Von Knopf Danes
Current Events
7/4/08 HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!
6/18/08 The puppies teeth are now poking through their gums. Play is getting more active and their mom is feeling the pinch when they nurse. So we are in the process of weaning the pups (and we do this very slowly). Which means things get pretty messy around here for the next 14 days or so.
This weekend I hope to have some first 'stack' shots of all the puppies. I don't push them so they are not going to be a perfect picture. I believe soft hands and a gentle touch is much more important with such young babies.
Each week we are trimming toe nails on the puppies. At this age they are like razors plus it is better for them to get used to it early. Nobody likes trimming dog nails but it must be done regularly.
The puppies also are interacting with us more and more. It is really entertaining to watch them.
Out on the farm, I have leased the land out and the field is now plowed and sowed with soy beans. It is always fun and somewhat nostalgic to watch the whole process. I don't think people realize fully what all goes into farming. I can see it isn't an easy job and land is becoming less and less available to farm. Who knows what the future will bring. But for now, soy beans it is!
6/15/08 The puppies are becoming playful now with toys, their mom, and each other. They are also beginning to cut teeth! Hope is starting to feel it. They are also beginning to see better, they definitely hear me, and are getting more sure of themselves and their footing. Incredible how fast these milestones develop!
6/4/08 The puppies eyes are all beginning to open!!! So adorable. One puppy has started to play with mom too. :)
5/30/08 The puppies are trying to walk a little versus crawl. They look like they just came off of a very rocky boat ride! Today they are one week old.
5/27/08 All is well here. The puppies had their dew claws removed today. Both my vet and I hate doing this; each time I am less and less inclined to remove them because you can't give them any pain meds since they are so young.
5/25/08 The puppies were born late on May 23rd! The puppies are not yet two days old as I write this. They are doing fine and all have little bellies now. Mom is doing well too and finally ate her first meal this morning. Yeah! Hope is turning out to be a good mom.
5/20/08 I keep feeling the puppies moving in Hope! All is well and I thank our friends and family for the well wishes. We will continue to keep our website updated with new information as soon as possible.
5/16/08 Ricky will soon be the sire from an upcoming litter in Finland using frozen of course! Check out the breeder and the expectant mother here: http://www.genedda.com/plannedmatings.htm.
5/15/08 I uploaded a new picture of a young puppy named Tre getting ready to make his debut with a Junior handler out of Upstate New York! You can find him on the "Now Showing" tab; just scroll down to see his picture.
5/13/08 Zoe and her mom Shayla took Reserve Winners both days this past weekend!
5/12/08 Ten days to go before Hope is due to have her puppies. We are very excited here. Hope is doing well. I will post pictures as always as soon as possible after they are born. Thanks to our friends and families sending us well wishes!
5/6/08 Hope is doing well but is becoming a bit uncomfortable. She isn't able to run around the yard any more but that will all come back soon after the puppies are born. She is so sweet and pretty much wants to just nest now.
4/28/08 The last of the Clarice x Ricky puppies has left for her new home this past weekend. We miss her sweet face but know that she is going to be loved by her new family. This litter was wonderful and all have very sweet dispositions...to be expected from a Great Dane. They are gentle giants even as a puppy.
4/14/08 We have imported a lovely brindle puppy from a kennel in Italy recently. While we work through getting her acquianted with us we are very excited about her.
Stayed tuned for pictures of Kajal and more information about her progress! Kajal's name comes from her breeder and represents what women in India use as make up around their eyes...the dark black eyeliner as we would call it here in the USA. And yep, I had to look that one up. :)
4/6/08 Happy birthday to those pups born last year today! They are one year old today. Kisses and hugs to Zoe, April, Fonzi, Zorba and Jo Jo!
3/30/08 Three puppies went to their new homes yesterday. This is bittersweet as I am glad they have wonderful families to give them lovin', I am also sad to see them go. The house already seems a bit empty.
