Shelby @ 10 weeks.. and gettin' bigger!

She is growing by the day and we absolutely LOVE HER TO DEATH!! She is getting such a cute little personality and we can't wait for her to develop into a precious young girl. She loves, loves, loves to eat and will go and wait by the kitchen counter and look up like she is saying, "Feed me, momma!" She is learning so fast and is really smart (when she wants to be)! She walks great on a leash and sleeps through the night. She passes out every night at 8:00 on the dot and you cannot wake her up if you tried! We seriously thought she was dead at one point!!

Look at the belly! Shelby's Feeder for when she grows a little bit... We took her stitches out and the cup off of her head last night! Her ears look so good! My baby... she won't be like this for long :(
Smilin'
Her teeth are the cutest thing you have ever seen.. They look like little arrows

Laura and Shelby Bells :)

Why did we buy this wonderful bed and huge crate? So she can sleep on the floor! Duh!

Shelby arrives HOME!!!

We picked up Shelby yesterday and she is even more than I imagined she would be! She has the most beautiful face that can just melt you. She has the prettiest color coat and her ear crop looks amazing. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but she is more and we love her soo much!! Chan gets to babysit today while I am at work, something which he was kinda nervous about at first. Shelby was kinda antsy yesterday when we got her home, constantly pacing the house looking for all of her brothers and sisters. She did good in the cage and hardly cried at all through the night. We did have a little accident in the cage right after she woke up from a nap but all accidents at this point are to be expected. I have posted several pics that we took through the day. It was Chan's birthday and he was such a good sport b/c we drove 11+ hours on his birthday!! I owe you BIG my darling :) Free massages for life!

We got to meet Shelby's mom, dad, littermates, Niah (her full sister from another litter, she's around 1 year old) and several other full grown danes from Ann's line. They are absolutely beautiful and I think we were both a little overwhelmed. There were dogs everywhere and it was mass chaos! Shelby has a sister living in Aiken, just down the road, so we are going to try and get with them sometime so they can play. Keep checking back for updated pics to watch her grow!

Shelby with Daddy

Soooo stinkin' cute! Chewin' away...

What momma?

Blue eyes

She is such a dreamer! She ran in her sleep the whole ride home :)

Play an hour, sleep an hour, play an hour...

Shelbalini!!

Shelby @ 7 Weeks... Bigger by the Day!

Shelby is turning into quite a beautiful little darling! She looks like a lazy one among the bunch, which Chandler is very excited about. :) I have a very hard-working lazy husband!! He loves to work but loves to sleep, so maybe Shelby will be the same way - love to play and love to sleep! Here are some 7 week group pics.. let us know what you think!

All 7 girls... Shelby is the second pup from the left in the next 3 pics

All 4 boys...

Group pic at 6 weeks... Shelby is the third one from the left

Shelby @ 7 weeks!! Ann is holding her ears up to give her the cropped look.

just chillin...

6 week pics!!!

Our baby is growing up! We can't wait to pick her up in two weeks!

5 week pics!

Shelby turned 5 weeks old yesterday and Ann (the breeder) posted her updated pics! You have to go look at her siblings - http://www.nightmagicpride.com/09julylitter.htm - they are all absolutely precious!

This breed is an American/European cross. European danes have larger heads and are generally more muscular with a thicker coat. Americans have a more slender face and their build leans more toward the greyhound rather than the mastiff. They have a shorter coat and a tighter head/face.

Shelby has a beautiful head and gorgeous blue eyes. The newest items we have bought for her include a (very) large food tray, nail clippers & file, a brush, and training treats. We will definitely be picking her up on Friday, Sept. 11th, and although it is quite a haul (4-5 hours one way!), we cannot wait to see her and bring her back to her forever home.

Sitting up nice and tall

Can't decide if she looks innocent or guilty :)

Our precious baby!

