On July 7 we bought a male harlequin great dane from Davina Brown of Superior Danes. He was 9 weeks old and we were told we could get him half price because of his age. They didn't want him to get too attached to their family. Heres our story-with a very sad ending.
I've always dreamed of owning a great dane. My husband and I began looking on the internet to find a good breeder in our area with a reasonable price. We found a picture of Timber on puppyfinder.com and I got in touch with the breeder. I did as much research as I knew how to do at that time on spotting a bad breeder-however my desire to believe in the goodwill of people over took me and I admittedly missed all the signs. We drove several hours to meet the puppy and it's parents, as well as the breeder. The minute we saw him we fell in love with him and knew he was our Timber.
We met Timber's mother and were impressed with her size and temperment. We tried to meet his dad but he was kenneled up for some reason. I don't remember why. My 3 year old ran about 20 yards in front of the kennel to look at him and the dog instantly freaked out barking aggressively and lunging at the kennel door. It freaked us out but Davina said the poor dog is terrorized by the neighbor boy and as a result gets upsets around little boys. Weird I thought-but no matter-he wasn't my dog.
We took Timber home that day. We purchased him for 500 bucks-a steal since he came from champion lines. We were told his dad was a champion! She gave me a paper to look at and I marveled at all the names with CH in front of them, his dad included. Since we were buying Timber "without papers" I handed back the records and signed a bunch of papers having to do with her return policy and such. I got a few vet records and another story about how she had formerly sold Timber to a couple who backed out at the last minute (due to money). Thus explaining why some of the vet records said "Kane" and "Lightening". Now it occurs to me... Why two names?
We took Timber home and fell deeply in love with him. Then all hell broke loose. Timber became completely lame. He couldn't walk, sit, stand, pee or poop. We diagnosed him as having hypertrophic osteodystrophy, a condition that affected his joints as he rapidly grew and was causing an incredible amount of pain. For 6 entire weeks he didn't move... We held his rump as he pooped and peed in our hands, we carried him everywhere and he became a constant fixture on our couch. Just as we thought we would have to consider some serious issues-he came out of it.
I called Davina often during this and was impressed with her willingness to talk with me and offer suggestions to help him. My vet had a weird feeling about her, but I had met her and thought she knew what the heck she was doing. She kept telling me to keep him on his puppy chow and I think she said to try vitamin C. I really can't remember. My vet was telling me that the food she insisted on was too high in protien and was actually causing the HOD. So we switched the food and within the week he cleared up. That was when I began to wonder about Davina. Everything I read on the internet about HOD was telling me to do the opposite of what she was insisting. I should have followed my gut.
Timber grew to be a wonderful dog. Loving, protective, sweet, silly, a little tempermental at times but still an awesome dog. He was gentle with my now 2 and 5 year old. Then one day I got a call that he bit someone. A complete stranger dressed in head to toe black decided to walk up to our fenced in back yard to pet the dog. He didn't talk to Timber or let him sniff his hand. He just reached over the fence and went for Timber's head. Timber felt protective of his human daddy who was with him at the time and turned on the stranger and bit his hand. No stiches were needed and the man admitted he made a stupid mistake and the event was over. However we weren't quite sure what to make of Timber's sudden move-it was completely out of his character.
This May he began to come up lame. Sometime on one leg for days at a time and sometime nothing bothered him. We had him checked out and our vet instantly questioned osteosarcoma (bone cancer). With just a little pressure on Timber's joints my dog would turn on him and bite at him due to pain. We went home to discuss what to do.
Timber began to snap at us and the kids. It didn't take much to make him mad or hurt him. So we decided to re-contact Davina after almost 2 years to see if she had any idea's. However we could't find her website or kennel name anymore. She had disappeared. But I did find a rip off report about her. You can read it if you'd like but it was bad bad bad. Sick dogs, aggressive dogs... And low and behold a shocking report that Timber's sire was not a champion like I was told, but an aggressive rescue dog!!! What? I contacted the breeder, Noble Danes, and was informed of the story. I was stunned. This breeder had proof.