3/17/08 The puppies had their first set of shots today. That was a big project as nine puppies pretty much stop everything at most vet offices for a bit of time. We sneak in the back door but there is always some one that says....PUPPIES!!! :)) Can't blame them. I would too be excited.
Everything is well. All are sleeping their fun adventure experience off. All the pups have their own vet vaccination booklet to bring to their new homes. Our vet did comment "I've been looking forward to this all day". Veterinarians love puppies too. Great Dane puppies and espcecially 9 puppies do tend to draw a pretty big crowd!
Congratulations on the new owners who will soon be bringing their new puppy into their family!
3/11/08 Today the puppies are 5 weeks old! Time is flying by. Their 6 week puppy shot (the first one) is scheduled for next week. They are doing very well and I have moved them into the second half of my family room so they can...welll...grow some more!
3/09/08 Zoe (a puppy from our last litter) went Reserve Winners girl today! Congratulations to Shayla her mom and Zoe.
The puppies are getting bigger each day of course and are such a snuggly bunch! I get easily lost just playing with them on the floor and lose all track of time. Even when they fall asleep in my arms, on my lap, or wrapped around my legs I enjoy them.
The latter half of last week and all this weekend we have been coaxing them out into the family room with the TV on and other common kitchen activities. They all seem to like the new adventures. They all have been listening to them in the spare bedroom just not able to see it all while I give them time to gradually break into a normal day to day activity noises. I will be moving them into part of the family room this week to give them more space to roam now that they are ready. It will also get them used to the big dogs coming and going too.
On Tuesday the pups will be 5 weeks old. At 5 1/2 weeks we'll be taking more pictures of each puppy to evaluate the litter structurally. Taking pictures of wiggly puppies on a table is never an easy task and not always do the pictures turn out to show their true quality. They are babies so I never push them.
2/29/08 So my new computer has Vista as it's operating system. A bit of advice for those looking at new computers...most auxiliary software programs you may have are not compatible!!! My digital camera's software is one of them. I spoke with a service rep at the manufacturer. But after an hour tonight trying to do what he said...it's time to do something else. I'll try again tomorrow.
2/27/08 We are at the beginning stage of paper training the babies. Not much to do other than have paper down in one corner of the whelping box. This weekend we will take down the box and have more paper available for them to use. Mom is taking care of them but it helps to get the idea going for them to transition. We will also add a couple of toys for them to play with while mom is out of the box. This will keep them interested and start to build on motor skills.
2/26/08 I am back online today! My computer crashed (it had help) this weekend. I am back up and running finally. I will catch up with the emails I have received since Saturday hopefully later today. If I have not responded to everyone please email me again as I may have not recovered all my emails.
The puppies are playing with each other now as their eyes and ears are opened. They are working on muscle coordination. The beginnings of their personalities are just starting to show themselves as they play with each other. I'll attempt to upload new pictures tonight but this may take a bit more time.
2/17/2008 Today a couple of the puppies eyes started ever so slightly opening!
2/10/2008 Whew! A lot has been going on over here. The puppies were born on February 5th. All nine are doing very well and putting on their puppy weight. Clarice is doing well too and has just been a super mother.
Dew claws were removed on Friday. I hate going to the vet to have these removed as they do cry very loud. I did not remove the dew claws on one of the black girls as she is a little smaller than the others. I felt she needed the extra claw to manuver for food. And boy does she ever! She is a little pistol but has the loudest cries for attention.
1/25/2009 All is going well here. Clarice is a bit uncomfortable I think with the pups getting bigger. She is doing well otherwise and is such a love. We'll be setting up her whelping box this weekend and making other preparations in anticipation. As soon as I can I will update our site with newborn puppy pictures.
1/13/2008 The new year is in full swing now and we are trying to be patient waiting on Clarice's puppies. She is definitely showing now that she is pregnant and all seems to be going well.
