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Frequently Asked Questions 
What health testing do you do with your danes, such as OFA or PenHip? All of our Danes undergo a rigorous health exam prior to breeding. They have their elbows and hips x rayed, thyroid and cardiac testing done, along with an eye examination and Baer hearing test. We do not however, send the results of the tests or x rays in to OFA or PenHip for evaluation. The reason we do not send these in for "official" registration is these organizations are companies. You are paying for a service and information we have gathered from previous exams, were being evaluated at different readings by both companies, which indicates to us, that their accuracy isn't always trustable.
We have had a Dane evaluated at Excellent hips through the OFA, but then when problems with it's gait began, we sent in the same x rays that we sent to the OFA in to PenHip and got a rating of 26%, meaning there was signification displasia and openness in the hip joints. When we contacted OFA about the PenHip results they had us send in the x rays for a reevaluation. When we did, the dog now got a "good" rating versus the "excellent" rating through the OFA, with hip joint movement still obviously an issue with the dog.
Once we further researched HOW these companies do evaluations, we were a little shocked to find out that they take 5-10 x rays at one time (from different dog breeds at that), place them on an x ray viewing machine and one set of eyes evaluates all x rays at one time and writes down his "professional evaluation."
Now I have a couple concerns regarding this, one is that the OFA submission is NOT cheap and costs anywhere between $1000 to $1500 per dog to get the proper x rays and tests done and pay for the certifications. To be paying a company for an evaluation that is not error checked, or even evaluated by more then one professional leaves me to reason their is human error when reading these. A second concern of mine is that working in this industry, owning for 12 years and breeding now for 7, I have known multiple breeders who had fully evaluated studs and bitches, with CHIC number verifications (the numbers assigned by OFA to review a dogs evaluations and ratings), turn around and have a litter with genetic issues, to include mild displasia in the hips and one in the elbows.
Now this tells me that like humans, regardless how healthy a breeding set can be, or what genetic marker tests are pre ran prior to conception, the human species still has genetic malformations that causes mental and physical ailments that are genetic in nature. This is why we stand firmly on our 2 year genetic health guarantee on the offspring versus guarantee the health of the parents through a rating organization.
We DO NOT cover vet bills related to any puppy that we sell. The reason for this is that many vets price-gouge and run up costs for procedures that the animal does not need. This is a voluntary agreement by the owner to run these tests and because we have no say in what is and is not ran on the dog, we can not cover vet costs associated to a puppy.
Should your puppy have a genetic issue covered by our health guarantee, we offer a replacement of your puppy (you still keep your current puppy as we would never demand you return your beloved family member simply because it may have genetic issues), and if you do not want or have room for another puppy, then we will offer to sell that puppy, and give you the cash value of that puppy to help recoup any vet costs associated with the puppy with the genetic issue. These include: Hip Displasia, Elbow Displasia, Wobblers, Addisons, Megaesophagus, Cardiac and Thyroid Issues related to genetic passing, Demodoctic Mange that's passed from a parent and not deemed environmental.
So far we have yet to receive notice of any genetic disorder.
Full disclosure, we have had two puppies out of the hundreds we have now bred and placed in homes, who had a testicular descending issue. These two dogs were bought with breeding rights, and although we do not guarantee the breed ability of a dog being purchased with breeding rights (as many things can prevent a dog from being bred or taking pregnancy), but because these were deemed as genetic, we chose to retire the female and male who the offspring was from, and gave a refund of the breeding rights fee paid. (We normally do not do a return if the dog matures and isn't breeding quality or able to get pregnant, carry or whelp litters, or impregnate if it's a stud, as again there is no guarantee on any male/female purchased for breeding. We personally have bought many dogs on breeding rights that didn't take pregnancy, couldn't stud or simply were not breeding quality once they matured to age.)Am I allowed to come to your property and visit the parents and tour where and how your dogs and puppies are raised? The short answer is a firm NO.
The long answer is, that because of many different reasons, we do not allow visitors to our property for any reason and it has nothing to do with us trying to hide anything.
The reason we don't allow physical tours is one for concern of health of our puppies. Up until your puppy is 16 weeks old and has 4 shots, their immunity is compromised. They have little immunity built up against Parvo, Canine Influenza, Bordetella Kennel Cough (which can turn in pneumonia), Pyometra (an inner uterine infection), Brucellosis (an animal STD that can cause all your dogs to become sterile), and intestinal parasites such as Cocsidia and Giardia. These type of diseases and illnesses can kill an immune compromised adult in a few weeks if left untreated, but can kill immune compromised puppies in as little as a day.
