In Loving Memory of
Madam Nikkei Howard-Mabile
November 15, 1999 – January 15, 2006
You were the first Dane to touch our lives with your free and loving spirit. On that cold night when you left us, we knew our lives would never be the same. Because of you, our knowledge and love for Danes has grown immensely. With this, we promise you that your name and legacy will live on in our work with rescuing, promoting, and protecting the Great Dane breed.
Enjoy the beautiful fields of our eternal home. Free of pain and full of vitality, until we all meet again at Rainbow Bridge.
Love your two dads.
This is the last photo we have of her before she passed away. I was taken two weeks before.
I wish we had more photos of her but Hurricane Katrina took all of them.
Nikkei's Story
After Kirk and I purchased our first home, I told
him that I wanted to get a Great Dane puppy. Well he had a few choice four
letter words for
me that basically said I was crazy and there is no way we are getting a indoor
horse. Well since you are reading this you see who got their way. 
But the funny thing, Nikkei ended up being Kirk's shadow.
Like a lot of first time Dane searchers, we did not know much about Danes and breeders. We had purchased Nikkei from a first time backyard breeder that had no knowledge on the breed at all. She basically put a Merle and Harlequin together and had a litter of puppies to try and make a few bucks. But like many first time breeders, she learned quickly that a profit is usually not achievable with Great Danes if breeding and healthcare of the mom and pups are done correctly. I only wish more people would research and learn this before deciding to breed their bitch. There are too many Danes out there in bad homes or on the streets needing to be rescued. We know this because of the thousands of dollars we spend annually picking up and medically treating these rescue Danes.
After we lost Nikkei to a heart attack, or cardiac event as the vet called it, we contacted her breeder to start looking into her bloodline a little closer. And we found that both the Sire and Dam and one of the puppies at 6 months old were deceased due to heart issues and with that we can pretty much conclude that the litter of puppies were probably in the same sinking boat. From all of the dogs we knew were deceased, Nikkei had lived the longest at 6 years old. That is considered a senior for Danes, but then again, we felt that she had a few more good years left for her if the heart was stronger. Her problem was never detected until her number was pulled to leave this world. This is why we find it so important that anyone searching for a Dane puppy, search and hunt for a good breeder. Look for someone that does OFA and other health certifications on their lines. Another example of the poor health quality that we see are in the rescues that we pick up. The death rates are getting higher every year due the cardiac, endocrine, cancer, and down right evil like I call "man eating" temperaments that we see and are directly pointed to their breeding that never should have happened.
Nikkei was the light of our lives for the short time we had with her. She definitely lived up to the Great Dane nickname of Gentle Giant. She was 125 pounds and 32 inches tall at the shoulder. She loved kids and was our neighbors little daughters best friend. There were times where we would hear that little knock on the front door to find Alexis asking "Can Tictkie come play?" She couldn't pronounce her name right and it sounded like Tic key. They would play together in her room for hours. There were many times Brandi or Jessie would come and knock on the door to see if Nikkei could come over because Alexis wouldn't go to sleep unless Nikkei would sleep over with her. Once Alexis would go to sleep they would bring Nikkei back home. Alexis is now 6 years old and she still tells us that she still misses Nikkei and she is glad that her Paw Paw can play with her in heaven. She had such a loving personality that when we called our friends and family to tell them she had passed away, all we heard on the phone was a dead silence followed by the crying. She laid that loving effect on everyone that had the advantage to meet her. We have so many wonderful memories of her. I just wish we could tell them all.
As a way to memorialize Nikkei, Kirk and I have decided to include her name in all future Danes we have in our lifetime. We figured since she was the start for our love with Great Danes, we will pay tribute to her making sure her name and legacy lives on. This is exactly what we did with our current Danes. Manson's AKC name is Nikkei's Majestic Lord Manson and Daisy was renamed Nikkei's Mischievous Mistress Daisy.
She will always be missed.