A week ago one of Clarice and Ricky's daughters, Zoe was at a show and won two points from the 6-9 puppy class! We are very happy for her and her family. As soon as we receive a copy of her new picture we will post them on the now showing tab. An older picture from her first win is there now.
12/31/07 The weather has been wonderful. Unfortunately, tonight things will change as we welcome the new year.
We are patiently waiting to find out if our repeat breeding of Clarice x Ricky has taken.
Please be safe and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! ~ See you all ringside!
12/18/07 I have our pedigrees up on for review under the pedigree tab. Not sure that I care for how I have everything placed on my site. But for now it will have to do.
12/12/07 Much has changed since I last updated this page. We repeated the breeding of Clarice and Ricky and hope to have puppies early February. An ultrasound is scheduled to confirm whether it took or not. Hope's breeding did not take. The up side to all this is Ricky was evaluated for his reproductive capabilities and the doctor said he looks "fabulous"! That was good news as we plan to be able to offer frozen on him later this year.
We will not be showing for some time assuming our breeding takes. I do not like to show because the increased risk of bringing in any virus or baterial problems while we wait or have young puppies in the house.
11/28/07 Tomorrow we will know whether or not Hope is going to have puppies. I am pretty excited and think I won't sleep much tonight. We've worked hard to keep everyone happy and healthy while still showing in conformation.
11/24/2007 Prospective puppy pedigrees are now up! We are still working through some edits on my site to try and make it easier to navigate but please know, this is not my area of expertise!
11/22/07 ***Happy Thanksgiving!***
We are taking it a bit easy these next couple of months and will not be showing until next year around spring time. I need to recharge my batteries and hopefully get ready for puppies.
April's sister Zoe wins Best of Opposite in October. Check out our Now Showing tab for her win picture with her mom!
11/3/07 Hope was bred with Ricky yesterday. Check my litter plans tab for more information about this breeding.
11/1/07 Wow. A lot has been going on in the show scene for us. Ricky picked up another point today and only needs a Major to finish his ACK Championship! He turns 22 months old tomorrow. Nicely done for such a big young boy!
One of Ricky and Clarice's babies showed this past Saturday and went Winners girl and Best of Opposite Sex beating out two other Danes. No points this time around but she did very well indeed for such a young girl and so did her mom as she is new to showing too! Congratulations to Zoe and Shayla. We are looking forward to seeing her win picture soon.
Our other big news is Hope is in season. We will attempt to have a litter from her which would mean puppies hopefully will be ready for their new homes the end of March 2008. If you are interested in a puppy from her, email me or check back on my website as I will update it as quickly as possible. I haven't completely decided on a stud but will very soon!
10/31/07 Happy Halloween! New information coming soon!
10/14/07 Hope went Winners girl yesterday and Best of Winners today! Sweeeeet! April had her first weekend in an AKC show. She did very well yesterday and today she was all puppy :)).
10/05/07 This weekend I'll update my litter plans page with more information on our selected sire for Clarice. I am planning on deleting some of the pictures of my crew to make room for new ones but also to speed things up a bit for those not on a high speed connections. It'll be hard as I like to post pictures of my Danes!
10/04/07 Wow. Yesterday was a nail biter as we were successful in obtaining a breeding and placed in frozen storage a nice black boy named Monty. This breeding will be for Clarice our blue girl.
I chose Monty not only because of his pedigree and good looks, but also because he is amost nine years old! His sire is still alive at 11 and his dam lived to be 8. Therefore we hope to continue along the path of long lived pedigrees paved by those before us. It is incredible that this boy is able to provide the necessary means for a breeding! I'll post more information soon on our litter plans page.
Now we wait on mother nature with Clarice.
10/01/07 Ricky went Winners Dog yesterday for a couple more points!
9/30/07 I uploaded a new candid shot of April. She was in the shade and being black, I had to lighten the picture so you could actually see her.
