Category: Daily Writing Prompts

Dear 100-year-old me, I hope you are sitting on a sturdy porch in Florida, still surrounded by the lean-on-your-hip presence of a loyal Great Dane. I hope the legacy of Duty Danes has grown into the sanctuary we dreamed of, where temperament and service have changed lives just as much as these dogs have changed […]

My middle name is Marie. This name has been carried down from my mother all the way up to my great-grandmother. Just like it is a legacy in my family being passed down, it is also a legacy in my kennel names and everything I do in my kennels. All my dogs’ names carry a […]

One Question I Hate to Be Asked One question I truly hate to be asked is, ‘What is the lowest you will take?’ or ‘Can you go any lower?’ It is incredibly insulting because people don’t see the immense amount of work, heart, and soul that goes into what we do at Duty Danes. They […]

Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks The School of Hard Knocks has been one of my toughest teachers. Losing litters to something as devastating as parvo felt like a total failure at the time, and those disappointments were incredibly hard to handle. However, those moments forced me to dig deeper into the science of […]

Autobiography Opening Statement My life truly began when I realized my purpose was to bridge the gap between human need and canine loyalty, starting with a Great Dane named Tovi, who showed me the way of healing hearts one paw at a time.

Three Objects I Could Not Live Without When thinking about the kennel and my work, three things stand out as tools I rely on every day. First is my whelping kit. It represents the start of everything, containing the supplies needed to ensure a litter begins life safely. This kit is a reminder of the […]

Life Growth and the Kennel Managing a full litter while keeping up with school at Unity Environmental University is a major challenge that forces you to grow. The late nights and constant demands of the puppies, combined with a heavy study load, teach you a level of patience you just can’t get any other way. […]

Life in the Kennel: Saying Goodbye to a Litter The transition from the intensive whelping stage to the departure of a litter is a big change for a kennel. Those first several weeks involve round-the-clock care, monitoring for health milestones, and beginning the socialization process that helps create a quality companion. Saying goodbye to this […]

Daily Writing Prompt: Fate and Destiny When breeding Great Danes, it often feels like more than just planning goes into matching a puppy with a family. You spend weeks studying temperaments and watching personalities grow, but the moment a specific dog connects with their new owner, it can feel like it was meant to be. […]

The most ambitious DIY project I have ever taken on is the creation and growth of Duty Danes. It began as a vision to raise Great Danes that could serve as service and therapy animals—healing hearts one paw at a time—and it required me to build every part of the operation from the ground up. […]