Our breeding program:

Eric and I strive for health, longevity and excellent temperament in our danes. The first part of our breeding program is the hours, weeks, months and years that go into a planned breeding. We do not just breed for puppies. We are breeding in the hopes of bettering the breed and generally will always keep a puppy back out of our breeding. After we have done all of our research on the genetic and physical aspects, its time to do the OFA and the thyroid testing. If their has been problems in the past with cardio or eye's we will do the cardio testing and eye surfs before breeding. We normally use a stud from an outside source whether the sir is overseas or four state away. By using Artificial Insemination your opinions for a better sir come to life. For example there might be a male that would work perfectly with the pedigree and genetics that your working with but the dog died of old age 5 years ago. It is still possible to breed to this dog via froze semen. After the breeding has taken place, Stuhr Great Danes will do a ultrasound at day 28 to verify puppies. Then at day 54 we will do an x-ray to  make sure everything is going normally. Puppies are generally due at day 60-63 depending on what type of breeding took place (froze AI/natural). 

Purchasing a Stuhr Great Dane:

Below is some general information on our Stuhr Great Danes Puppies!

• If you are interested in a Stuhr Great Dane before the puppies are born we will gladly put your name on a list. This does not ensure that you will receive a Stuhr Great Dane puppy. Due to the overwhelming demand for Stuhr Great Danes only after a deposit as been taken will you be ensured a puppy.
• Stuhr Great Danes will start taking deposits on a litter after the puppies have been born. If you would like to place a deposit before the puppies are born we will only do so upon request with a refundable deposit. This means that in the event that the breeding did not take or their is not an available puppy that your deposit will be refunded.
• Stuhr Great Danes will gladly have your puppy cropped by our veterinarian. We crop at 7 weeks or 9 weeks depending on the weight of your puppy. The price for an ear crop in 200.00 that is not included in the price of the puppy. Depending on the age when crop the puppy will stay with Stuhr Great Danes until the stitches have been removed and the ear have healed to prevent infection in the ear. All puppies left natural will be able to go to their new homes at eight weeks. No Stuhr Great Dane puppy will go home before eight weeks. If you already have a vet to crop the puppy's ear please contact Stuhr Great Danes to make prior arrangements.
• Ear taping : We would gladly show you how to tape your puppy's ears before going home. All Stuhr Great Dane puppies that leave with cropped ears will have the proper materials in their care package to go home with and you can get step by step directions and photo's from www.greatdanelady.com  if you forget how to tape by the time you get home.
• All puppies sold by Stuhr Great Danes will come with a written contract guarantee. We guarantee against any genetic related problems, Hip dysplasia , ect... Please ask for a copy of our contract for full details.
• All of our Stuhr Great Dane puppies will be dewormed at three weeks, Five weeks and eight weeks. Our puppies will also receive current inoculations before going home.
• Shipping of your Stuhr Great Dane puppy. We will ship your puppy on delta pets first weather permitting of course. We try to get a non stop fight or small lay over but frown upon having to change planes. Cost on shipping is around 200.00 to get a accurate price you can call Delta's cargo for pets first and price shipping a puppy from Omaha, Ne to your local airport.   

What  Stuhr Great Danes expects from our buyers:

• If your are interested in a Stuhr Great Dane puppy we ask that you contact us to fill out a puppy inquiry and receive a copy of our contract to look over before buying a puppy. That way if there is any questions we can start off on the right foot to ensure the puppy will have a wonderful long life with his/her new family.
• All Stuhr Great Danes are sold with AKC full or limited registration We do not allow any of our danes to be registered with the UKC. Hopefully this will prevents puppy mills from purchasing our danes.
• We prefer to sell to buyers that have a fenced in yard with room for the puppy to get daily exercise and attention. 
• Danes are not outside pets. No Stuhr Great Dane is an outside dog and we will not sell our kids to this type of home. We think of our dane as our children and hope that our buyers will as well.
• If due to circumstances beyond the buyers control the Stuhr Great Dane  puppy has to be given up. The puppy must come back to Stuhr Great Danes. 

Click here to veiw Stuhr's Great Danes Companion / Pet Contract: 

Click here to fill out a Stuhr's Great Danes Puppy Questionnaire: 

Ten questions I wish I had asked before buying my first great dane.

1.Is it true that you get what you pay for?

Yes, If you get a 500.00 dane you get just that. Most breeders that sell dogs for under 1000.00 will not  guarantee the dane from more then two years. To me if the price of the dog is to good to be true then it probably is. Our first dane cost 350.00 and in six years we have over 6000.00 tied up into a dog that has a genetically deformed bladder, a failing liver and has started having seizers. I would have rather bought or  made payments to a reputable breeder and bought a higher priced dane that I know would look like a dane and be guaranteed to be free of any genetic problems then to go through the pain and heart ship of having to put my dog down because I was cheap. 

2.How will I know if I'm buying from a backyard breeder or puppy mill?

The price difference will generally weed out some of your puppy mills. Puppy mills generally produce large numbers of puppies and have to move them quickly so they price them to sell. Don't be afraid to ask for references from the breeder or find out what dane related clubs they belong to. Most backyard breeders will not belong to a club. Contact your local dane club for more information on a breeder. Most states have a Great Dane Club (Great Dane Club Of Des Moines) Iowa. Rescue groups are also a good way to find out about a breeder. If a rescue has seen their far share of one persons danes come through then you know that the breeder will not take the puppy back and will not fulfill a contract. 

3.Why should my breeder compete in conformation (Showing in AKC events )?