9/29/07 We recently discovered Hope was misdiagnosed and I was about to spay her. I decided to have her reviewed by a specialist because things just didn't sit well with me on what I was told. Long story short, I have since found out she just has a case of vaginitis!!! Nothing to worry about. Good grief this has had me worried.
9/22/2007 I am tickled with Ricky today as he went Winners Dog and Best of Winners today!
9/10/2007 Ricky picked up another Major Reserve yesterday.
9/8/07 Ricky's Major Best of Winners picture arrived yesterday!
8/31/07 I finally decided on a formal AKC name for April. She is now registered as Knopf's A Drop From Heaven! You can see a candid shot of her on the now showing page. She'll start in puppy matches this September. The first one at a local show. Then we'll start showing her for points on a very limited basis in October. Hope to see our friends ringside!
08/26/07 Ricky won his first Major today!!!! He won Best of Winners too!
08/25/07 Ricky went Reserve Winners today under some pretty extreme show site conditions. The normal location was flooded and the new make shift ring was on the gravel parking lot. Thanks to Patrice and Jeff showing him for me.
I uploaded a cute picture of April from this evening. She has such a sweet face and expression. That's another reason to just spoil her!
8/23/07 I added another picture of a puppy out of Ricky and Clarice under 'Other Danes' tab. Meet Fonzi.
8/21/07 I uploaded a new picture of Ricky under "Now Showing" and a picture of April's brother under "Other Danes & Pictures". More to come soon!
8/12/07 I uploaded a new picture of April! Just a fun shot of her right after removing her tape. She's a bit wet from that but smiling for her photo! I can't decide what to name her on her papers....I keep going back and forth on different names but nothing seems to fit just yet.
Check out the "Other Danes" tab for a picture of April's sister Zoe!
8/10/07 I uploaded a new picture of Ricky under the now showing tab. More to follow as a couple more win pictures arrive!
8/8/07 We have been very busy here training and showing lately. Yesterday was April's first conformation class. She did very well for just turning 4 months old. Hopefully, that will continue. She is losing her puppy teeth and is just itching for activity. It's so hot outside I thought the class might burn some of that energy without passing out from the heat. It was 97 degrees as a high yesterday.
While showing Ricky at Canfield this past weekend, he picked up two points going Winners Dog one day and another Major Reserve the next! Not bad for a young dog that has just really begun to seriously show. He still has some training needs that we are addressing. He's a big beautiful hunk of a Dane.
Stayed tuned for more pictures of these two plus April's sister may be shown a little. We hope to get a new picture of her posted soon too. Zoe is a nice fawn girl adored by her family.
7/16/07 Yesterday Ricky went Best of Winners!
7/11/07 We have been busy training around here lately...puppy training that is! I can't wait until April is old enough to go to puppy classes.
I took a couple of quick pictures of Fred in our family room doing what he has always loved to do most....that is ripping apart a box! Check out his picture under the champion tab.
7/4/07 Happy Fourth of July everyone!
We'll be attempting to get a couple of new picutres of our newest addition later today. That is if we can get a 12 weeks old pup to stand still! :))
6/25/07 Ricky went Reserve Winner's Dog this past Friday at one of the biggest specialties and from the 15-18 month old class to boot! Each day this weekend he placed in his class which shows consistancy in both judging and how welll he was liked. We received a lot of wonderful compliments all weekend long on him. He just needs a little more mental maturing time (and training) to become a better show doggie.
6/17/07 Whew. We've been very busy over here. There is a lot of catching up to do when one stops to have puppies. Speaking of pups, all the puppies with their new families are doing great! This warms my heart to know they are adjusting and loved.
Clarice is doing very well and is almost back to her pre-puppy physique. She is blowing coat and what is coming back in looks fabulous once again.
6/12/07 All the puppies are in their new homes. April will stay with us as we continue to evaluate her for the show ring. I am thinking of repeating this breeding next year. So far I like what I see and would be thrilled to have another beautiful litter.
