During the nomination process, Titan, who suffered from several health conditions, fought off competition from a Newfoundland from North Dakota and another Great Dane, from Arizona.

[1] He was trained to respond to commands through touch, although previously when he could see out of one eye, his owner had taught him sign language [3] and he required acupuncture and chiropractic sessions every three weeks to ease his problems.

[3] Great Danes that are predominantly white are usually deaf and can have a variety of eye problems due to a genetic defect called the "merle gene".

Contenders included Boomer, a Landseer Newfoundland from North Dakota[8] who registered in the race at 180 lbs, 7 feet long and 36 inches tall at the shoulder.

His owner hopes to use Titan's notoriety to complete the project and then donate no less than five mobile shelters to rescue organizations for deployment when needed.