The Dane Convoy…
Yesterday morning – even though it was the weekend – we didn’t have our usual “lie-in. Instead, my humans said that we were going on a big adventure: a Great Dane Walk!
The Sydney Great Dane Owners Group (on Facebook) meets up every month or so to do a big walk together. We went on one way back in Feb, which was great fun but we’ve missed most of the walks since – either because my humans have been busy or overseas or whatever…but this time, we were free! And what’s more – Paul is not on-call this weekend so he got to come too! Yay! 
And we went to a really cool place this time…the Sydney Olympic Park! Paul had visited the park when they were still building it – back in 1999 – but me & Hsin-Yi had never been there before. It is HUGE and has lots of interesting sculptures and big buildings (stadiums) in weird shapes.
It was so nice to catch up with old Dane friends and make some new ones. There were some new doggies that I had not met on the last walk – some of them had come in their car machines from really far away on the Central Coast, just to join in our walk!
There were even a couple of Dane Wannabes! 
Well, one was Little Man – the little black Lab-cross, who I met back in Feb – he belongs to Sacha who is the lady who coordinates Great Dane Rescue NSW and he’s a “foster fail”
Little Man lives with Leila the Black Dane, who I also met on the Feb walk and who is 12 yrs old now and amazing – a real grand, old lady! She is the oldest Dane in our Sydney group – I think I’m the next oldest after her! But sadly, Leila didn’t come on the walk yesterday coz she has been a bit sickie lately and is still feeling a bit “frail” – so Sacha thought the walk would be too much for her.
Little Man & Leila have a new temporary foster brother, called Wally, who is staying with them while looking for a forever home. (You can see him in the picture above, sitting next to Sacha – he is white with a cute brown patch over one eye! And he’s in this picture on the left too).
Little Man was very excited to see me – and I love boisterous, happy little doggies like him. I always get on really well with them ‘coz I like their confidence and we both like to play “rough”!! Wally was a bit more timid and quiet – and he can be a bit shy about meeting other doggies and people – so Sacha thought it was very good practice for him to come on walks like this and meet calm, well-behaved doggies (like me! ) to help him learn to be brave when meeting new things.
I was most excited, though, when I saw that there was another FAWN Dane there!! Woohoo! At last! You see, although fawn is supposed to be the most “common” Dane colour, since we have moved to Australia, we have hardly seen any other fawn Danes! 
We see mostly blues & blacks – and lots of merles as well – those seem to be the most popular colours, especially for pet owners. So whenever we have gone on Dane group events – even back in Brisbane – I’m often the only fawn there!
So it was so nice this time to see another fawn Dane at last…and what a gorgeous fawn boy he is too. Tall, blond and handsome! His name is Scooby and he is only 21 months…but hey, you know how much I like my ‘toyboys’!! 
My humans said they were a bit shocked ‘coz it wasn’t until they saw me next to Scooby that they realised how grey I had become! I used to have a mask as dark as Scooby’s but now I’m practically starting to go white! 
Still, Scooby didn’t seem to mind my grey hairs. He was hanging out with me the whole walk…I guess he must like “mature ladies” – hee! hee!
It was really cool meeting the other Danes too. There was Sparkles, who I met on the Feb walk…
…and Orbit, whose human is a vet nurse with my lovely vet, Dr Ian Murdoch at the Pennant Hills Vet Hospital…
…and Brumby, who has also been going to training classes at the same place we’ve been – so we’ve met there a few times…
…and a young blue Dane boy called Optimus…
…and finally 3 Danes I had never met before: Fletcher and Libby who are brother & sister:
… and their half-brother, Willis:
As you can imagine, we were quite an impressive sight when we were all walking together! People were all stopping to point and stare…
Who needs The Beatles? Check out the Dane version of “Abbey Rd”!
Some people might be wondering how such a big group of strange doggies all managed to get along and have such a nice time together…well, it’s because all the humans are very sensible and responsible about their doggies. They make sure that they always stay a polite distance away from other doggies (unless the doggies already know each other really well) and don’t let their own doggies push into other doggies’ personal space. They only let strange doggies say hello one-on-one, after asking permission – not everybody mobbing in together. And they don’t let their doggies do rude things like dragging them/rushing up to other doggies or humping other doggies or stuff like that.
All the humans are alert and watching their doggies’ behaviour all the time – not just gossiping and stuff – and nobody gets complacent. They understand that “dogs are dogs” – and respect their natural behaviour & instincts. And they are honest about their own doggies’ behaviours and personalities.
Sadly, a lot of pet owners are NOT like this – they have this stupid idea that strange doggies ought to all “group hug” when they meet and behave like characters from a Disney cartoon. They think all doggies should be playing crazily with each other as soon as they meet (when actually, it is much better for us to get to know each other calmly at first, like in a group leashed walk) and they often don’t make much effort to watch their doggies or control their behaviour – or they come up with stupid excuses for their bad behaviour.
