Our Philosophy (and potential puppy buyer requirements)

Our lives are enriched by loving, showing and raising Divine Acres Great Danes. The focus of our breeding program is based on three important factors: conformation (breed type), health and temperament. When you have a giant breed, even the smallest issues cannot be overlooked. We breed mainly to Champions (or those very close to achieving their championships), health tested, sound temperament and mind. We strive to produce Danes that excel in therapy work also.  Calm nature, not easily excited and balanced.   No matter which area you would chose to enter (or none at all), its nice to have the kind of puppy with the pedigree behind him to do what ever you choose. If a companion pup is what your looking for, they deserve to be well bred and healthy….just like their show prospect littermates. You get what you breed, and you can’t expect quality if you don’t breed quality, right? Our sole purpose is to breed for the betterment of the Great Dane. We adhere to the Great Dane Club of America’s Code of Ethics and their Ethical Color Breeding Guide.

Our dogs are raised with our children, so good temperaments are expected, not hoped for. We do not necessarily breed to what we have or what is in our “backyard”  (meaning close by). We breed to the best Dane available for our female, whether across the street, across the country, or artificial inseminations. We don’t breed for size, we breed for producing the best pups possible, meeting the Dane standard in all areas. Your biggest Danes are not necessarily your best Danes. You need a well proportioned Dane bred for sound minds, health, temperament and good movement. Before a breeding ever takes place, months of careful research is necessary to find the best stud. Line breeding is our first choice but outcross breeding (to an exceptional male) is always considered. Our companion pups are all sold at the same price, show prospects are sold to those who want to commit to showing and are priced higher.  If a family wants full registration to show (leading to eventual breeding), you can read our contract/guarantee clause about requirements in that area.

We have an active breeding program and have 5 generations of Danes, the last 4 generations are Champion/CHIC certified…….the majority are owner handled to all their wins!  We breed to produce show dogs that owners can handle and win with.  It shouldn’t take a professional hander to win in the conformation ring…..at least not with a well bred Dane!  We pick what we feel is the best of the litter and keep (or selectively place) as show prospects and sell the others to approved companion homes.  We  love great companion homes and happily place our gorgeous pups as awesome pets.  We feel personally responsible for every life we help create. We take great care in the placement of our pups. Our goal for each puppy is to have it live its entire life in a loving home, with an appreciative family. Each puppy goes through an evaluation to help try and place them in the home best suited to their personality.

All puppies are sold after 8 weeks of age, vaccinated (with a protocol to follow), dews removed, wormed twice, microchipped, raised with our 4 children and other Danes, full breeder support, puppy packet, and under contract/guarantee. Show puppies will be cropped, companions sold uncropped (or cropped if arranged ahead of time) on limited registration (please view our contract/guarantee).

One thing people say to us is “I just want a pet, not a show dog”

And that is perfectly fine, but pet dogs deserve to be bred to breed standard, and they deserve to be bred from typey, healthy, sound Danes both in body and mind. Whether in your yard or in the ring, anybody can tell quality, and there is no question in these pups.

Our puppies/dogs are our companions 24/7, and show only a couple times a month, so what is really important, is home life. Our dogs are rarely kenneled (if we go for the weekend and can’t bring them) but other than that, live the life of leisure in our home. They are raised with our children and other small animals and are imprinted from birth on.

We do have a few stipulations, that are very important to us for the health and well being of our puppies. We do not sell to any families where both parents work the same shift, which would mean crating the puppy for 5 or more hours a day. Its hard to raise a happy, health puppy when he spends too much time crated. Spending too much time in a crate can also lead to growth issues and/or anxiety issues. Fenced in yard is also important if you live in the city—though if your living out in the country it may not be as necessary. Being able to exercise off lead–to us–is a necessity, not a luxury! Going for walks is also a plus, good experiences and different scenery helps to make your puppy grow up to be a sociably acceptable adult. Along with enrolling in puppy kindergarten classes.