by trying to make friends with other intact male Danes.

When it was clear his time was near, I got a call. I drove through the driving rain for four hours, walked into his kitchen and kneeled down. He stood and calmly pressed his head into my shoulder for a long time then gently lifted his paw in greeting. The power went out as thunder rolled in the distance. He was tired and seemed to know why I was there. I brought his daughter Envy in to meet him and he immediately brightened, arching his neck and wagging his tail in greeting. Always a gentleman in the presence of a lady.

Schnitz ended his days the way he lived them, with grace and quiet dignity. He gently fell asleep on his bed at home with me by his side stroking his head whispering words of love in his ear. The exact cause of his decline is not known, we only knew his body suddenly began to fail him. Despite every effort short of surgery, in his last week he could only keep food or water down with great difficulty and caught aspiration pneumonia. His owners could not bear to watch his increasing discomfort and made the selfless choice to let him go.

Although I was sad to say goodbye to my dear friend, I feel extraordinarily blessed to have helped bring this gentle, loving soul into the world and be with him as he oh, so softly went on to the next. He lived a long, extremely healthy life and suffered hardly at all. He will forever have a very special place in my heart. He leaves a huge hole in the lives and hearts of his devoted owners, Tom and Judy Meehan.

Schnitz was just four months shy of his 10th birthday. He is survived by his littermates Anna, Elton, and Rosie as well as his puppies out of two litters.

He will be greatly missed.

I'm Not Seeing Red

The man with a Mini-Dachshund in his arms asked me after I left the ring, "Did you expect to come out with a red ribbon?" Red denotes second place, out of the running for points at an AKC show. Without a moment's pause and somewhat to my own surprise I replied, "I don't go in the ring with any expectations. I just go in and show my dog the best I can."

Therein lies the problem for so many exhibitors. They go in the ring with actual expectations. Considering how much results can vary from day to day at dog shows, expecting anything other than your eventual survival isn't a good idea. Benjamin Franklin would probably agree there are only three things for sure in life; death, taxes, and the unpredictability of dog shows. So any expectations are a grandstand for disappointment, nearly sure to collapse under their own weight. But if the spectator with the Dachshund had stayed a bit longer, I would have elaborated that while I don't have expectations, I always have HOPE. Hope is what keeps me coming back.

On this particularly day, I felt I had presented my dog to the best of my ability. I felt he and I had worked together as a team and had improved our performance over the day before. While that day wasn't our day to win, my hope burned brightly that our turn would come around again soon enough. So despite the lack of points, I was happy. Of course I love to win, who doesn't? But to me it's become more about personal achievement with my dog than about winning. Because when I go in and do my best - I've already won!

Dog showing is one of the few sports where a complete novice is immediately up against professionals. It's tough out there, sometimes even nasty, and many is the day I've been outhandled in those critical last seconds when the judges make their final decisions.

Those experiences of defeat and knowing that I was barely edged out have led to an overriding motivation to do my best in the ring. A respected Dane handler once told me, "Pretend every spectator around that ring is tomorrow's judge and show your dog every single second." This advice that has helped keep my focus on showing my dog to its fullest potential - something within my control  - instead of on winning, which is far beyond it.

So even when I walk away with a red ribbon, I'm hardly ever seeing red. 

Dust and Nostalgia

Today I took my old box of show catalogs out to the recycling bin. This was not an easy decision, the walk outside seemed long and I felt a pang of guilt when I dumped them in the big blue container. Though the vast majority were over 10 years old, the symbolism they held was strong. The dusty little softbound treasures told the story of how my life in dog shows began. Show catalogs are how a novice like me gathered information about judges and started to understand how the whole game worked.

To honor all this, I had to say a proper goodbye.  As I leafed through the pages I recalled the Danes of yesteryear: "Remember that fawn special, wasn't he nice?" The people: "I wonder what ever happened to Barb, the born-again Christian who showed her own Dane at age 66 and encouraged you to get saved in the nicest possible way?" The funny stories: "Remember the Yakima Valley show in '93? That's when Chevy jumped out of the ring on the go 'round, then jumped back in again." I smiled at all these recollections, pulled out a few special volumes, and put the lid back on the box.

The frugal side of me fought to hold onto the investment, "Alison, you paid between $4 and $6 a piece for these when you could hardly afford it. Now you're getting rid of them?!" But the reality is the catalogs were only pleasant reminders and amounted to one more box of old stuff that no one else would really want.

I was sad to see them go, but I realized I don't need the catalogs themselves to remember what I have learned and appreciate the lavish return on my investment.

Thoughts on the Notorious B.I.G.

What is it about Americans? We have to have everything big. Our cars are big, our food is big, and correspondingly, our butts are big. So of course, our dogs have to be big too. Most Dane breeders have had macho guys who inquire about male puppies and want to know if they'll grow up to be 200 lbs. Well people, it's a "Great" Dane. Not a Minor Dane or a Mun Dane. The dog will be big. He'll be the biggest dog on the block, okay? You'll have to buy an SUV to haul him around in. Pedestrians will cross the street to avoid him. You will gather crowds when you go to the park.

