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CH Trike's Why You Little...
February 23, 2004 – This week's
DaDane features a 7-year-old Great Dane named Bart. You met his niece, Noel,
just last week. ( See Noel's story. ) Photographing
the two of them proved
interesting. Noel was very photogenic
and
quite
receptive
to
the
camera. Bart,
on
the other hand, was not very excited about having his picture taken. It was over
85°
outside, and when it came time to shoot, Bart was hot and a
little
bored or
tired,
or maybe
both.
If he could talk, he'd
probably
tell
us he'd had a long week on the road and he was wanting to go home to his
favorite couch. Being a cooperative sort of fellow, though, Bart didn't protest
having
his
picture
taken,
but he communicated his disinterest in a manner we humans could all understand.
Bart refused to put his ears up. Mind you, this is not an uncommon problem.
Anybody
who
has
tried
to
photograph a cropped Dane knows how frustrating it can be when the subject's
ears are in
a
relaxed position. This won't do. We want our subject to appear animated and
alert. To
achieve
such a look, the
ears
need to be at attention. In Bart's
case,
we
tried
the
usual
things
to
perk
him
up
– bait
(of course), followed by squeaky
toys, squeaky people, and various items tossed into the air. Bart wanted none
of
it.
Parental Discretion Advised
Now, what I am about to tell you is perfectly "clean," but I want to warn anybody
with young children that it might be a good time to usher them out of the room
for milk and cookies. I don't want you sending me any nasty notes about this,
okay? You've been warned, so if you have a problem with what follows, it is YOUR
problem and not mine.
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All-righty...
now we can continue. We made a real effort to get Bart's ears to stand, but nothing
seemed
to
work.
Bystanders
watched
our efforts with obvious amusement. (I suspect most of them had 'been there,
done
that.' ) Finally a gentleman stepped forward
with an
irresistible offer. "I have a young bitch in season back in my room. Would
you
like me to bring her out here?" Needless-to-say, he did
not have to ask twice. He soon reappeared with a lovely little fawn named Morgan.
Bart thought she was quite lovely, too. Up went his ears as he tried to impress
her
with
his attentive good looks (among other things), and I was finally able
to
get
some good shots of Bart. But as I continued shooting, Bart ears drifted downward.
He
was starting
to
lose
interest.
His mom, Tracy Higgins, explained,
"He's
figured
out
we're
not
going
to give her to him,
so
why
bother? " At that point, Morgan's owner looked down at her, tilted his head,
and
said
in
a
falsetto voice, "Daddy,
I
ain't
no Ho!" Well, it took me a a couple seconds to put that one together. We
all
had a good laugh as Morgan trotted off to her room without so much as a backward
glance at Bart.
Will the 'Real Bart' (and not
his ears) please
stand
up?
On a daily basis, Bart probably gives very little thought as to whether or not
his
his
ears
are
standing. No doubt he would object to being characterized as "the Dane with the
laid-back ears." How undignified! He is, after all, a show champion. Tracy and
Mike Higgins are very proud of Bart, and they have reason to be. Tracy tells
us:
Bart
was
born in March of 1996, right next to my desk at work. I was lucky enough to
work
at
a vet clinic were I could take my dogs to work, and Bart was able to come to
work
with
me
every day until just two
years
ago, when I switched jobs.
We were so excited when he was born. Bart was
out
of
our
first
two Danes, Jason and Gigi. He is our first owner-bred Champion. He finished
his championship
with
three majors – a 5-point major and two 4-point majors – all awarded
under breeder judges.
The
highlight
for us came
when he won his 5-point major
at the
Illini Great Dane Specialty with his handler Jeff Lawrence. It was Bart's second
show! He finished his championship in 15 shows.
After finishing at age three, Bart retired
to couch life. He was brought
out again in
2001, at the age of five, to be shown
at the
GDCA Nationals
by handler John Gerzewski. He made it to the final cut at the Great Dane Club
of Lehigh Valley Specialty, which immediately proceeded the
event. We
showed
him in
a
few
shows
to
"practice
up"
and Bart
took
a couple breeds. He was shown
in the 2003 Nationals
down in Orlando where he took 2nd in his Veterans class. It was the first time
he'd
been out since 2001.
Bart's other hobbies include sleeping on
his
couch, running
away
from
cats,
and dressing up for Halloween. His favorite costume was Elwood Blues, accompanied
by his
half-sister,Troi, and his good friend Carrie Storrs playing Sister Mary Stigmata.
(He thought he looked very cool in the hat and the glasses.) He
also likes to visit
a nearby grammar school for show-and-tell. Although his mission is supposedly
to
educate
the children on
dog-care, we think he
goes
more for
the
petting!
– Tracy
Higgins, gr8tdanz@prairieinet.net
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