About Us

Bev is a member of the Great Dane Club of America, Great Dane Club of Des Moines, Central Iowa Kennel Club, and the Des Moines Obedience Training Club.

Bev is an AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) Evaluator. She was the General Rescue Coordinator for the GDC of Des Moines Rescue program from 1999 to 2007, minus a one year break.

Joe, the wonderfully supportive husband, belongs to the GDCDM and the CIKC.

We acquired our first Great Dane, a merle male we named "Zuko", in early 1997. Zuko was a great boy and enjoyed obedience work. He loved to howl whenever he heard sirens, which we laughingly referred to as his communication with his wild brothers.

Although we loved him dearly, he had some serious temperament issues. We finally had to make the very painful decision to have him euthanized. It was heartbreaking. It also served as a valuable lesson about the genetic nature of temperaments.

Our next Great Dane was a harlequin male, acquired in late 1999 from Elsie May Kuntze (KJEM) in Canada. We purchased him on a co-ownership agreement with the co-breeder, Dr. Neil O'Sullivan.

Doogan was everything wonderful about a Great Dane. He grew up to be a very big, beautiful boy and was a true ambassador for the breed. Doogan adored other dogs, big or small, and loved playing with his best friend, an Irish Wolfhound. He loved it when we fostered Danes for rescue as they were brought into our house for the sole purpose of playing non-stop with him (or so he thought!).

Although he was shown, he was never pointed. Always a ringside favorite, he had just begun to really mature to his large frame when we lost him to a sudden and unexplained infection. Even with a battery of tests and an exploratory surgery, the vets couldn't pinpoint the root of his sudden illness. He passed away less than 72 hours after exhibiting any symptoms. He was just shy of three years old.

Our next Dane is our current harlequin girl, Skyy. She is a silly girl, who adapted brilliantly to our family. She is wonderful with our two young boys. She loves chasing pesky ground squirrels, although even when she catches one, they still manage to escape from her mouth (soft mouth!).

About our kennel name

For a long time I struggled with finding just the right kennel name. Ideally I wanted something that incorporated my other passion (read expensive hobby), photography. Because photography is about light, words similar to luminous appealed to me, but just didn't sound right. With help from friends, I settled on short and simple, "Foto". Foto is the Spanish spelling of photo, paying homage to Skyy's breeder and her kennel name, Payaso (Spanish for clown).

Thank you for visiting our website. If you have any questions, please contact us.