The best way to weed out bad breeders is if they don't compete in conformation (AKC Shows). I would not recommend buying from someone that gives you the old song and dance on why they don't show. Most backyard breeders will not spend the money to show their dogs not to mention their dogs would not win and they would be out money and that's what they are solely after. I have heard a million excuses of why someone would not show. Example: the show people are to political or because I had kids I don't have the time. Well I'll tell you what, the dane show community is full of different people, some are down to earth people and some retired people that do this as a hobby and yes some are even political. It's a melting pot just like our country, people of all types and I'm one of the very few that don't have kids. When visiting a dog show please feel free to look around at all the kids and families that use this time as a family outing. When you get right down to it, the backyard breeder's dane can not compete with the others and they won't waste their money trying.

4.Why do breeders stud out to a male? Shouldn't both parents be on the site?

A lot of your reputable breeders will use an out side stud dog to better the breed. Why use the dog you have in the backyard when a better suitable male can be use via AI froze, Fresh chilled, or natural. Don't get me wrong, some reputable breeders might breed a male that they own to their bitch because that was the best choice. Don't be afraid to ask questions about the parents. Any reputable breeder can tell you why they bred that particular sir to their dam. 

5.What does champion pedigree mean?

Many of the backyard breeders will advertise (Champion Pedigree). But what does this mean? You buy a puppy, send in your puppy papers and spend the extra couple of dollars on the AKC five generation pedigree and then you see one or two CH. in the last lines of the fifth  generation back. This is technically a champion pedigree but not a very good one. If the breeder is advertising this kind of a pedigree then they are probably not showing their dogs (see#3). Breeders have kennel names for a reason. When you see a dane that has that Ch. in front of their name that means that this dog was good enough to finish and someone spent the time and money to make sure everyone knows that. Many of your backyard breeders will throw bigger named kennels at you to impress you with their pedigree. For example the breeder would say this puppy goes back to the Stuhr pedigree or lines. Ask if they know who Stuhr even is, if they can't tell you the people's name behind the kennel name then they have not researched the pedigree well enough to be breeding puppies. Most of the times a reputable breeder can tell you the name of the people behind a kennel name in their pedigree and will know them personally. A good Champion pedigree to me means that there is more champions in the pedigree that not. Make sure if the breeders is showing you a pedigree that it is that puppy's pedigree and not the grandfathers and the great-great grandmothers. Some backyard breeders will show you a pedigree of dogs in the second or third generation to skip newer links in their pedigree making the puppy seem more then what it is. 

6.What does champion mean to me?

The more champions in the pedigree generally will keep you from purchasing a dane that structurally does not look like a dane. Don't be afraid to see pictures or visit danes that are in the pedigree or that are related to the puppy you are looking to buy. 

7.What is the difference between AKC and UKC? 

American Kennel Club is the number one kennel club in the United States. An AKC championship is harder to receive then a United Kennel Club Championship by far.. Most top breeders will have a AKC Champion on their dogs before even attempting to receive a UKC title. Some backyard breeders will buy a limited registered AKC dog from a reputable breeder and then switch the dog to UKC to breed. That is why we will not allow any of our dane to be registered by UKC. In my opinion if the puppy's parents are only UKC registered then it's not worth buying.

8.Why is it important to get more then a two year contract on my puppy?

Some breeders will only guarantee a puppy for one year. The first year of the puppy's life is very important that he/she is fed and cared for properly. Many times if the puppy is not fed correctly you can encounter HOD,  Pano, etc. These are generally not covered by a breeders contract because it is the owners responsibility to make sure the puppy is fed correctly, But any reputable breeder is going to give you advise on what food work better on that particular line. Then the next year you might start to see some genetic faults and it might take a while for your local vet to figure out what exactly your dealing with and by that time your contract is up. Not to mention if a breeder only guarantees the dane for two year how are you guaranteed on the hips. It is crucial that your breeder will guarantee the puppy's hips. You have to wait until the puppy is 24 months or (2 years) to do a OFA.  What happens if the puppy's birthday fails on a Sunday or you can't get the dane into the vet until he/she is 2 years and 3 days old and then you find out he/she has severe hip dysplasia. Now that breeder's contract is null in void.

9.What do I need to look for on a contract?

Most Reputable breeders do what the call an OFA Test on the parents hips to ensure that the parents do not have hip dysplasia at the time of breeding. They will have something in their contract that will state when the dog is 2 years of age that you need to do the OFA test and if the dog has severe hip dysplasia they will compensate for the fault in the dog. Make sure that in the contract that there is something to the fact of the breeder will cover all genetic faults in the dog. This means for example if the dog has a genetically deformed bladder the breeder will compensate you on this dog. This doesn't mean the breeder will pay the medical bills but that they will replace the puppy or some kind of money back is generally the common practice. Make sure the breeder will take back a neutered or spayed dog this will also help you avoid bad breeders (if they can't breed it they don't what it). Make sure all of the puppy's information is on the contract. If the dogs AKC number, date of birth, full name, ect.. is missing then you don't really have a contract. If your purchasing a pet puppy the common practice with reputable breeders is to stay on the puppy's papers as owner or co-owner with the new owner/s. If this dog is only a pet then this will not have any effect on the buyer, but it will ensure the breeder that this puppy being sold will never end up in a puppy mill environment. If your going to co-own a puppy along with the breeder for breeding or show purposes, please have every detail made out with a breeding or show contract. Lack of communication and written agreements is why most people have a bad experience with co-ownership when breeding or show is involved.   

10.How do I know the breeder will fulfill my contract?

This is really simple, the contract is only as good as the people that sign it. Most contracts will hold as a signed legal contract in a court on law but lets face it who really wants to go there? Finding a good breeder is the same as finding a good buyer. If their is something that just doesn't fit into the puzzle then don't buy the dog. If your having doubts about the breeder upholding their part of the contract then don't buy the puppy.

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