This is why – although we used to go to a lot of pet events (like the RSPCA Million Paws Walk – that kind of thing) – now we DON’T anymore, because there are just too many stupid, irresponsible, un-educated pet owners spoiling things and we have had too many bad experiences (and you know, of course, that if anything happens, I always get blamed coz I’m always the bigger doggie! 
) So now my humans have decided “quality over quantity” – it’s better to go to fewer doggie events & meetups but at least you are with sensible humans and well-behaved doggies.
My favourite part of the walk was when we stopped by this really cool water place. It had been getting hot on the walk so it was really nice to stop for a drink and have a rest and enjoy the breeze by the water…
Oh! Except that Hsin-Yi suddenly started trying to drown me!! 
Help! Get away from me, you crazy woman!
Well, actually she said that I was panting a lot and she was worried I would get too hot – coz us giant breeds can get heatstroke very easily and especially now that I am getting older, I don’t control my body temperature so well – plus, it’s not good for my heart – so Hsin-Yi decided I needed to get completely wet to cool down. She made me get into the water and then splashed water up so that it soaked my tummy and chest and throat, then my back and legs and neck and even face as well!
Oh! It was so awful! I could barely stand the humiliation! And in front of all my Dane friends too!
Still, I regained a bit of my dignity afterwards by showing off my Advanced Drooling Skills…none of the other Danes there could drool like me. Look, I can even make it go sideways!
And I had to admit, I did feel much better & cooler after Hsin-Yi wet me down. For those who are wondering – yes, I do actually have a “cool coat” – my humans got one for me soon after we arrived in Australia, that first year we were in Brisbane. But my humans find it is a bit of a hassle sometimes – so often it’s easier just to wet me down completely and then the evaporating water keeps me cool on the rest of the walk!
Well, I had a wonderful time on the walk and it was very sad to say goodbye to all my Dane friends – hopefully we’ll all meet up again soon!
What a joy to watch it would have been for the people to watch all you giants together. Loved all the pictures, thanks to Paul I reckon.
What a heavenly site
It’s so great you have this get together and that you an enjoy walks. Great that all owners are responsible and know dog behavior and manners when interacting with other people and dogs. I really like the fawn boy, is he taller then you?? I love how Paul captured the look and all expression on Honey’s eyes on that photo after the bath-torture -- what a love it is between you two …
Take care,
Mina
Following your post is like being there with all of you. Honey girl -- you must be very happy catching up with old and making new friends. I think all the humans have done a superb job to help all the Danes settle down and be friendly and enjoying each other’s company and the beautiful park. This will be an encouragement and inspiration to other doggies and their humans to spend quality time and doing really fun stuff together
What a nice walk
So much beautiful Danes! That would be a heaven for me xD I hope there’s that kind of walks around here too when we have our dog. I think there’s atleast active Welsh Corgi community here in tampere who make a walks like that. At least that is what they are saying in their website. I’ve been thinking of contacting them someday and ask if I can come with them next time even I don’t have Corgi yet. Just to meet and get to know the dogs and the breed.
-Lilli-
Howdy Honey, what a totally fab walk. You all looked so happy and relaxed. After reading so much of Hsin-Yi’s posts mum is more aware of standing back and watching when in groups of dogs etc. When we are at dog school now Rory has learned to sit and look until he relaxes and then depending on the doggie he wants to sniff, we ask the owner if its ok and if their doggie is a relaxed doggie. This seems to be working so well. We do come across people who want to pat Rory and let their doggies come straight up to him but now mum says please no. We are training and getting him to relax first. She is so glad to have gained confidence because of this knowledge. We loved all your photos.
Thanks for sharing. Take care and hugs to you Honey. No worries, and love, Stella and Rory
I know a fawn dane, his name was Big Red and he was doing tracking lessons with Bender last year. He was a young, boisterous fellow! I have seen a few around the river on my bike rides too.
what a lovely walk. It must be warmer in Sydney than in Melbourne,because it’s still cool enough here that I wouldn’t need to cool Penny down even after exercise.
We saw a lovely black Dane today at the rally against puppy farming and I told the owner about Honey. (Oscar’s Law rally)
what a lovely sight. so many beautiful dogs in one place!
That looks like a pawesome walk with friends Honey. What stunning doggies you all are and it looks like you all had a fantastic time out and about on your great dane walk. What a beautiful place you found to go and explore. Our favourite part would be the swimming part. Your human takes the most beautiful photo’s of you and all your doggie friends.
