Joan Olson - Great View Great Danes, I Paid For Puppy ~ She Sold It To Someone Else For More Money ~ Great View Danes Lie, Vienna Missouri

I would like to share my disappointing experience with Joan Olson of Great View Danes as well.  In March 2016, my wife and I agreed to purchase a 4 month old, male, blue Great Dane puppy from Joan.  The dog was purchased as a show-puppy, with the usual show-puppy price of $2,500 (ears already cropped).  Joan started out being very cooperative, constantly in contact with us, and often sending us pictures of our puppy before we were able to make the drive to Missouri to pick him up.

After we picked up our puppy, we should have realized that things were not all they seemed to be with Joan.  Communication dropped off totally, Joan appeared ready to wash her hands of us and this puppy as soon as possible.  We tried to contact Joan regarding past shot records, etc. and we were just given a cell phone picture of her hand-written records.  Joan seemed utterly disinterested in assisting us whatsoever.

Our puppy seemed to be healthy at first, but being novice Dane owners, we mistook an obvious hip issue for what we believed was typical Dane puppy clumsiness.  After four months, we took our Dane to the vet for hip x-rays, only to find out that he had hip dysplasia.  Being told that our puppy had hip dysplasia at such a young age (8 months) devastated us.  We understood from that moment that the quality of life of our dog would be severely affected, and the costs associated with future treatments would be substantial.

Immediately, we informed Joan of the diagnosis of our show-puppy.  Joan appeared immediately defensive, trying to defend her kennel as if she had a canned response to all of our inquiries.  As we clearly could no longer show our Dane with such a genetic defect as hip dysplasia, we asked Joan for some sort of compensation for future treatments, etc.  After all, Joan’s show-puppy contract clearly stated hip dysplasia as a covered genetic defect.  Joan initially told us that we could only return our dog if surgery could not correct his dysplasia.  We didn’t want another puppy, especially from a line that we felt had a tendency towards dysplasia.  But more so than that, we had bonded with our puppy over the past 4 months.  Therefore, we suggested perhaps we could receive the proceeds from the sale of another one of Joan’s puppies in lieu of actually receiving a replacement puppy.  But this too was firmly denied, which really showed us Joan’s lack of responsibility for the genetic defect.  We received zero sympathy and zero economic assistance, despite the fact that Joan clearly took advantage of our lack of experience by selling us a puppy with hip dysplasia as a show-puppy.

Once we realized that the co-ownership relationship was of no help, we then decided to ask Joan if we could have full ownership of our dog.  We agreed to neuter our dog as a condition to Joan transferring full ownership to us.  Joan assured us that neutering the dog would definitely destroy any ability for us to exchange him for another puppy, which really made us question what her plans for a dysplastic puppy would be if returned to her (i.e. breeding? another show-home sale?).  To prove our dog had been neutered, we sent Joan the receipt from our veterinarian.  Because the description did not specifically say “Great Dane” on the receipt, Joan accused us of trying to deceive her.  It took me physically sending Joan a picture of our dog’s incision to convince her that he had truly been neutered.  To Joan’s credit, she kept her word, and we are now the sole owners of our dog.  He is a true member of our family, and despite the fact that he cannot participate in any conformation shows, we wanted to be the sole decision-makers of his future.

It is because we are now the sole owners of our Dane, we feel comfortable sharing our experience without fear of retribution from Joan.  We cannot and will not comment on Joan personally.  We merely want to warn others to not make the same mistake that we did.  We feel that despite Joan’s claim to having a healthy line, there are hidden genetic disorders that she has swept under the rug.  We plan on performing an OFA hip evaluation for our dog once he is two years of age to formally register his hip dysplasia and hopefully notify prospective buyers of the deficiencies in the Great View kennel line.  If Joan lacks the conscience to be truthful, transparent, and supportive of her buyers, then all we can do is publicize our story as a warning to others.

Our dog’s name is Great View’s Remington the Royal Blue (AKC# WS52403302) and his sire and dam are Great View’s Ramses of The Blue Nile (AKC# WS37474804) and CH Great View’s Flashback To A Leprechaun (AKC# WS34674008) 

I own a beautiful, healthy, sweet-tempered two-year old blue Great Dane named Sophie. I bought her from Joan Olson (Great View Danes) at the end of 2008. I would like to put forth my experience with Joan in hopes that if anyone should read the original post, they will also read about my experience and take it into account.