What the macho guy who wants the enormous Dane doesn't realize is his dog will probably live a shorter life. In my first litter, there were two Danes that had to be put down because they could no longer stand up on their own at age 8 and age 9. Sadly, owners must realize there is no choice in that situation, a dog the size of a Dane must be put down if it can't get up. Sadder still, many older Danes are put down for this reason. It is by no means a rare occurance, though rarely talked about. One could argue that age 8 or 9 is within the average lifespan for our breed, but still I find this unacceptable. To paraphrase Dylan Thomas, 'I will not go gently into that good night; but rage, rage against the fading of the light." In other words, I refuse to accept that a dog living to age 8 who is otherwise healthy has to be put down because it can't get up. Something is wrong in the state of Denmark. (Pun quite intended.)

Its not just people who want big pets that are to blame. Big Danes also WIN in the show ring. Too many judges reward a Dane for size and penalize for a smaller Dane. Consequently, breeders continue to breed for size. When Envy took her first points, the judge complimented her on her working type but commented that he would "have liked more of her". This means, he'd have liked her better if she were taller and heavier. Envy is just over 32 inches tall and weighs 115 lbs. Our breed standard says,

"The female shall not be less than 28 inches at the shoulders, but it is preferable that she be 30 inches or more, providing she is well proportioned to her height."

Still, this is the feedback I get from conformation judges. And it's not the first time, either. Envy's father and grandmother often elicited the same reaction, successful show dogs though they were.

But what the judge didn't see was Envy easily learning to go through the 24 inch diameter tunnel at agility class. I think if he did, he would have realized the inherent conflict between his comments. Envy is the 5th Dane I have trained in agility and without a doubt the most gifted athletically. With her compact (yet to breed standard) size and correct structure, she has tremendous promise. As for the conformation ring, there may be times in the next months when I am showing Envy that we will walk away without wins because there was not "more" of her. But when we fly around that agility course, the idea of there being more of her will just seem silly.

As breeders we must ask ourselves, do we want true working dogs with health and longevity or do we want huge dogs that look good standing still but fall apart as they age? I'm continually disappointed by the lack of owners and breeders who participate in performance sports with their Danes. If the majority of breeders don't care about working ability or type, the Great Dane should probably be moved to the Non-Sporting group. What a sad day that would be for our intelligent, athletic, and versatile breed.

My grandmother used to say, (and still does at age 99) "In all things, moderation". So yes, the Great Dane is a giant breed and should be the heights specified in our breed standard, but let's not sacrifice the athleticism and longevity of our dogs for a winning show career or the ability brag to our friends about having a big dog.

What Keeps You In It?

I'm in my 13th year of showing dogs, which really isn't that long. Many people have been breeding dogs successfully for 25, 30, 35 years or more. I'm amazed. What keeps them in it? What is it about dog showing and breeding that inspires people to devote a lifetime to the passion?

My favorite description of dog shows:

"A constant series of occasions for hope."

Breeders are optimists. Every time a breeder enters the show ring, whelps a litter of puppies, plans a breeding, or trains a show dog they really don't know what's going to happen. It's an occasion to dream, to hope for what might be. Things could go wonderfully right or horribly wrong. Uncertainty might not seem like an attractive element, but people love to roll the dice, and breeding and showing dogs is one of the most unpredictable games around.

Breeders are patient. In some ways breeding dogs is a little like golf. I don't happen to like golf, but I do know it's a sport that requires a tremendous comittment to master. Breeding is a lot like that, it's a slow, often bitterly disappointing process involving a lot of hard work. There are no shortcuts. You are constantly learning. Tiger Woods makes golf look easy. What we forget is he's been swinging a golf club since almost before he could walk and practices very hard to stay on top. Every great athlete works hard at being great. Breeding dogs is no different from any sport in this respect.

There is an old saying that if you stick with breeding for five years, you're in it for life. In five years a breeder will experience enough success and heartbreak to figure out if it's for them. They will probably have at least on litter and figure out if that arduous process is for them. At my magic five year point, I knew I was staying with Danes good, but I probably couldn't have told you why. Now with a little time and perspective, it's clear what keeps me in the game.

The simple joy of working with dogs. My love for canines only increases as I continue welcome more individuals into my life and experience the differences in their personalities. Cliche though the statement may be, dogs really can be our greatest teachers. You just have remember to shut up and listen. (I learned that from a dog.)

Striving to meet clear goals. I'm very goal-oriented (it even says so on my resume). I know where I want to go with my breeding. I know what qualities I want to breed in my dogs. Easily said, but DOING it is slightly harder. Breed. Evaluate. Refine. Repeat. This is the process that one must continually go through. Weigh out the relative qualities of each sire and dam, to finally arrive at an acceptable estimation. Then play a little game of genetic roulette and see how it shakes up. Wait until the pups mature, evaluate what you've got (which might be nothing) and then figure out the next move. It's a little like chess. And like any good chess player, a good breeder is planning three or four moves ahead of where they actually are in the game.

