We love the way a Great Dane looks. Their regal stature, strength and elegance, combined with their great size and powerful, well-formed, smooth muscles, really do make for a great-looking dog. A Dane's general conformation should be well-balanced, so that the dog never appears clumsy, and they should move with a long reach and powerful drive.

And you have to love a Dane's personality. They have a heart as big as their stature. This gentle giant tends to be spirited and courageous. Rarely timid, they're usually friendly and dependable. They're also great observers, keenly aware of their surroundings and any changes you make to their environment. This unique mental and physical combination gives Great Danes a majesty possessed by no other breed.

So far, we've been lucky enough to own three of these magnificent dogs. Our first two Danes were rescue animals. Jake, a huge harlequin, was four and a half when we got him, and Zeus, a fawn boy, was 9 months old when we adopted him. Freyja, our third Dane, is our first female (and first full-fledged puppy), and the foundation of our kennel.

Freyja (sometimes anglicized as Freya) is a major goddess in Germanic paganism, particularly in its late form, Norse paganism, where numerous surviving tales either involve or feature her. Because the best documented source of this religious tradition, the Norse Mythology, was transmitted and altered by Christian medieval historians, the actual role, practices and worship of the goddess are uncertain. While some sources suggest that Freyja was called on to bring fruitfulness to fields or wombs, in the Eddas, she was portrayed as a goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Freyja was described as the fairest of all goddesses, and people prayed to her for happiness in love. She was also associated with war, battle, death, magic, prophecy, and wealth. In Norse mythology, Fólkvangr ("folk-plain" or "host-plain") was the dwelling of Freyja in Asgard, the world of the Æsir, where stood Sessrúmnir, her hall. Thus, the name of our kennel.

Unfortunately, neither Jake nor Zeus had very long lives--even for a Great Dane, whose life expectancy is usually only around 8-10 years--so we were determined to find a puppy from a long-lived, healthy, genetically sound line, since we wanted as many years with this third dog as possible. In Freyja, we think we've found that ideal combination, and now we hope, through her offspring, to offer it to you other Dane lovers out there.

            





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