The rescued dog had bitten people but despite that, John Brown, Davina's husband insisted that Noble Danes let him adopt Maverick. He said he had owned Danes before and could handle Maverick. He was even bit by him the day he got him! Noble Danes had him sign contracts to have him neutered and not to breed him. Want to guess what he did? Of course he bred him if I have Timber! Noble Danes called to inform the Browns that they were coming to get the dog because they breeched the contract. Upon arriving they were told that Maverick had suddenly died and had been cremated. I've also heard through the grapevine that the vet the Brown's used is now out of practice and is nowhere to be found-a personal friend of the Browns'. I can assure you that this is not all a conincidence.
Given the news of Timber's bloodline we were devestated. We have toddlers in the house! Timber had suddenly been snapping at us and he was in pain. What were we to do? We put him on pain meds to see if he would stop biting at us. He stopped biting at us, however he suddenly became very aggressive with strangers-even people in my extended family that he knew. He was completely unpredictable. I sought the advice of family, friends, my vet and the breeder at Noble Danes. Everyone said the same thing: you can't take the chance of him hurting the kids, or God forbid even killing one.
Two things made the decision for me. One was visiting Annsley Kast, the breeder of Noble Danes. I met her danes and was shocked to discover how calm and docile they were. This was the true nature of the breed. The physical differences were amazing as well, they were tall, strong and mighty. Timber was top heavy, had crooked legs and had a horrible slant to his back. It's no wonder the boy had so much pain, he was the equivilent of a human with scholiosis!
My second decision maker was that poor Timber was not himself. He would seek solace away from the family. He woulndn't play as often. He slept constantly and groaned, cried and whined even on pain meds. He was not enjoying life.
On June 20 I lay on the tile floor at my vets office and sobbed. I was saying good bye to my baby. This dog saw me through two miscarraiges, protected me from weird strangers, cuddled with me in bed, laid with me when I cried. How could I possibly have to do this?! Because of Davina Brown and her lies. She lied to me about giving me a great dane with a great blood line. She doesn't even know his blood line! And she got 500 bucks for it! I could have given Timber back to her for his aggressiveness-but you couldn't pay me to leave him with that witch. She'd hurt him I have no doubt. I could have given him away to a stranger and lied about is past-but I'd be no different from her. A rescue wouldn't take him due to his biting. I only had one option.
As I sat on the floor trying to find the words for my puppy, he dropped his cherished stuffed toy and taking notice of my tears came to me to console me. He stood there licking the tears from my eyes one by one as they dropped. Usually he'd choose to lay with me while I cried, but this time I'm sure he knew that this pain was deeper than even my miscarriage's. He wanted to love on me and make me happy. That's the Timber I'll remember. Not the one that was a victim of Davina and her lies.
Please please don't ever buy a dog from this woman. Even if you have one now, I'd question what she's told you about their blood lines. I know you may have a good dog, but that can all change in a heart beat. As I found out, the only thing worse than an aggressive dog is an unpredictable dog. I pray that you'll never know the pain of having to put your best friend down.
We have a new little girl coming to us in July. I've come to trust Annsley Kast of Noble Danes through this process. She had nothing to gain and nothing to prove accept the love of her breed. I hate to have to pay that much for a dog-but I know that her dogs are the real deal. Every penny I give her will be worth it, I have no doubt. I hope I can love this little girl half as much as I did Timber! I'm sure I will, but she has big paws to fill!
If you're in the market for a dane-check them first. I guarentee you won't be here two years later writing a rip off report.
As for Davina-I hope she's miserable right now. Funny thing is I can't even find her to be able to tell her all this. She went AWOL. Coincidence or guilty as charged?
If she responds to this-I know it will be all lies and I will not spend my time arguing with her. There are two of us now that have been hosed by her. I'm sure there's more. I have nothing to gain by reporting her, just the hope that no one else has to go through this.
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