Sorry - long post, but advice would be very appreciated.
I've lurked on these forums for 12+ years and found tons of valuable advice. I grew up with a Dane and they are really the only dog for me. As an adult, my first pup was a mistaken purchase from a backyard breeder - I didn't understand how well-disguised a backyard breeder could be and didn't recognize it until after I brought him home. I was lucky and he had no health problems until he (Keeper) unexpectedly passed at 9 years old. A few months after his passing (in 2015) an acquaintance of my father mentioned he had bought a Dane for his wife and they didn't really have the time to take care of her. She was spending most of her time in a crate way too small for her to stand in. I immediately said I would take her. At 5 months old she came to live with me and then boyfriend (now husband) I had just moved in with. He's a total Dane convert now and we'd like to give our girl, Storm, who is now 2 1/2 years old a brother or sister. She is spoiled with toys, great food, lots of walks, beds all over the house, up to date on vaccines, spayed and gastropexied.
The problem - we just built a new home on several wooded acres in a rural area on a dead end street. Our property backs up to state owned land that we can get to with a 10-15 min walk that has lots of trails and a river. We're very remote so we didn't fence in a yard at this point. A custom feature we designed into our home was a heated/cooled dog room off of our mudroom. There are two dog runs that have plexidor dog doors installed. The outside area is a fairly large raised deck that leads down into 12 foot long dog runs, soon to be expanded to 24 feet because our girl likes to go to the bathroom as far out as possible. The walls of the runs are 6 foot high, made with livestock fencing meant to contain horses. There is additional livestock fence buried underground in case we ever get a digger. The exterior doors are padlocked shut. Our girl has free run of the house when we leave - but she can also access the runs to sunbathe and go potty as she needs. She still gets regular outs in our yard, but prefers to go to the bathroom in the dog runs. The rescues I contacted will not adopt to us because they say an additional fence is needed around the dog runs, potentially 6 feet high. As rural as we are, this does not make sense for us. A smaller 4 foot fence in the back is definitely in the future, but never a 6 foot fence.
We aren't really aiming for a puppy, but are now looking at having to go the breeder route unless anyone has any advice? I understand that they want to protect the dogs in their care, but it is crazy to me that being as willing to offer a loving home as we are, with a well taken care of dog already in hand, great finances to care for an additional pup, lots of land for walking, that we are being prevented from adopting. Any contacts are welcome to reputable breeders who may have older dogs they need to place or suggestions on best path forward. We are now located in North Carolina but would be willing to take a long road trip to get the right companion added to our family. We have family in the DC area and New York making trips up that way very feasible. No preference on color/sex/age as long as the Dane still has some energy and tolerance for play with our current girl.
Again, sorry for the long post. Just really bummed that it has turned out this way.
I've lurked on these forums for 12+ years and found tons of valuable advice. I grew up with a Dane and they are really the only dog for me. As an adult, my first pup was a mistaken purchase from a backyard breeder - I didn't understand how well-disguised a backyard breeder could be and didn't recognize it until after I brought him home. I was lucky and he had no health problems until he (Keeper) unexpectedly passed at 9 years old. A few months after his passing (in 2015) an acquaintance of my father mentioned he had bought a Dane for his wife and they didn't really have the time to take care of her. She was spending most of her time in a crate way too small for her to stand in. I immediately said I would take her. At 5 months old she came to live with me and then boyfriend (now husband) I had just moved in with. He's a total Dane convert now and we'd like to give our girl, Storm, who is now 2 1/2 years old a brother or sister. She is spoiled with toys, great food, lots of walks, beds all over the house, up to date on vaccines, spayed and gastropexied.
The problem - we just built a new home on several wooded acres in a rural area on a dead end street. Our property backs up to state owned land that we can get to with a 10-15 min walk that has lots of trails and a river. We're very remote so we didn't fence in a yard at this point. A custom feature we designed into our home was a heated/cooled dog room off of our mudroom. There are two dog runs that have plexidor dog doors installed. The outside area is a fairly large raised deck that leads down into 12 foot long dog runs, soon to be expanded to 24 feet because our girl likes to go to the bathroom as far out as possible. The walls of the runs are 6 foot high, made with livestock fencing meant to contain horses. There is additional livestock fence buried underground in case we ever get a digger. The exterior doors are padlocked shut. Our girl has free run of the house when we leave - but she can also access the runs to sunbathe and go potty as she needs. She still gets regular outs in our yard, but prefers to go to the bathroom in the dog runs. The rescues I contacted will not adopt to us because they say an additional fence is needed around the dog runs, potentially 6 feet high. As rural as we are, this does not make sense for us. A smaller 4 foot fence in the back is definitely in the future, but never a 6 foot fence.
We aren't really aiming for a puppy, but are now looking at having to go the breeder route unless anyone has any advice? I understand that they want to protect the dogs in their care, but it is crazy to me that being as willing to offer a loving home as we are, with a well taken care of dog already in hand, great finances to care for an additional pup, lots of land for walking, that we are being prevented from adopting. Any contacts are welcome to reputable breeders who may have older dogs they need to place or suggestions on best path forward. We are now located in North Carolina but would be willing to take a long road trip to get the right companion added to our family. We have family in the DC area and New York making trips up that way very feasible. No preference on color/sex/age as long as the Dane still has some energy and tolerance for play with our current girl.
Again, sorry for the long post. Just really bummed that it has turned out this way.
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