I grew up with Danes, and in 2008 I purchased a home and felt stable enough to be a dog-owner myself. After a great deal of research, and after consulting with vets, references, other breeders, and talking a great deal with Joan, I decided to buy a pup from Great View Danes. Prior to the final purchase my family and I drove out and visited the Olson farm twice. Honestly, I could not have been more impressed with the Danes or with Joan. I felt very strongly that Joan was a conscientious and caring breeder who made the health and well-being of her dogs her priority--- if I had felt otherwise, I would not have purchased a dog from her. Also, Joan was always upfront about the pricing of the pups, and her expectations of me as a buyer were always clear. I never, even for a moment, felt that anything unprofessional was going on.

When people inquire about Sophie (which they often do; she is a gorgeous Dane with a wonderful temperament) or ask for a breeder recommendation, I always tell them about Great View Danes. I recommend Joan in the strongest terms and with no reservations. Should I decide in the future that Sophie needs a companion, the first call I make will be to Joan.

My family has bought 2 great danes from Joans Olson. I hate to break it to you but white great danes are not that rare and not that saught after.  White great danes are prone to hearing and vison problems.  The testing that has to be done is expensive. We bought a puppy from Joan whose father was Oby.  There was no way she would even consider selling an open registration.  She did pay a lot of money for Oby and the fact that the pups testicles have not droped would not have made a difference on the price.  That only matters if you are going to breed your dog.  She will not even send you your registeration papers until you show proof that you have spayed or neutered your dog. She wants to protect her investment for Oby and not let his blood lines out.  Hate to break it to you but we had a pup that tesicles had not droped and it did not affect the price.

Joan treats her dogs and other pets as family members.  All of the animals on her farm have it made!  I have actually been to the farm and witnessed all the living conditions.  They are proud of all their animals and willing to take you to see all of them. When we took our pups to the vet she was very impressed with the medical care the pups have had and how healthy they were.  The vet said their medical care was actually alittle over kill! 

As far as her daugter helping asist with the animals giving birth, I see no problem with it.  I myself grew up on a farm and was assiting my father with diliveries at that age and maybe younger!  I think its a great testimate to how the whole family gets involved with the care of these animals which you would know if you have ever been to their farm. Most 11 year olds now a days are afraid to get their hands dirty and are glued to TV's a video games.  

Also you should know it is proven that it is actually healthier for a female dog to be breed twice in a row and then have their rest period.  This is becase it restores their hormonal balance.  Look it up!

Joan does treat her animals like family.  When they have a new litter of pups she rarely leaves their side, there is a family member watching them night and day.  They have a litter of 11 all black puppies and know them all by name (this is amazing  because they all look the same!).  When you raise a litter of puppies you are responsible for them for life.  My feeling is she probably got a bad vibe from you for some reason and felt that you were maybe not the most resposible person to be owning a great dane.  I think it is really sad that a nice person like Joan will have her reputation as a dog breeder tarnished because of this report.  I just want to say my family has personally visited the Olsons farm  several times and the dogs living conditions are outstanding.  They are proud of their dogs and are always willing to show them off.

Very Satisifed Customer!

I couldn't believe the malice of the original post.  This will be short and sweet for those who may read the original post, Joan Olson is a fine breeder and buisness woman.  I bought my wonderful great dane 'Titan' from her in 2006.  He is a fantastic dog!  He is a show marker harlequin in excellent health, and with fantastic temperment.  Joan was nothing but helpful to me and my family when we were choosing our new family member.  I would recommend her to any family considering adding a great dane to their family as she is a wealth of knowlegde on the breed, and produces very high quality puppies.  I will go to her again in the future if we choose to add another great dane to our brood. 