Sweet girl

People think we are crazy getting a large dog when I am just starting back to work and we are always traveling to see our families, but we beg to differ! We have always wanted (ok, not always, but for a long time!) a great dane and have always talked about it. There is never a perfect time to do anything (have kids, for example) and when I found this breeder in South Georgia, I knew that we had to have one of her puppies asap. What are we going to do when we have to travel? Make it work! What are we going to do when we are at work? Make it work! My schedule has me working some weekends which is good because I will be at home with her on some weekdays and Chan will be loving on her all weekend. We will continue to live our wonderful lives, but we will have Shelby to tag along on our adventures!

Shelby @ 4 weeks!!

Our sweet Shelby turned 4 weeks old on Monday! Here are some updated pics from the breeder's website - Night Magic Pride Danes in South Georgia. We are still planning to pick her up on Sept. 11th or 12th and we cannot wait! We will continue to post her growth on here for everyone to see how big and beautiful she gets... :)

Pretty blue eyes :)

Look how shiny her coat is!

Playful!


Big head!

We received our Blackwatch feeding program from First Choice Naturals the other day and have made a feeding schedule. She is going to grow so fast, so we have to ensure that her diet is perfectly balanced. We will give her probiotics, nzymes, omega oils, msm, and colostrum.

Baby Pics!! 3 Weeks Old

I had to post some of the most current pics of the litter. There are 11 puppies altogether, 7 females and 4 males. We do not know which pup will be ours yet! The only difference is that some have a little white on their chests and some don't. They are precious and will melt your heart! Please read below and help us solve our dilemma - crop or not?!?! We decided on cropping, but I saw a precious dane at PetSmart with natural ears and it was so cute... Tell us what you think...

Okay, so tell me what you think... crop or no crop....

Cropped Ears...

(Yes, all of these are "puppies" from the same parents as Shelby! Beautiful!)

or.....

Natural Ears

so... what do you think? Please let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me at laurarknox@gmail.com. Look forward to hearing from you!

Bedding, the Ear Kit & Food

We received Shelby's bed yesterday from http://www.mammothoutlet.com/ and it is perfect! It is a camel color micro-suede fabric and is stuffed to the max for the ultimate orthopedic comfort. Shelby will sleep on the bed at night in our room when she is trained (which we are hoping will not take too too long).

Look at the picture below and it looks like a normal little dog bed, right? Well, take a look below that and you will see my 6'2" husband laying in the bed with Punky and you will see how HUGE it really is!

and the hubby in the bed.....

I have been doing a lot of research about ear cropping and we have decided that we are going to get her ears cropped before we pick her up from the breeder. I know that ear cropping is a lot of hard work and takes time, but I have fully prepared myself for it and am ready to take it on. I love the look of a cropped dane and know that we are making the right decision. I put her "ear kit" together so we will be ready to re-tape her ears when her wrapping comes off. It consists of Medicated Body Powder, porous cloth tape, Heavy-duty electrical zip ties, and Breathe Right strips (for a little later down the road when they only need a little support). I put an order in for the Torbot Bonding Cement and the Adhesive Remover, and it should arrive in a week or so.

I found a great authorized distributor of Premium, Natural, Holistic and Organic pet food in Appling, Georgia, that delivers anywhere in Columbia County for free. It is called Dog Gone Cute - http://www.doggonecute.net/index.html and I called and talked to the owner and will be ordering all of our dog food from there. She was very helpful and will deliver it to our house AND most importantly, it is cheaper than PetSmart and Petco! We will keep Punky and Lola on Royal Canin and Shelby will be fed Precise along with the Blackwatch Feed Program. I decided it is better to prevent than treat illness, so we will do anything in our power to prevent Shelby from ever getting sick! We are going to look at options for elevated dog bowls today, but we might end up having to order one.

Take a look at my two other babies, Punky & Lola. They are so excited about becoming big sisters and they can't wait to show Shelby the ropes. Don't hate on their names - we had a blast coming up with Punky's name!! :)

Lady Lola Bell

Punky Hotbeli Dingledorf