Anything effecting their intestines such as Parvo, Cocsidia, and Giardia can cause severe diarrhea and dehydration, which can painfully cause a puppies organs to shut down and ultimately die, causing that puppy a very excruciating death. Cocsidia can be passed from the poo of birds in puddles in the yard, which is why our puppies water is treated with a product called Corrid, our puppies are treated with a preventative called Marquees or Toltranzuril, and why our yard is routinely sprayed with a disinfectant that kills Cocsidia, Giaradia and Parvo, as well as why our puppies are on RAISED kennels, off of any porous concrete, or the grass or mud where its hard to keep clean and disinfected against these diseases and parasites. This is also why their inside kennels are metal and sprayed daily with animal friendly disinfectants.
But aside from all of the precautions we take, from never wearing our tennis shoes inside past our kitchen/mud room, wearing a special rubber boots we spray with disinfectant when we are going into our yard or kennels, using antibacterial soaps, disinfecting sprays and mopping solutions that is vet grade cleaners, using antibacterial hand sanitizer before touching any puppy, to wearing sterile surgical gloves during whelping and their 2 weeks of life, we still MUST limit our puppies, and our property from unnecessary exposures to disease and parasites.
We can not control the hands, clothing, and shoes of visitors and even wearing hospital booties does not limit infectious diseases that could be carried in on your hands and clothes, or even something as small as a hair tye. Yes, we are aware that us ourselves or our children can also bring anything in, however, by limiting the foot traffic, we limit the amount of exposures.
Parvo can live in the ground and on unbleached surfaces and crevasses for up to 7 years! That's why when we take our pups to the vet, they remain in our clean and disinfected kennels and are not even allowed to touch the floor of the vet office, regardless if they have mopped with disinfectant or not. Parvo missed on a baseboard or spring of a door-stop can KILL a puppy and infect and KILL future litters if brought back home.
I simply can not express enough, the importance of NEVER taking your puppy prior to the age of 16 weeks with 4 shots at minimum, to parks where non vaccinated dogs can be walked and urinate and poop at, dog parks, the groomer, your vets floor where other sick and dying animals could have been, rivers/lakes where micro organisms live that can get into your puppys lung lobes and fester into bacterial infections, dog friendly stores (Petsmart, Rural King, Tractor Supply, Petco, Etc). It is TOO RISKY to the life of your puppy to go to these places until they have a minimum of 4 shots.What dog food do you use on your puppies and your adults? 
We use a premium grade dog food called Sportsman's Pride that we special order by the pallet. We have found that you can order it from www.chewy.com and have it dropped shipped to your door with free shipping on orders over $50.
With our giant breed dogs we normally recommend staying at a 21-24% protein level when dealing with other brands of dog food. The protein isn't actually the culprit when it comes to a giant breeds health. It's actually an imbalance of Phosphorus to Calcium levels. The reason we advise a 21%-24% protein on most dog foods is that most Adult breed (to include Large Breed Adult) foods are balanced for large breed dogs (Labradors, Retrievers, Weimeriners, Rottweilers, Pittbulls, Dalmatians, etc.) and they ARE NOT balance correctly for giant breed dogs (Masstiffs, Great Danes, St. Bernard's, Bernice Mountain Dogs, etc.) When you are dealing with a giant breed dog, you will need the phosphorus and calcium levels balanced for a SLOW and steady growth, not a RAPID growth, which is why there are very FEW dog foods on the market geared for giant breed dogs.
We have used Sportsman's Pride on our adults and the puppy chow (which is normally an absolute no no on giant breed dogs) with complete success, because their formula is high in protein to keep a healthy weight on your giant breed, but their phosphorus and calcium levels are balanced for consumption by giant breed dogs without causing knuckling or H.O.D nutritional issues.
We HIGHLY recommend this brand of dog food for our giant breed puppies because of it's quality. This, being a premium dog food tends to average $37 for a 25lb bag of puppy chow and $34 for a 50lb bag of adult food. This particular brand blends in Omega 3 Fish Oil into the dog food blend, which is responsible for healthy, shiny, thick fur coats and less chance of puppy acne and skin allergies.
Dog food choice for giant breed puppies is VERY important for the simple fact that they grow so rapidly. If their nutrition is not balanced then they begin to develop a condition know as knuckling. Below is some images of knuckling to give you an idea of what it looks like. *** NOTE: None of the dogs below pictured our dogs we bred or owned. They are images we googled to show you what knuckling looks like.