The person who wrote the report regarding the white great dane puppy that they said they purchased from me is a very disgruntled, and vindictive person, guilty of many false statements about me. She first of all did not pay for the puppy in full. There are many false accusations and false statements in her report that I will clarify in the following rebuttal.
We are a family who owns great danes and have imported some very nice dogs and raised some champions. Our goal is for our dogs to have the best homes possible and to reach their potential in or out of the show ring.
The white puppy was the first one of its kind that we ever had here at Great View Danes and there was a lot of interest in him. The lady who wrote this report, had been e-mailing me for about three weeks wanting to know if she could have him for free. She had bought a puppy from us in the past and said it is the best dog she has ever owned. I told her that I didn't know if I even wanted to sell him or not and if I did, I would have to wait until he was a certain age and had his testing completed.
Contrary to her comment that you can't test a dog's hearing at a young age, "because the bones aren't developed yet" was simply her opinion and contrary to medical fact. You absolutely can test a puppy and we did at our State University Veterinary Hospital. It is a test called the BAER test. The test can be done on puppies as young as 5 weeks and it tests brain stem activity.
She contacted me on a Monday before the Thursday that he had his hearing done. She desperately wanted this puppy and sent PARTIAL payment to me even though I told her that I was out of state with one of our danes and couldn't know if I would sell him or not. He was not even 8 weeks old at the time and had not had his final vet exam. He had had one at 5 weeks of age and that was too early for us to know if his one t******e would descend yet or not.
I wanted to make sure that if he was a dog of quality for breeding that he could go to the right home where a person who was very knowledgable with the dane breed could possibly use him later and preserve the expensive bloodlines that we imported from Russia. I told her that our dog, Oby was an expensive dog and that we work with a sister kennel to produce the finest danes we can. I was trying to get her to understand that we don't spend thousands on a dane to just give away his puppies.
I can't imagine her statement of us owning a farm and thus "every animal we own is pregnant". That is obviously a ridiculous statement. I also want to ask her why she would bring up my children who obviously do help us with our dane program. I wouldn't have it any other way. I did say that my teenager and my 11 year old help out when we are having a new litter of danes. That is their choice and they love to be a part of such a miraculous experience. The mother danes like to have us all right there for support and the babies come into the world knowing the love of their humans from the first day.
After the dane pupppy had his testing completed and his final vet exam he went to live with a family who had owned 11 danes in their lifetime so far. I returned her unwanted, partial payment promptly. She did file a complaint with Pay Pal, but it was within one hour of me telling her I was returning her money. VERY POINTLESS! She is very mad about not getting a puppy for free or cheap.
She is so full of false accusations! My danes are not bred all the time. We raise great danes, but they are not pregnant all the time. Our website shows puppies from last year all lined up in a row and their mothers are only having one litter per year, not that it hurts a dog to have two a year. The top show danes in the industry have two litters a year sometimes.
She is one person among many that I have ever dealt with who have had a problem and I am not sure why she is saying all of those things that are not even relevant or logical, not to mention, against medical fact. Look up BAER testing in dogs and you will see what testing we had done on our pure white puppy at the age of 9 weeks.
We are very thorough in our process of raising the finest danes possible and travel far and wide to find the best bloodlines and raise our puppeis with all the love and attentionn of a human child. After all of that effort, I want my danes to go to the best, loving homes possible. This lady had not done the best with the first dane we sold her so I didn't want another one to have the same misfortune.
The website you are on now, has the policy of never removing any reports about someone. They only allow a rebuttal so this is why I am writing. Their policy is not to remove any reports even if they are found to be false accusations.
If you would like to call me to ask any questions about our danes, please feel free to do so. We have raised danes for almost 10 years and have never had a problem with a customer like this before.
She sent the money to my Pay Pal account while I was out of state getting an Artificial Insemination done on my female with the #1 Blue dane in the history of the breed! If I was just some "backyard breeder" like she is accusing me of, I wouldn't be going to the effort and expense of traveling three states away to find the best stud dog for my female or importing my male harlequin from the other side of the world!!
Please call me to talk as I would love to be able to defend my reputation. My website speaks for itself and my testimonial page will enlighten readers as well.
You can even see our white puppy on the first page having his BAER testing done.
How can she state that I couldn't have his hearing tested??? She is obviously ignorant of many of the proceedures done by respectable, responsible breeders to produce the best puppies possible to pass on quality traits in the breed.
Please contact me if you have questions. The Ripp Off website refuses to take off the comments made about me even though they are false.
Thank you for your time reading my side of the story.
Sincerly,
Joan Olson - Great View Danes