5/28/07 Yesterday at the show Ricky took Reserve Winners! Not bad for being stuck here at home for a couple months while we raise a litter of pups!
Fonzi, the fawn male puppy left for his home today. It is bittersweet. I get too attached to them...
5/23/07 All the puppies received their first puppy shot today and did very well. We are quite please with this litter! Our other Danes are all scheduled for their annual exams as well. Then it's show time again!
5/15/07 We are having a lot of fun with the puppies! They are so sweet and love the expressions they have.
5/12/07 The puppies had a great time outside today. I was able to get a couple cute pictures of them. Check out the litter plans page. They were 5 weeks old yesterday.
5/2/07 On Friday the puppies will be 4 weeks old. I'll attempt to stack them and snap a few pictures to post this weekend. It'll be hard though as all I want to do is hug them and watch them play!
4/24/07 The puppies are starting to hear better and now I see some teeth starting to just make their way to the edge of their gums.
4/18/07 On Monday some of the puppies started to open their eyes! Today, they are starting to try and play with each other and their mom! I'll update pictures this weekend...
4/6/06 Clarice had five beautiful puppies today!
4/5/07 The puppies will be here any day now!
4/2/07 Today I felt a puppy moving!
3/30/07 All is well. We are patiently awaiting on the puppies for now.
3/21/07 I added an ultrasound picture from Clarice's visit to the vet. See the puppy page to view it.
3/19/07 Ricky picked up a Major Reserve this weekend with a new handler to boot!
3/9/07 Ultrasound confirms that we will have puppies! We do not know for sure how many or the number of boys or girls until they arrive. However, we are very happy to see them on the monitor today.
3/4/07 Next weekend I will ultrasound to see if we will have puppies. I can't tell and would like to know one way or another as I need to get back into the show ring if we are not.
3/1/07 Last night while watching TV, I notice the makings of a little belly forming...I am hopeful that this is from puppies and not extra weight creeping in. :) We've got more time to go before we know for sure.
2/27/07 This weekend my washer broke down in the middle of washing dog beds...ugh. I haven't been able to get some one out right away so I will have to suffer a few more days. By the time it's fixed, my wash will be pretty ripe for a round of bleach. I decided to hold off performing an ultrasound. I may reschedule this for late next week. Just too much to do this week.
2/10/07 Hope's OFA thyroid certificate arrived and is now posted on line. We are sitting tight waiting on whether or not our breeding took. Ultrasounds are scheduled for a couple weeks from now. This way we can know for sure. If not, we'll be back out on the show scene pretty quickly (or at least when the snow melts).
2/4/07 We have successfully bred and hope to have puppies early April. Check back soon....
1/31/07 Ricky's OFA Cardio certificate arrived yesterday. So, now we are finished health testing for a while as we prepare for show season and hopefully puppies.
1/25/07 We've started conformation training again for Ricky this week. It was fun but we do have some work cut out for us. He loves the action and all the attention. But isn't too sure about what the other person is doing behind him so he's got to always check it out.
1/19/07 New planned breeding information coming soon.... :)
1/14/07 Oh the mud! It is supposed to rain for three more days...my washer & dryer are running overtime as is my vacuum, broom, and my back!
1/13/07 We have been a bit busy these past two weeks from a positive health maintenence standpoint.
Fred was neutered last weekend and is doing very well. I decided to have this done because it is better for him when the girls come into season. It is very stressful on the boys during this time and having another male in the house just helps us all. He is still available for breeding due to the miracles of modern science (frozen breedings last virtually forever!).
Ricky passed his OFA cardio test yesterday. It'll be a few weeks before his results show up online.
1/1/2007 *** HAPPY NEW YEAR! ***
This year is going to be very exciting for us. We have several things in our plans with our Danes. I suppose you could say we were busy last year... I believe that this year one will see even more happening. :) I hope to see many of our friends and family ringside!
12/31/2006 It's New Year's Eve and everyone's counting down the hours until we ring in 2007....
