Originally Posted by
LPicardster
About Rex:
During my visit this evening with Rex, he initially looked really depressed in his kennel but maintained good eye contact. Once we were in the visiting pen, he continued the eye contact, permitted considerable handling all over his body, obeyed a few commands acceptably for an untrained dog after just a few instructions (sit, stay, come). He fetched with vigor and amped up the energy the longer we were together. Physically, he's remarkably clean and fit for a shelter dog with a shiny, short Brindle coat, clean ears, nice teeth and breath, bright eyes, etc. His body, legs and paws look GD while his tail and head look more GS. He doesn't really know how to walk properly, which is somewhat expected, and responded to some body language with jumping. Rex has been neutered, micro-chipped, vaccinated and comes with six weeks of free dog training classes. He's getting cat-tested [again] tomorrow at my request.
My Quandary:
I feel I have the space, experience, income and interest to take on Rex, but am unsure about how the German Shepard part of him may differ from what I'd expect from a Great Dane. My only exposure to German Shepherds has been limited to police and service dogs. This is a huge decision and commitment I'm facing. Taking on a brand new, pure bred Great Dane puppy would be more predictable than gambling on an 8-month old mixed breed who spent his first 6 months as a yard dog and the past 2 months as a shelter dog, with a 2 week foster care respite reportedly due to his increasing depression. This indicates his personality may be largely Great Dane since they are super sensitive. However, his intellect was exceptionally sharp, focused and quick. I had him sitting on voice command after maybe 3-4 physical instructions. As I sharpen my own training skills, I suspect he may be a very eager and adept student. But who knows?! Argh!! Should I visit him every day for the next week and see how we progress through 'Beginner' dog training lessons? (Katharina Schlegl-Kofler). I'm not worried about someone else adopting him since he's not moving now because of his size, energy level and jumping behavior.
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