I want to get a Blue Great Dane that has been offered to me. I think they are beautiful dogs. But I don't know if it is a good idea. I already have a 3 and half month old German Shepherd Labrador mix dog. So by the time the great dane is ready...Rex will be over 5 months old. Please give me any advice you can =) Thank you I would appreciate it!
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I know you’re all excited about the Dane, but having two puppies at once is a disastrous mistake. To put it in perspective, reputable breeders and more discerning rescues won’t even allow two pups to go to a home together because there are just so many things that could go wrong.
First of all, at five months old your GSD mix won’t be fully-trained, and will probably just have started to become completely house-trained. Add another dog, and the pup may easily backslide just because of all the excitement. Even worse, the dogs could bond to EACH OTHER and not to you, which will also impede training. This will result in *two* ill-mannered dogs, since they’ll just get distracted by each other and not want to listen to you.
Concentrate on training your current dog. Make sure that Rex is fully-vaccinated and take him to his puppy classes. Keep training him at home, too. Labs and GSDs are extremely intelligent dogs, so your mix will require lots of training and mental stimulation to be happy and well-adjusted.
When Rex is at least a year old, then you can consider adding another dog into the mix. Until then, go to dog shows and network with local Dane breeders so that when the time comes you’ll have a reputable breeder in mind. Great Danes are more prone to a litany of health issues (as most large dogs are), and so it’s imperative to get one from a reputable breeder so that the dog’s health and temperament are guaranteed. If you aren’t able to afford one from a reputable breeder or prefer an adult dog, look into adopting from a Dane or large-breed dog rescue.
It’s like adding another child to the family. Most people end up regretting the decision to add a second pup to the family because keeping up with two is always harder and sometimes more stressful. I just had a client whose husband decided two pups were better than one…..needless to say when I went over to help them with training…it was pure chaos! Both pups were out of control, with destructive behaviors, they were aggressive towards each other, and they had started to display the first warning signs of dog to human aggression through baring teeth and growling!….they’re only 16weeks old! I can’t stress enough how important it is to get an early start on training!!!
Also, it’s usually best to wait until the current pup has reached three years because they have reached mental and social maturity and are better able to cope with a new addition to the family. It really depends on how experienced you are with dog behavior. You’ll have to train them seperately as they will distract each other if you try to train them both at once, so make sure you have enough time so that each dog gets the attention that they need. The clients that I mentioned above had little knowledge about dogs, so their lack of experience ends up producing un-balanced, misbehaving pups!
As long as you are prepared to have a giant breed dog I don’t see why it would be a problem. Make sure you research the breed. They usually only live to be 7 or 8 at the top end and they are prone to serious problems like GDV (gas bloated dilated twisted stomach) that requires emergency surgery. As long as you go into it knowing the risks and your dogs get along then you should be okay. If they are both spayed and neutered even better. Here is a great website about them.
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/choosing-a-great-dane/page2.aspx
I assume the Great Dane is an adult? If it is a puppy, you will have one big headache. If the puppy you have now has had basic training such as Puppy Kindergarten so it has learned to mind and has some doggy manners it will probably be fine with an adult dog. Danes are really not easy to train, and if you already have an out of control puppy as well as a new Great Dane puppy you will be miserable.
If it is an adult, you can start both dogs on basic obedience (a good way to bond with the Dane) when the puppy is 6 or 7 months old.
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