All is well here. My yard is pretty muddy though with all the rain. I'm not complaining as it could be several feet of snow instead. Much of the mud is now in my house.
With the New Year upon us I am looking forward to getting back out to the show scene. We've got puppy plans too which will keep us busy. I'm starting to research what trees I need to plant as a wind break outside. It blows so hard at the house because of the open field (farm) we live on that it is just so much colder without the break.
Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces ringside next year!
12/25/06 Merry Christmas!
12/4/06 I added my prospective puppy pedigree to the breeding plans page and included Ricky's pedigree under the now showing page too.
11/23/06 ***HAPPY THANKSGIVING!***
I upgraded parts of my computer including the appearance of my screen and whoa what a differrence! I'll be changing parts of my website in order to clean up a few things I didn't see before or are a result of increasing the visability. Hopefully, I don't totally make a mess of things... :) For those curious, I turned on Microsoft's ClearType software. A huge improvement. I am not a computer expert and was having trouble with viewing off of my screen. This took care of it for me.
11/12/06 Hope goes Winner's girl today! I'm so proud of her. The down side is she's going into a false pregnancy...
11/4/06 Well our recent breeding did not take. It's disappointing. We'll pick up showing again in the meantime as long as the weather cooperates. Then before you know it, Spring will be here and hopefully then we'll have puppies.
10/31/06 Happy Halloween!
I put Hope's new picture up (look under Now Showing tab). She looks so regal and commanding in this pose. She's such a sweet heart too.
10/29/06 Ricky went Winners Dog today against the same competition as yesterday when he went reserve. I am very excited as he did it again owner handled!
10/28/06 Ricky took Reserve Winner's dog today against some heavy hitters in the Dane world; owner handled to boot.
10/18/06 Hope's winning picture turned out nice. I'll order a copy and once I have it, I'll post it on my site. It's a different pose due to the show giving club had placed a big stand for all dogs to be presented for the camera. Trouble with that is the big dogs look silly on top of a 'box' and the owners reaching up to them. So, Hope has her front paws on the stand looking really pretty.
10/13/06 Hope goes Winners girl today!
10/11/06 I will be posting the new pedigree of what I hope to be my next litter in the next couple of days. This breeding is very exciting...
10/1/06 I had uploaded a scanned version of Ricky's photo and it looks good. I am pretty happy about the picture.
Took Hope to a show today where I was supposed to just watch her with a handler so I could enjoy the show. As luck would have it I ended up having to go into the ring wearing jeans! And it was for a Major no less. I was a bit embarrassed. It happens and I have seen it happen to others too so I'm not alone. She went back in for Winners girl with the handler but didn't win. She did look good though. Majors are tough with Danes if you are not familiar with them because it takes a minimum of 18 non champion girls to compete. That's a lot of dogs...
9/27/06 We are still waiting for our winning photo of Ricky. It really hasn't been that long but the anticipation makes it feel so. I didn't get one of Hope since it hadn't been that long since the last photo.
9/18/06 We've been showing a bit lately and doing pretty well! Hope picked up another WB and a Reserve WB. Ricky won a best puppy Working Group 2!
I may have to change my website around again to create a new tab for each Dane or something like this. There is just so much new information and pictures going on it takes too long to load up on the screen for those not on high speed. I think I may do this during the cold winter months...maybe sooner...
Hope is in season so it is really hard to get her motivated to show. The girls are not as easy as the boys during these times that's for sure. Thank goodness she likes treats!
9/4/06 Hope takes a Major Reserve one day this weekend in Kentucky! She is starting to blow coat (thank goodness) which is holding her back. However, our handlers have done a great job with her. They've also helped her lose some of the excess weight I managed to put on her. I have learned I have a tendancy to do that and need to correct my portion control!
Ricky received a lot of compliments from the viewing gallery which was very nice to hear! Everyone loves a Great Dane puppy!