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I rang loads of people who I knew bred Great Danes but so far no one had what we wanted. My last resort was a lady in Chipperfield I had heard of by reputation but didnt actually know. I couldnt believe it she said she had a bitch 12 months old that she had been going to keep for herself but due to illness she could no longer compete, so wouldnt be able to go to shows therefore be unable to win any championships which are imperative if you wanted to get good prices for your puppies. I arranged for Sheila and I to go and look at the dog on saturday as previously arranged with Sheila.

I rang Sheila she was thrilled to bits and couldnt wait until saturday. I arranged to meet her at the railway station and drive straight to Chipperfield.

Saturday finally came and I met Sheila and off we went. The lady let us in her house and we couldnt believe our eyes, we were surrounded by Great Danes , some puppies about 3 months old and several adults. She said all the dogs came in the house during the day but went out to kennels at night.

One dog would not leave Sheila and I alone, she wanted stroking all the time she was really beautiful and the same colouring as Angel, She obviously was from the same line I thought. The lady said that was the one for sale, her name was Alice and she was descended from the Clausentum breed which was the same as Angel. She was fawn with black spectacles and very big.

Sheila and I looked at each other and we both knew she was the one. Sheila asked how much she wanted for her and she said £200 as she had a pedigree full of champions. She would have asked for £350 if she had been a couple of months younger. As much as I now wanted her I said to Sheila it was too much. The lady said she would leave us to talk about it for while. Sheila insisted she was going to buy her , provided the lady would keep her until she got paid in 3 weeks time. I said I would go halves with her but she was adament it was going to be her present to me.

The lady came back and Sheila asked the question ,she said providing Sheila left a deposit she would be happy to wait the three weeks. She left a deposit of £100 and we arranged a date to collect her. By the way on talking to the lady we found we had quite a few friends in common so she wouldnt need to take up references as was usual.