From Milo & Jet
Hi Honey! Last week our mom left us to go visit a Fawn Dane that her friend is pet sitting. And you know what? She didn’t even bring us a picture -- she just came home covered in fawn furs cuz he was shedding!! He’s very handsome, very tall and at 6 his muzzle is turning grey, too! His name is Magnus
-Bart and Ruby
What a fun day for you, Honey! Scooby is sure a handsome boy!
Love ya lots,
Mitch and Molly
What a spectacle you all must have been! You are all wonderful ambassadors for the breed.
I would have loved to come on that! How fun!
Sam
Honey, you look like a queen amongst all the other beautiful dogs there!
Don’t be sad about your white mask! We lose our dark ones too over the years.
And: Yes, sometimes we also only can sigh because of other dog owners. It’s always the same all over the world: The other end of the leash…
Oh Honey, many humans spend a fortune to receive a personalized spa treatment, complete with a massage. You are so chic my dear!
I think that doggie might have a crush on you! Love the Abbey Road walk …
Lovely pics of a lovely girl enjoying a perfect day… even if you did have to suffer extreme water torture in the process
I know exactly what Hsin-Yi and Paul were thinking seeing you next to Scooby…. I remember when Grendel looked like Brumby! But age brings wisdom, Honey
Plus, having a boy-toy is always a plus!
I loved the pic of the Dane convoy — hilarious!
It was very interesting. There was different colorDanes. And everybody was happy with their humans. It was a family walk. So interesting and lovable.
How fun! I miss our Dane group in Seattle. It was always so much fun to walk around the park with 10-20 Danes at a time.
We experienced our first over heating of Darwin yesterday. Jason took her out for a walk, and though he took 2 big bottles of water for her she went through them fairly quickly and then she stopped in what little shade she could find and didnt want to move. So I had to run around the house and try to find something to transport more water to them and speed walk down the street to find them. I brought a cooler with ice water and a towel and more water for her to drink. When I got to them on the trail we soaked her with the wet towel and I was scooping water into her mouth reminding her to drink. After 15 minutes or so she had cooled down enough where she was willing to walk and we got her home to the AC and more water. What a scare. We’ve learned our lesson.
I think the humid air in Singapore makes it much worse! They say it’s like trying to breathe in soup -- so much harder for the dogs to pant to cool off, coz moisture isn’t evaporating so easily from their tongues since air is already saturated.
Maybe it might be a good idea to wet Darwin down completely at the start of your walks? I find this really effective. Make sure the fur is soaked right down to the skin and especially the belly & throat and under-hip areas, where the big arteries run past. Then you could carry a spritzer and keep spritzing her to keep her wet, if you like -- although I find with Honey that if you soak her thoroughly before the walk, it’ll usually last if you’re not doing too long a walk.
You could check out getting a “cool coat” for her too. I found the problem with HOney’s was that it didn’t fit very well -- the XL size seemed to be for a wider dog (and Honey is already pretty chunky for a Dane!) so it kept slipping & sliding around a bit as she walked. But maybe that’s just the brand we got -- you could have a look around and compare. Don’t bother with those “cooling bandanas” though -- we tried one and it was useless. Honey’s body temp warmed the bandana up in 10mins -- and that was after it had been in the fridge! It’s just too small to make much difference on so big a dog.
Good luck! I don’t envy you the Singapore weather at all!!!
Hsin-Yi
Such a fantastic sight to see so many Danes enjoying a walk & play together!
Another future exception will be the Leonberger puppy we’re planning to add to the family next year as full time company for Killian.
We’re in some kind of Great Dane owner friend group as well and when we meet up (also more or less once a month, though it’s not always possible for everyone to be there), there are about 15 Danes and one Vizsla who thinks he’s a Dane.
We call ourselves “the herd” because other people often say that it looks like we’re walking with a herd of small horses instead of walking our dogs.
Oh and Killian wants Honey to know that we moved our blog over to a new host so that it will hopefully be easier for you guys to leave a message when you visit. Also, we’re going to do the blog in both Dutch and English, so that Honey will be able to understand too.
From now on you can find us at: http://n1ghtshadesworld.wordpress.com/
greetz,
Karol
& slobbery kiss from Killian!
What fun!!!! I wish there was anyplace in the whole US — or even the world — that had so many Deerhounds we could have a walk like that!
What a fun outing
Stop on by for a visit
Kari
http://www.dogisgodinreverse.com
Hi Honey,
Wow! I can’t believe there are so few fawn Danes ‘down under’ (my human, Cathy, taught me that Australia is waaaaay down under the Equator and that’s where that saying came from!). When we go to dog shows here in Canada most of the dane doggies are fawn and besides that they all seem to have pointy, standy up ears instead of long floppy ones like you and me. I didn’t want to ask how that happens to those doggies so I didn’t ask!
