I started going to dog shows in 1996 with my friend Pam who breeds and shows St Bernards. I looked at a lot of dogs trying to decide which breed would be best for me. As it wasn't a St Bernard, to much grooming for me!
I finally decided to get a Great Dane. I met a women, Sandy Ragazza, who had a gorgeous brindle boy. It was majors all three days, and her boy got Winners Dog every day! I thought he was some dog to win everyday against all those other dogs.
Well she just happened to have just bred him to a fawn bitch, and asked if I would be interested in one of the puppy's? "Of course I am" I said, and waited for the puppies. Well they arrived and I picked out this beautiful fawn boy. Wouldn't you know it, his testicles didn't decend and they knew I wanted to show him, so I didn't take him.
I kept going to shows and ended up at the GDCofCA puppy match in Nov of 2000 and Herkie introduced me to Joan Wolke who had just had a litter and even had pictures and their pedigree (like I knew what the difference in the pedigree meant then) with her that day.
I ended up going to her house and seeing the puppies. I took Pam with me as she has done this dog thing most of her life! The puppies were 5 weeks old and she had picked one of the boys she was keeping, Ransom. So there were two other ones and the one with the Red collar stood out to us so I gave her a deposit and there would be my first Great Dane. She had named them the "Rose litter". So I named him "Wolke's Just Joey" and called him Joey! Just Joey was a beautiful golden rose, and I thought that was what he was a Golden Rose!
So then began my life with Great Danes. I was hooked! I loved it! I loved being in the ring showing my dog!
I finished Joey myself and decided I needed another Great Dane. That's when Joey's sister, Somer was having a litter. Pam and I went and looked and found my Emma! She was beautiful!!!! She had bone and substance and a head to die for!!! Georgia couldn't make up her mind which puppy she was keeping so she let me take home Emma, "Gilhams Run for the Roses".
Emma was beautiful! She finished her championship and even got some Breed wins and a Specialty win! She was now 3 years old and didn't like being in the show ring anymore. So, I figured it was time to breed her. I researched, and researched, and researched. I found that the breeders that kept doing well were all line breeding. Not line breeding 3-4 generations away, but quite close. So I looked into Emma's pedigree and found her Uncle on her fathers side that looked just like Emma. It was Rocky, "Oakstone's Rock of Gibraltar". Boy did he have a history! In the ring and out of the ring. Well I investigated his history and found him to be ok!
June 19th, 2007 a litter of three boys, and four girls arrived, my first litter! Wow!