What do I do if my puppy begins to knuckle? The moment you begin to see your puppy's leg bowing outward, or their foot turning outward or under, or even notice them shaking uncontrollable on one foot while standing or sitting, this is a sign of beginning stages of knuckling. Knuckling is VERY common with giant breed dogs as they grow until they reach about 9 months of age. Basically what is happening is that your giant breed puppy is growing too fast. As they grow their distal altnas (growth plates) are not strong enough to support their size. So what we have to do is SLOW the giant breed down, while maintaining their fat content as to not starve them. To do this, is VERY simple.
The first thing we do is take the puppy off all dry kibble you have them on. What's going on is that dry kibble food is way higher in protein and phosphorus and lower in calcium and the puppies body is not leveling these things correctly and their growth plates are simply not strong enough to support them. So by removing them off dry kibble we take away the ingredients causing the knuckling. After we remove them from the dry kibble we still have to feed them, and we have to feed them something that maintains a fat content that will keep them within a healthy weight and not starve their body. To do this I recommend putting them on a canned dog food. The brand really doesn't matter, but I prefer Pedigree in a yellow can, grounded up not chopped chunks.
I keep them on the canned food for one week, four times a day, usually a can each feeding, sometimes a can 1/2 depending on size and how hungry they are. After one week I put them on a 1/2 and 1/2 concoction for the second week. I do half of canned food to 1/2 dry kibble. So if your feeding 2 cups of dry I do 75% of canned food and mix it together. After the second week I transfer back to the straight dry kibble. Canned dog food is usually a 8-11% protein, lower phosphorus and lower calcium with a higher fat content, so it keeps them at a healthy weight while letting their growth slow down.
However, this is ONLY the first step. The second step is pro-pectalin tablets or some type of anti diarrhea medication. Your puppy will ultimately have the runs from the dog food change, and especially a change to a canned food. So you'll need to combat that with a pro-pectalin tablets or anti diarrhea medication either from your vet or (Kyeopectate for over the counter. I use 10 ml per 15lbs). I highly recommend keeping pro-pectalin tablets on hand. You can order those from Ebay here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Pectalin-for-Dogs-Cats-250-Chewable-Tablets/152053044446?epid=670371331&hash=item23671154de:g:ugYAAOSwv~xXDmrH It's $55 for 250 tabs. I give 1/2 a tab per 10lbs. These are wonderful if your puppy EVER has diarrhea. Not only is it a anti diarrhetic but it also has natural enzymes so it helps to replace the natural enzymes in your dogs gut to make their tummy feel better and settle down.
Now we have fixed the imbalance of levels in the dry kibble by removing them from the dry kibble, while still keeping a high fat diet to keep the dog healthy and at a good weight and we have addressed the diarrhea but now to FIX the actual knuckling issue. Again this is simple. Buy yourself a big bottle of Vitamin C tablets from your local pharmacy. Your puppy will need 1000mg of Vitamin C a day for the next 10 days in order to increase their vitamin c to strengthen those distal altnas (growth plate bones). Within 2 weeks you should see a 180 degree turn around and your puppy should no longer have any of the knuckling symptoms.
It is VITAL that you IMMEDIATELY get the knuckling under control AS SOON AS it starts. If you do not, it can develop into more serious nutritional issues such as H.O.D, and nutritional issues can lead into bigger health concerns and even cause mild hip displasia because the dogs bones are not developing correctly. This is why I can not preach enough that a PREMIUM dog food is vital to the health of your puppy, but paying attention to growing problems and addressing those immediately are also vital to the development of your puppy. However please note, that your puppy may still experience mild knuckling even on premium dog food. This is a NATURAL growing process when the giant breed puppy is growing faster then their bones can strengthen and plates can close. So it's important that you know and understand fully what knuckling is and looks likes, and can correct it quickly.How much food do you feed during growing stages and as an adults?
What is bloat and how do I avoid it?
Honestly, I do not know how much we feed each dog or puppy a day. We use a philosophy of free feeding with our puppies and our adults. We have created gravity feeders that holds 50 lbs of dry kibble that allows our dogs and puppies to always have dog food available. The reasons that we choose to free feed is based on the theory our vet has and that free feeding allows the dog and puppies to always have access to food. They tend to nibble and eat small amounts of food all day, versus scarfing down a large amount at once.
These smaller meals have time to digest and work their way through the stomach and into the intestines, where as large meals will sit heavy in the stomach until they are processed. With a heavy stomach comes a greater chance at bloat (a flipping of the stomach around itself, that cuts off blood flow to the stomach and lower intestines causing the stomach to trap air "bloating" the abdomen and causing the dog excruciating pain and death within a few hours if untreated.)
Now we have still had a couple dogs bloat even using the gravity feeders, but out of all of the years we have owned our dogs and all of the years of breeding, we have had only 2 cases of bloat. One dog passed from bloat and the other was saved through emergency surgery.
