The Great Dane community has recently lost one of the "Pillars of our Breed" - Elizabeth aka "Brucie" Mitchell. born in 1926 passed away on May 10th. Brucie had been involved with Great Danes since the Mitchells - husband Gene, son David, and daughter Claudia acquired their first family Dane, a fawn female called Lulu Belle, in the early 60's. Discovering what great family dogs Danes were, they acquired their second Dane, a fawn male to show who became Am.Can.Ch.Jecamo's Caesar of AAA.

We met Brucie and Gene in the 60's though our friend Irene Bourassa, a Canadian harlequin owner/breeder and Judge, who had seen him when she judged in California. Through long distance planning we arranged to breed our 4th Champion to their Caesar. We were invited to meet at a mutual friends' home for the breeding, Jim and Helen Blood of Crockerly Great Danes, who lived in Sacramento since it was about halfway between both of our homes.

No puppies were produced from that breeding, but a lifelong friendship was born. When the Mitchell family later came north to visit us in Washington and to show Caesar in Canada, they returned home not just with Canadian points but with one of our puppies we hoped to eventually have bred to Caesar, thus establishing many years of co-bred Champions between us and the Mitchells with various Danes.

The Mitchells' Von Raseac Great Danes produced many Champions over the years with limited breeding, and they co-bred with several other people as well and did establish a recognizable line of quality Danes. During this time the Mitchells became members of the GDC of California, the GDC of San Diego, and the GDCA. Brucie served on the Board of the GDCA and also as an officer in the 80's. During this time she was also a columnist for the first Great Dane magazine, the Dane Dispatch, and she also became a Judge, officiating at Specialty shows and more than once at the GDCA National Specialty. When email was established she went online to responded to questions from many new Dane owners as a mentor.

After a stroke a few years ago Brucie and Gene moved to a senior community where having a Dane was not possible, but she kept up her interest in the breed, and still attended dog shows with friends, attended the last National, and "talked dogs" with old friends and kept up with friends on line.

We will all miss her and wish her family well. We are encouraging those of you who knew Brucie to join us in contributing any amount you can to the GDCA Charitable Trust in her memory as the money all goes to Great Dane health and welfare funds, whichever one you choose. You can check it out on the GDCA Website under CHARITABLE TRUST.

Clare Lincoln

We are now taking submissions for the GDCA 2008 Yearbook. Submit your free member ad or the ad for your Affiliate Club.

Also, you can pre-purchase the Yearbook online.

All the submission and purchase information is available HERE!

The deadline is June 30, 2009 to be included! NO EXCEPTIONS

Rita K. Suddarth
13318 Elk Run Road
Bealeton, VA 22712
yearbook@gdca.org

AKC Canine Health Foundation News Alert - all the information is available HERE.

The Great Dane Club of California is holding a Judges Mentoring Program on Thursday, June 4th, 2009. The program will be held at The GDCC Specialty Show located at the Santa Fe Dam Recreatonal Area in Irwindale, California. Judging begins at 10:00 am. There is no fee.

For additional information contact: Bruce Powell, 661-424-9529 or wildride2@netscape.net

The 2008 awards list is now available HERE.

"Due to difficulty in keeping the GDCA Breeder List current with non-GDCA members, the Board voted to list on the web site only GDCA members in good standing with the currently required minimum of one health clearance. We will place links to each individual Affiliate Club for their referral to their individual members. Affiliate Club Secretaries should forward their club website address to the Internet Chair to be added to the breeder listing."

The Breeders Education 2009 section is now available. Please submit your questions regarding breeding to:

Breeders Ed Chair,
Kathy Varian Toomey,
gdcabreedersed@gmail.com

Questions will be submitted to a roundtable of breeders and the responses published on the GDCA website.

Kathy Varian, Chairman

Question #6 and responses are available HERE.

The complete article, submitted by Dr. Neil P. O'Sullivan is available HERE.

The updated information is available HERE.

The BOD of the Great Dane Club of America, along with the Division Chairman, have approved the following list of Approved Mentors for the education of judges:
(the list is available HERE)

You can also contact Judging Operations at AKC, who has the contact information.

Jane Treiber
Judges' Education Chairman
Great Dane Club of America

Presented by the American Kennel Club and the AKC Canine Health Foundation. More information available HERE.

Health news from the 2008 National Specialty

*** Breeder Interviews***
Breeder interviews for the month of
Sept./08 are now available to view HERE

Eligibility Requirements to Hold Future Dog Shows

The new AKC requirements were included in the most recent Bulletin. If you have not reviewed them please go to the Bulletin and read them through. It has been brought to my attention that there is a piece missing from that information and that is the Statement of Compliance. The AKC will require that a Statement of Compliance be submitted with each application for any show held after January 1, 2009. The Statement of Compliance can be found at HERE and is to be completed and signed by a Club officer.

If you have additional questions please feel free to contact me either by email or phone.
Dianne Powers
508-693-1402
diannepowers@comcast.net

We have all lost a valued and loving Great Dane friend. An "In Memory" section has been added to our Veteran's Photo Gallery to honor those Great Danes who have passed away.

Please feel free to submit a photo, include the Great Dane’s name and owner/s name, a short commentary, and if you wish, your email address, so friends may contact you. You must be a member of the GDCA or one of the Affiliate Clubs to participate.

The Charitable Trust Gift Gallery Is NOW OPEN
Please visit the new offerings.

NOTE: No unsigned correspondence regarding an application will be considered.