The people. I genuinely love people and I get to meet a lot of different flavors of folks through showing, breeding, and rescue work. There is my family of puppy people who own dogs I have bred. There is also my family of local breeders, exhibitors, and rescue volunteers. I have yet another family of blue and black Dane breeders all over the world. I value these friendships and connections highly. Everything is more fun when you do it with somebody. I don't know about you, but I figured that out in kindergarten.

Promoting natural eared Great Danes. This evolved accidentally.  My first Danes were cropped when I bought them. But when it came time for me to crop my first Dane, I couldn't do it. Over the years my feelings about the procedure have only gotten stronger. Promoting natural Danes has become one of my greatest motivators to stay in the game. But quite honestly, I just do "that thing I do" and let other people draw their own conclusions. Affecting change is always the same, the best way is to lead by example. Natural ears is an exciting cause. I believe this will see a great change in attitudes about ear cropping during our lifetime. How many issues can you say that about?

So, now you know why I'm here. What you keeps YOU in the game?

Button Goes Home

Button found her forever home today.

Three weeks ago she was a stray in a shelter scheduled for euthanasia. The shelter felt she was unadoptable due to suspected bone growth problems. Dane Outreach got a call and I was dispatched to see if we could help. The little 3 month old puppy was indeed a mess. Starved and confined for much of her life, she was so weak she could hardly walk. Improper nutrition had weakened her bones, her feet were splayed and her knees and wrists were swollen. Every rib was visible even though she'd had steady food for several days. But she was so bright and happy and outgoing I just had to give her a chance. I took her immediately to my vet with a heavy heart, dreading the pronogsis. After an orthopedic exam and x-rays I was elated to hear that "Button" as I decided to call her ("Bug's Ear" wasn't as catchy), would make a full recovery with proper feeding in a few weeks. So this little cutie came to stay for three weeks. She became Envy's shadow and Envy loved her right back, playing down to her level. Button is a different dog now. You'd never know she was a starved puppy a few short weeks ago. How these animals can endure such suffering and keep their sweet, loving temperaments and happy outlook is one of life's great mysteries to me. Congratulations, Button. We're going to miss you here at Keymaster, but you'll always have a place in our hearts.

Agility Starts Here

Tonight was Envy's first agility class. It's exciting to be embarking on another journey with a new dog in performance. I love the feeling of starting with a blank canvas. At this point in our training, (and only at this point) the sky is the limit. Soon enough I will make mistakes and Envy's limitations will become clear, but now is the time for high hopes and delightful daydreams of fun training sessions and clean runs. I can't wait until the time when we can fly around a course together and run as one. I know its coming and I'm itching. I need to remember that I am experienced but my dog is learning. 'Encourage but don't push' needs to be my theme. But who can blame me for being eager? If you've never had the experience of the heightened bonding that occurs between a dog and its handler during training and performance of a sport, you are missing out on one of life's greatest joys. Envy did great, she is again proving to be her grandmother's reflection. She showed a little timidity on the equipment at first but quickly overcame that and was quite pleased with her achievements. The A-frame was her favorite. I love that she has elements of Zool, but is still a very individual dog with a distinct personality. She is very focused on the other dogs (wants to meet them and play) but works through her distractions well. I'm proud of her. Tonight I'll be dreaming of running agility courses as well as show ring wins with my darling girl. I can't believe I ever questioned whether to do this breeding of Schnitz to PashN. It was a long time coming, but it's the best feeling in the world to have the qualities I value embodied in the dog standing at the end of my lead. Sleep tight my Little Pumpkin, we have great days ahead of us.

I Survived the Seattle Kennel Club

As much as I was dreading the Seattle Kennel Club show, I have to confess it was much more pleasant this year. Everything was on one level, the rings were spacious, there was cordoned off exhibitor space ringside and bleachers to allow spectators to see without getting in the way of exhibitors. Of course, the security guards were as ridiculous as always. Where do they find these people? One guy on the last day decided that you had to be wearing an armband to LEAVE the building. Huh? The great news is that Envy got her first AKC points and her brother Otto got a reserve. He could have done better with more training and that is my goal for his next shows. The Dane Outreach booth was also a big success and Button my rescue puppy spent some time there on Saturday. The one thing I would change for next year is more space for the Dane Outreach booth. The Mastiff booth next door seemed nearly three times as big. It was kind of funny to see 3 or 4 Danes, their owners, and interested visitors crammed into our tiny booth, yet next door Mastiffs sprawled out on the floor relaxing in their palatial "castle".  How'd they manage that? Our Dane crew walked over to the Pyramid brewery on Saturday afternoon and had a fun lunch full of laughs and stories. It was Georgia's birthday, so we also met near my house for a birthday dinner for her. On to Bremerton in two weeks!