Kelso's Gr8 Danes

This page is under construction, Please check back when it is complete! In the meantime, if you have a question you need answered, please email ( [email protected] ) me and I will be glad to help out in any way I can!!! 

I have decided to write this page because I hear all the time, "I don't want a show dog just a pet" and "Why are your puppies so much more money then others that I see." Hopefully after you are done reading this page it will give you an insight to my breeding program (or someone else's) and why I do what I do so you can trust in the fact that the Kelso GR8 Dane puppy you own or thinking about owning will be with you for a very very long time.

It makes me so angry to see puppies listed for sale that are so darn expensive and NO HEALTH EXAMS WERE DONE ON ANY OF THE PARENTS!!!! Not to mention they are only giving you a 1 or 2 year guarantee with strings attached (conditions you MUST follow or the guarantee is null and void!!!)! They are hoping you DO NOT KNOW that most OFA certifications can not be received until after the dog's second birthday!!!! Your guarantee is worthless unless your puppy is so bad off that the problem crops up in the first year of life!!!!

PLEASE DO YOUR HOMEWORK...YOU ARE NOT JUST LOOKING FOR A PET, BUT RATHER A NEW FAMILY MEMBER YOU INTEND ON BEING AROUND A LONG LONG TIME!!!!  You wouldn't purchase a car from someone just on their word it runs great, would you?  You would have the car checked out first! The best way to "check out" your new potential family member, is to check out the parents and make sure they are healthy! There are way too many good respectable breeders out there, then to settle on a back yard breeder or puppy mill!!! (And that's a whole other story you don't want me getting started on!)

Breeder Option Diagnosis:

A-Eyelids                   

A0-All Others             A3- Distichiasis

A1- Entropion             A4-Ectopic cilia 

A2-Ectropion              A5- Eury/Macro blepharon

B-Third Eyelid (AKA )

B0-All Others       

B1-Cartilage anomaly/eversion

B2- Gland Prolapse

C- Cornea

C0-All Others    

C1- Corneal dystrophy-epithelial/stromal

C2- Corneal dystrophy-endothelial

C3- Inherited/pannus

C4- Exposure/pigmentary keratitis

D- Iris

D0-All Others 

D1-Iris/ciliary body cyst

D2-Iris Coloboma

D3a-Persistent pupillary membranes-iris to iris

D3b- Persistent pupillary membranes-all others

D4- Iris hypoplasia

E-Lens

E1-Cataract *significance unknown

F- Vitreous

F0- All others

F1-Persistent hyaloid artery

F2a- degenerations-syneresis

F2b-degeneration-ant chamber

In my opinion, this certification is worthless unless the dog has been Echocardiogrammed!!! Why, you asked, well that's a great question!!!! Here's why:

Cardiac Auscultation- What this big word means is a vet or cardiologist listen to the dog's heart with a stethoscope and heard no abnormalities. This can lead to a false normal, especially if no murmur is heard!

Echocardiogram- This is like taking an ultrasound of the heart and can only be done by a cardiologist or specialist. The "ECHO" will pick up the slightest of abnormalities, defects, weak valves, murmurs, etc.

McFly's case is the perfect example of why ECHO over just auscultion! McFly had his heart listened to by several different vets including a two cardiologist and nothing out of the norm was ever heard!!! Including when McFly was a young puppy and got very sick and spent a week in a Specialy Vet Hospital with specialist checking him out several times a day which included listening to his heart! Needless to say, we were all SHOCKED to find out he had a mild aortic insufficiency (leaky heart valve) and Subaortic Stenosis (Please see our page on genetic diseases for more information on SAS)!!! Although in McFly's case it is mild enough that it will not affect the quality of his life. If he were to have been bred with just and auscultation and the SAS missed, it would be detrimental to his puppies and would of cost thousands of dollars per owner of each puppy to have surgery to correct the problem (if correctable by surgery), and life long medication for those puppies and not to mention those puppies could drop dead at any second, so shorter life spans as well!!!!

IF IT DOESN'T SAY ECHO....Your puppy is still at HIGH RISK of having or carrying a detrimental Cardio defect that could cost you thousands of dollars just to care for your puppy! This does not include the cost of emotional attachment by you and your family, and having to put your puppy down after only a year (or worse it just drops dead!).

So, IF IT DOESN'T SAY ECHO...BE SURE TO TELL THE BREEDER SEE YA LATER!!!!!! DON'T WALK AWAY, BUT RATHER RUN!!!!!!!!