The downside of free feeding is that unlike timed feeding, it's harder to control potty breaks. So we recommend free feeding if you have a dog door installed or someone is at home during the day to let your puppy out, as having constant access to food will result in more bathroom breaks needed. For those who are kennel training for long periods of the day or who have certain schedules they can only time feed, we highly recommend leaving your dog in their kennel, or in a bathroom for 30 minutes after eating. Do not allow your dog to run and play, bounce, and jump, even on and off your furniture, until their food has time to digest. This reduces the risk of bloating as well.
Typically bloating happens in older puppies and dogs (8 months and older). We usually don't see bloating in younger puppies because their body cavity (rib cage and lower abdomen area) ratio to their organ size is smaller. It isn't until the dogs body becomes large enough to allow room for the stomach to flip that we begin seeing bloating in dogs. Usually that's when the puppy is 8 months and older.
One theory to also help avoid bloating is a surgery called a stomach tack. This is where the vet will surgically tack the dogs stomach to the sides of their body so that the stomach can't flip around itself. This can be as low as $200 with some vets or upwards of $1500 depending on the size of the dog and the complications of the surgery. But it's well worth the investment if bloat is a high concern.
Recently there has also been information released that certain companies can actually genetically test for a gene that leads to pre disposition to bloat (enhancing the chance of bloat in that particular dog.) I guess this is like the science of detecting cancer genes. I can't verify or back the findings because I have not submitted these tests before, or done much research on the testing myself. But it is an option and I have been told a company called VetMed does this testing for this particular gene.How can I be confident in my purchase of a puppy with you? I have read or been told some bad things about your breeding program by someone else? This is a sad world we live in, in this day and age. There are people out there who use the protection of a computer screen to defame others character and unfortunately there's very little one can do about it, and if they choose to act on it, such as suing the individuals for slander or defamation of character, it's very expensive for the individual, especially if the people who are spreading the rumors are out of state, which often they are. A secondary problem comes with suing individuals over slander an defamation of character, because if an individual wins their case and gets a judgment against the people spreading the lies, it's simply a judgment on their credit report. Unless the individual has some type of wages to garnish (which again is more costly court proceedings for the individual) attaining payment on the judgment is almost hopeless. This is WHY people feel safe with spreading rumors or lies on the internet. They know how hard it is to get restitution against what they are doing, because sadly lying about someone is not criminal. It's a civil case proceeding and there is no prosecution process for someone simply lying about someone else.
So there are pet owners who do not understand what goes into the breeding process, whelping and raising of a litter. There are pet owners who don't believe in breeding anything at all. There are pet owners who only own 1 or 2 dogs and want to give their opinion on what is and is not correct with someone raising multiple dogs. There are show breeders who believe only AKC championed dogs should be bred, therefore eliminating the possibility of affordable pet dogs for families. There are color purists who believe that only the five show colors should be bred, and that off colors should be culled (killed) at birth. There are people who are against using any type of kennel or cage on a dog at all. There are people who believe dogs should only eat raw diets and not dry kibble. All of these OPINIONS lead to bashing of other people, who are raising or doing things DIFFERENTLY then they would do or raise themselves. This does NOT mean that the breeder is "wrong" or is a "puppy mill" or is a "commercial breeder" or "should be prosecuted for animal abuse or neglect." Fortunately for us, individual opinions are not what is lawfully acceptable, and fortunately we have government ran offices that mandate laws to protect animals that stipulate what is and what is not allowed, and this isn't based on 100 different opinions of people, but rather the process and foundation of what is good and right for the animals without the over inflated opinions.
So how do I deal with a buyer who is questioning what they may have been told about me by someone else or what they may have read about me on some internet bashing group? I would tell that potential buyer to investigate me yourself and start with the most accurate information.
To begin start with the AKC. The AKC knows the breeders entire breed history. They have every dog that is registered to that breeder in their file, every litter they have ever had, how many puppies have been registered and even AKC awards and shows that their offspring has attended. The AKC keeps very detailed records on every breeder and every registered dog in their database. If someone is to buy an AKC registered dog and is unhappy with the health or temperament of the dog, then they have the right to lodge a breeder complaint with the AKC. So my first step in investigating any breeder would be to call the AKC and find out the breeders history with the AKC. I'd ask AKC.... Does this breeder have any formal puppy buyer complaints? Meaning that an actual buyer has submitted their AKC registration number on their dog they purchased for an official complaint against the breeder, and the AKC has done a thorough investigation into the complaint and has noted the findings of the investigation. I'd also ask how long the breeder has been registering litters with the AKC because that's going to tell you if your breeder is a new breeder or if they have a long history with the AKC. AKC Customer Service can be contacted here: 1 (919) 233-9767 and their website is: http://www.akc.org/. Our breeding program is WiseDane Great Danes and we are registered under Tiffany Wiseman.
