His favorite thing to do was
play at the
beach........chasing seagulls
and running in the dunes.
Playing Dress-UP Okay not
his favorite thing to do, but
still...who could resist a
pretty fairy?
"Erskine"
The Mor Flaithri Erskine
Welcome to Erskine's page. Erskine has been my dream come true
with a sad twist. I looked for a harle great dane puppy for a month or
so and couldn't find one. Then one day on the news they were talking
about this litter of 19 Great Dane puppies! To my surprise it was a
harle family breeding.

I emailed the breeder explained my interest and my family, hoping that
I could get on a list of potential homes. I was emailed back and I had a
visit with the pups. There was one harle boy left and I decided to sleep
on it over night (knowing it was a lifetime commitment) So the next day
I called and said I would take him!!

It felt like forever before I could take him home!! Here he comes!! And
here comes potty training (by the way he was sooo easy), middle of
the night potty breaks, obedience training and socialization!! A puppy
is just like having an infant in the house!!

No matter how quick he was at learning; other things just didn't look
right. He walked a little different and when he used the bathroom his
hind legs would shake and he would have to get up and move a
couple of times just to have a bowel movement. I put it off as a big
puppy getting bigger and his coordination was just off. After several
months of this I decided to take him to the vet. Georgia Hymmen of
Daynakin Danes (this is a VERY special lady) gave me the info to a
Dr. Iverson at Evergreen Vet. I among others HIGHLY recommend
him!!

I made his apt. Xrays were taken and the results were in. He had poor
hips and degenerative spondylosis. If you know nothing about
degenerative spondylosis you should read "Mickey's Gold Bead
Adventure" at http://goldbeads.blogspot.com/
Degenerative sponylosis has yet to be determend  hereditary. Though
there are many that speculate that it if an animal has been on  an
appropriate diet and has had no injuries than it most likely is. I have
heard of it happening in more then one pup out of a litter. Erskine's
"poor" hips are most likely hereditary. These are reasons you should
have hi expectations from your breeder. You should expect breeders
to have health testing on both the sire and damn.  You should have a
Dane that looks like Dane. Show breeders are your best bet. They
should know their standard and they should be able to explain the
conformation faults of his/her dogs, they should also offer some
guarantee on their puppies. Breeders should have a long history of
health of their dogs and how old they lived and what they died from.  
Breeder shopping is MORE important then puppy shopping. Though
there is the occasional mis-hap in breedings, the rare hip dysplasia or
what not; at least you have a breeder that can recommend a good vet
and a shoulder to lean on. Remember breeder shopping not puppy
shopping!!
The Great Dane Club of America has information on their website
about the health and welfare of danes.
http://www.gdca.org/healthandwelfare.htm
To access OFA data base www.offa.org This site will give the results
of health tests submitted to OFA for evaluation. Even if a breeder
suggests no health tests were done it wouldn't hurt to look up the
mother and father of your potential puppy.