You are really lucky to be able to go for walks like that. Now that I am getting big lots of doggies that we meet on walks are not as friendly as they used to be
They seem to be afraid of me because I am bigger 
You look so grand with your dignified greying muzzle.
Lots of Nibbles
Daisy
I think there are still quite a few fawn Danes in “show”, Daisy -- but for some reason, the “pet market” in Australia seems to prefer what they call the “coloured” Danes!
Blue seems to be the most popular pet colour (and unfortunately, this encourages a lot of unscrupulous Dane BYB’s to produce a lot of poor quality Danes in this colour -- which is a disaster since the blue Dane gene pool was always the smallest in the first place, so the highest chance of genetic abnormalities, temperament problems and health issues.) The next most popular colour seems to be black. Of course, a lot of pet Danes are merles since they can’t be shown but they are often produced in harlequin breedings.
Looks like a fun walk and what an interesting place too!
Once a year we join a Walk the Talk day where around 50 000 people and 2 000 dogs all walk to raise money for charity. Even though the dogs are excited they soon calm down and all dogs are on leash. Mostly there are no incidents but sometimes people don’t take care and allow there dogs to rush up into your space. So we are just a bit more aware of all the others around us.
The worst owners are those who think their dogs are perfect and won’t fess up to their behavioural problems. We know a dog trainer who has two Ridgebacks that are very ‘in your face’ but she always sees it as the other person’s stupidity. A bit much to ask someone who does not know your dogs to stand still, not pick up their dog, not panic as a 47-50kg Ridgeback comes storming down on you! We used to walk with them often but do not really want to be associated with rude dogs or owners who do not take care as we do have some problems with strange dogs and being 2 Danes and now also a Pittie we are very aware of social perceptions.
But you had fun and that’s what is important!
Luv that photo of all of you crossing the road. Bet that was a site to see! Super water spot. Glad you were able to cool off Honey
Waggin at ya,
Roo
Ha, I wish I’d been there to take some photos of the bystanders watching you cross the road. And what a nice clean bit of water, not like the muddy puddle at Waiatarua.
Bodie -- I’d take that muddy pool in Waiatarua any day!!!
Wow Honey, very coolz! I wishez we had that here!
We nominated you for an award on our blog! http://bigstinkydog.blogspot.com/
~Mason
Heehee! I think you and Scooby make a cute couple!
Licks,
Ruthie
As always, it is the highlight of my day to find new stories about you and what your are doing.
Hsin-Yi, even though Honey is aging she becomes all the more precious. Now she has both strength AND weakness all in one beautiful dog!
The animals are all beautiful (as well as their owners). Sometimes rambunctious is cute, as with Little Man. It would not be cute if a Dane was jumping up and down, but he’s cute. (I remember Kaos from your trip.) He was special too.
I LOVE Danes, but my middle-sized dogs are perfect for me!
Again, thank you SO MUCH for telling us all about Honey. She is a wonderful animal.
That sure is a great looking group of Danes. Sounds like a wonderful day.
That looks like awesome fun!! I would love to go on a big walk with lots of other dogs like that.
- Sparkie
I know what you mean about irresponsible owners -- we meet a lot of them in our travels! It’s sad that so many events are spoilt by people who have no ideas about what’s “socially acceptable” for their dogs.
- Jasmine
Loved the idea of a doggie get together!
What great photos!
- Clive & Co
Oh all the beautiful natural eared Danes. I am so very jealous that you got to meet so many at one time!
woof -- Tucker
This looks fantastic! What fun!! I wonder if there is a group like this in Queensland!? Our new puppy looks just like Brumby but with white socks!
We went on a big group walk last weekend, too! It was for the Greyhounds in our adoption group, and it’s called “Ski Patrol” because the organizer goes by “Ski” (it’s part of her last name). We had about 20 dogs this time, Greyhounds all except for our little Artos, and people who passed us would see him and say “look, an imposter!”
I was so happy to trot along with all the other hounds! But then we suddenly turned away from the group, and I got so sad I slowed way down. Well, it turned out that my Mommy had to take her power chair back to the car before it ran out of power. Then we met back up with the group again when they finished walking, and I was so excited I started trying to do zoomies and play-bowing to the other dogs. (It turns out that zoomies don’t work so well when on leash.) I even tried to mount another dog, which got all the other humans pulling their dogs away protectively. Actually the dog I started to mount wasn’t even phased -- I think humans get a little over-protective about that sometimes, but if you watch your dog’s reaction, you’ll see that the occasional mounting is just part of play. Sometimes establishing a social order, but many times, just plain play, and I don’t usually do that very often but I was just so very excited to see everyone! Oh well, anyway, it was a great time, even if Lily didn’t get to chase the ducks she was so sure she could catch. 
That looks like so much fun! And such a gorgeous place to go for a walk with a bunch of beautiful dogs.
You’re still the prettiest Honey! 