The second thing I would do is call the breeders veterinarian. Although most vets will not release detailed information about a breeders dogs or puppies, the vet will verify if the breeder is a regular client of their office. Most vets have no problem telling you if they only see the breeder when problems occur or if the breeder is there quite often for standard veterinarian care of their dogs and puppies. Our veterinarian is Dr. David Stone of Shepherdsville Animal Hospital - 1203 KY-44, Shepherdsville, KY 40165 - (502) 921-1177. If you are a potential buyer please feel free to contact our veterinarian to follow up on us.
The third thing I would do when researching my breeder is to request the breeders contract and health guarantee. I would want to read over it before I ever sent even a deposit to the breeder. I would want to fully understand their contract and what is and what is not expected of me and them in the contract. I'd want to understand my deposit and monies paid on the dog and if any refunds were granted and when and why they would be and would not be refunded. I would want to know and understand their health guarantee first hand and what they covered and did not cover under it and what would happen if something happened to my puppy that fell under their health guarantee and how it would be handled. This will tell you if you are dealing with a "puppy mill" or a "reputable breeder". Puppy mills do not have contracts or health guarantees. They sell mass amounts of dogs to broker companies who then sell those puppies to pet stores. When you are purchasing a puppy from a puppy mill you will never see a contract, you will never have the breeders information (name, address, phone number, facebook, email address, website address, etc). Your puppy will only come with the pet stores health guarantee but the breeder themselves of a puppy mill dog will not have a health guarantee. A puppy mills goal is NOT to know their buyers, but rather to sell their puppies as fast as possible for as much as possible, with as little work or money invested in the puppy as possible. A reputable breeder will speak with you. They will require that you do a puppy application before they are even willing to take your deposit on a puppy. (We even go to a great extent and run names, address and phone numbers in a CODIS system for a background check. We're looking for animal abuse or animal neglect charges pending or prosecuted. If you have no charges pending or prosecuted our system gives us a Verified and green check. If you have pending or prosecuted charges our system gives us a Red flag do Not Sell and we will not continue a sell to you.) A reputable breeder will be able to provide you with their contract and health guarantee before they take your deposit so that you have time to read over it and check with your personal attorney if you wish to. Our is posted right here on our website: http://www.wittlethangz2.com/WisedaneKennels/contract.php
The fourth thing I'd do when researching my breeder is ask the breeder for at least 5 to 10 references, with 5 of those being PAST buyers. I'd contact those references and ask them the following questions.
1. Were you happy with the puppy you received from WiseDane?
2. Did your puppy come current with vaccinations and wormings?
3. Wash your puppy sick or suffering from any ailments when you got it?
4. Did WiseDane keep in contact with you after your purchase or just until you paid for your puppy?
5. Are you comfortable going to WiseDane with questions now, after you made payment and received your puppy?
6. Was you puppy picked up by you or was it shipped, and if it was shipped was it clean when it arrived?
7. How did you veterinarian react to the puppy you got from WiseDane?
8. did your puppy come with all of their paperwork (AKC papers, Shot record, Worming Record, Fecal Test, Vet Check Up Form, and State Certified Health Certificate)?
9. Was your vet happy with the paperwork your puppy came with?
10. And most importantly if you were to buy a new puppy would you return back to WiseDane?
The ABSOLUTE BEST way to KNOW YOUR BREEDER is to contact their past buyers. Often these bashing sessions on breeders are by OTHER jealous breeders or animal activist with a skewed OPINION on how animals should be cared for. They are posted by people who have NEVER talked to the breeder in person. NEVER been to the breeders residence or kennel. NEVER seen the breeders dogs or puppies in person. NEVER sold to the breeder themselves. NEVER bought from the breeder themselves. They aren't made by actual buyers with bas experiences, so you HAVE TO consider the sources of the complaints on the breeder, because more often then not it's only slanderous lies to TRY and taint the breeders character and program. So before just believing what you read in a bashing group or webpage, talk to the AKC, talk to the breeders veterinarian, and talk to the breeders BUYERS who all have FIRST HAND knowledge on the breeder and their practices.
Here is a link to our Buyers only group on facebook. It's a public group that any person can see the photos of our babies growing up in their homes with their families. You can also see how many buyers we have and their names to contact them personally and get references on us as breeders. https://www.facebook.com/groups/WiseDaneOwners/ . We also have some of our screen shot references here: http://www.wittlethangz2.com/WisedaneKennels/referrals.php