2 Weeks old
and
Potty Training
Begins!!!

Taking a jog down memory lane...... :)

***DO NOT FIX YOUR NEW *GREAT DANE* PUPPIES BEFORE 9 MONTHS AND PREFERABLY 12-16 MONTHS OF AGE!!! OR IT MAY CAUSE BONE CANCER, HIP DYSPLASIA, UNEVEN BONE GROWTH AND MANY OTHER BONE GROWTH HORMONE RELATED PROBLEMS!!!

It is TO MY GREAT HORROR, that a new trend has poped up with vets over the last few years to have puppies fixed between 3-5 months of age (which is fine for smaller breeds that normally mature and cycle for the first time around 6 months of age) ... Danes will not have their first cycle until 9-16 months and mature LATER than smaller breeds and their hormones are NEEDED for proper bone growth development! Fixing your puppy prior to 9 months will VOID the health guarantee...and we recommend waiting until 12-16 months

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About our birthing area set-up :)

these current litter's are being birthed in our new puppy cottages ....picts on the individual puppies page...will post here soon... it is 5Wx5Lx5T, and two can be connected together for a 5Wx12Lx5T area once we start potty training... purchase at tractor supply... we are trying this with this litter, as opposed to our previous PVC litter boxes described below.... I will give an up-date on the practicality of this new method along with benefits and draw backs compared to the PVC boxes after a few litters have been raised ... so stay tuned :)

We birth our puppies in either the living room (pictured at the top of the page when Queenie and Harley had litters together ) or the office/puppy room, and we have tried many types of birthing areas in our time :) ...round plastic pools (which were often to small and very unattractive), rimmed boxes (which we have no need for as we stay with the mommas full time, so no chance of a puppy being smushed..and they are very tricky to clean) no boxes (this works well until the puppies are up and walking! haha :), wood boxes (these are too porous and need to be replaced with each litter), tiled walls (worked ok, but again, I did not like the grouted area, because of the porous nature)...YES, I'm a bit of a germ freak when it comes to my babies! and now a PVC box (we hope this to be the best :)

***We made our new birthing boxes out of PVC boards, these will be able to be taken apart to be cleaned between litters rather than building a new one each time and will not retain any moisture or germs! haha :) wood boxes have to be re-built each time as they can absorb moisture and retain germs even with cleaning....***

The entire area is 4'x12' making up two 4'x6' boxes, and our third box will be put on the other side of the room for Nala, when it is her time :) as you can see in the back of the left side of the box is a covered door that leads to our enclosed puppy yard, the boards will be removed to allow access to the yard once the puppies are old enough to begin potty training :), the center boards can be removed to allow for a larger area as the puppies grow :) and another front board will be added once the puppies start to be weaned and get big enough to climb over the single board :)

We put down several blankets, for softness and then cover with a new tarp and then cover that with another clean blanket, or two, which can be changed out easily without soiling all the blankets.. this helps with keeping the moms comfortable and clean, in a soft bed without the added laundry load! :)

Kiah & Stella in their new birthing areas :):)

... I get the couch...which does pull out into a bed :) as we do not leave our girls side from a week prior to 3 weeks after birth to ensure nothing happens to our precious new babies :)