Probably true.

I HOPE all the pups ended up in good homes, but my family got my beloved (now at the Rainbow Bridge) Great Dane mix (1/4 Lab, all else Dane) third- hand. The people who got her from her mother had an elderly miniature poodle, and the "man" wanted a big dog. Well, a couple months into it, they realized they hadn't a clue, and put an ad in the paper. Gracie had rickets from being malnourished (fed in the same dish with adult dogfood as the elderly poodle), had scars oon her face from being beat up by the elderly poodle, and - this is the best part - they were teaching her to jump up in their arms when they clapped. Yikes! Took us months to "untrain" that behavior, but it was important as she grew to be 140 pounds as an adult.