A Madison Great Dane Lives Up To Her Name At Westminster

When Marc Darren and Lisa Hilton first got their Great Dane Athena as a puppy, they had no intention of showing her competitively. Marc and Lisa had just lost their Great Dane Scooby at eleven years of age, and their other dog, a Golden Retriever-Doberman mix, was sick. Being dog lovers, Marc and Lisa knew they had to begin the search for their next Great Danes.

Marc and Lisa wanted two female Great Danes from the same litter, a tall order, since Great Danes usually produce small litters compared to other breeds. After many appointments with breeders, Marc and Lisa thought they had found the perfect pet in Athena, a four month-old puppy, but the breeder was unwilling to part with either of Athena’s sisters.

Luckily, a good relationship with the breeder led her to give Marc and Lisa both Athena and Lexi, one of the other remaining female puppies from the litter. Only a week after taking Athena home, however, she was diagnosed with HOD, or Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy, a painful skeletal disorder that can affect rapidly growing dogs. After her diagnosis, Athena was looking at medication for the next two years, and her veterinarian was worried that she would be unable to move or to eat for periods of time.

Persevering through illness, puppyhood, and training

 Thanks to a fantastic veterinarian, Athena was able to cope with her illness remarkably well. After a number of training sessions, everyone thought that Lexi would be ready first to shown competitively, but the dogs’ handler decided that despite the diagnosis of HOD, Athena was the better prepared of the two sisters. While she did not place in her first few shows, she started to win competitions soon thereafter. For Great Danes, the ideal look is a very square body.

Because Great Danes grow so quickly, it becomes very hard to show puppies or young dogs, as growth spurts can make one half of their bodies grow more quickly than the other half, creating an awkward appearance. Luckily, both Athena and Lexi grew up maintaining very square proportions, allowing for Athena’s success as a young competitor.

For Marc and Lisa, Athena’s success has led them through a whirlwind experience. Marc says, “Athena is a dog with HOD, who was sold to us as a pet, not a showdog. And then she beat her sister in every single show, and took only six weeks to become a Grand Champion!”

The road to Westminster

 The Westminster Dog Show is the ultimate competition within the American Kennel Club system; only the five best dogs in the nation are chosen to compete. Besides the selected dogs, there is a lottery system that allows other dogs to enter into the fray.

Marc admits that the system can be a little bit sketchy: “Some say it’s a lottery, while others say it’s a little more selective, and that judges actually check out your dog ahead of time.” Regardless of the mechanisms behind the selection process, Athena was admitted into the competition as one of the youngest dogs in the show. While Marc said she competed “phenomenally,” she did not place in the show, despite being a huge favorite with audiences.

Getting to know Great Danes

Both Marc and Lisa say that as a breed, Great Danes deserve their given nickname of “Gentle Giants.” They do grow up to be exceptionally large. Athena and Lexi weigh 140 and 126 pounds respectively and male Great Danes can often tip the scale at over 180 pounds. Despite their size, Marc says that they are, “truly designed to be a great family dog and are wonderful with kids.”

Though their size might scare some prospective dog owners away, Marc says, “The biggest thing with them is getting a spot on the couch – they’re couch potatoes!”

In addition to their size, however, is the cost of raising Great Danes. During the puppy stage, a single Great Dane will eat up to nine cups of dog food a day. Marc and Lisa recently added a third Great Dane puppy, Gracie, to their family, meaning 27 cups of dry food a day between all three animals. Trips to the veterinarian can also be more expensive, given that Great Danes will often need up to three times as much medicine than another breed of dog.

Despite the additional cost of raising Great Danes, both Lisa and Marc believe that the benefits of living with the breed are priceless. As Lisa says, “Their soul comes right through their eyes. Lexi comes over when we wake up and puts her head on my chest, just wanting to lie there. There’s a love there that’s absolutely incredible.”

After her successful run, Athena is looking forward to a comfortable retirement playing with her sister and Gracie in Marc and Lisa’s Madison home. This year, Marc and Lisa plan to show Lexi more competitively. While the year showing Athena had its ups and its downs, Lisa said she would definitely do it all over again. She says: “When I walked into the arena at Westminster, it was like having an out-of-body experience. I said to myself, ‘She’s already won!’”