german shepherd/great dane mix

[LPicardster]

I'm considering adopting an 8 month old Great Dane German Shepherd mix that I met this evening at a local SPCA. I've been scouring the net for info on the mixed breed and am not finding much useful information. This medium (Pet Talk) appears to have fairly active membership so I'm posting this request for feedback. I see that Jenny25 posted a GD/GS breed question back in 2006 and some folks jumped her pretty hard about even thinking of breeding her GD and GS. Well somewhere near Seattle, someone did let a GD and GS breed and the result is "Rex," who's been at the local shelter since October, 2008.

About Me:
I lived with and helped care for a Harlequin Great Dane, named Sophie, for approximately eight years and feel competent and comfortable with the breed's size, care requirements, expenses, issues and personality traits. However, Sophie attended puppy school as soon as she was old enough, received strict reinforcement to maintain her training, prevent jumping, property destruction and other bad manners. She was crate trained, kept on a regular diet of high quality kibble with moderate boiled chicken and rice on occasion (i.e. no people food). She was also not allowed on furniture and was restricted to her own giant bed/pillows. Sophie was used to being bathed, having her teeth brushed, her nails trimmed and ears cleaned on a regular basis and when seasons changed, she tolerated being vacuumed. She respected cats, parrots and most other dogs with a few exceptions. Sophie knew her place in the home and to this day is an exemplary dog.

Sophie lives with my ex in Virginia and I'm across the country in Washington. I really enjoyed the goofy, emotional, affectionate traits of the breed. The size is pretty cool too. I'm a horse nut and grooming Sophie sometimes felt like grooming a pony I've been thinking about getting my own Great Dane on and off for over a year now. I purchased a decent sized home a few months ago and it's adequate to share with a large indoor dog. The yard is fenced but may need to be heighten. I'm just .2 miles from a great dog park (Westcrest Park) and I work from home.

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.

[Taz_Zoee]

I am not familiar with the GD breed, but my sister had 4 GSDs and we even found two on the side of the road back when I was very young. They are very smart dogs. The one we had in the house was not destructive at all. Many people think of GSDs as vicious because of the police dog aspect of them. None of the Shepherds we've had were ever vicious. Not even the ones we found. In fact, one of those was a scaredy cat (appropriately named Boo).
I personally love German Shepherds and all of the Danes I've met have been very sweet as well. I would like to think that mix would be a great (big) wonderful dog.
But every dog is different and has their own personalities. Visiting with Rex is a great idea. I think you'll know if he is right for you or not after visiting a few times.

Good luck! And if you get him, please come back and post some pictures of him.

[Karen]

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.

Definitely visit him regularly and see what progress you can make. Both shepherds and Danes can be very, very people-sensitive. Our our Great Dane Gracie would just shrivel up as small as she could if you scolded her, but I suspect she wouldn't have noticed if you clubbed her with a baseball as long as she thought you were happy to be with her.

He may be a challenge, but so completely worth it - read my post above about "Princess" - who did eventually become a sweet as pie big galoot, and she came from worse circumstances.

[Dane-Shepherd]

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.

I adopted an 8 month old (at the time) Great Dane-German Shepherd mix (Banner) in Dec '08, very recently. He has been a great dog so far, but some of your concerns are valid.
He definitely shows some amount of separation anxiety typical of danes, and also because he wasn't properly socialized as a young puppy some minor aggression (barking) towards strangers; mostly when we're out at night or in small spaces.
He is amazingly smart and eager to please, because he's not a young puppy we've had hardly any problems training him or with him chewing the "wrong" things.
Crate training was a must for us because of the separation anxiety, as well he sleeps in our room with us at night otherwise no one sleeps - we tried for a while with him downstairs.

I think that's all for now, if you have any other specific questions I can let you know how the mix plays out in Banner.

[mikemike]

i just want to say that i adopted my dog (a GD/gs) in november of 2007 and it was the best decision ive made. it was my first dog, and i rescued him from a shelter. im a medical student and knew that i would be away from the apartment, and i asked the people who worked at the shelter to pair me up with a dog who wouldn't bark due to seperation anxiety (since i live in an apartment), wouldnt chew (since i have 3 grand worth of books), and was potty trained... they went straight to the gd/gs.



i must say that i didnt realize how great a dog he was when i first adopted him as i do now. he was so well-behaved that i felt bad attempting to crate train him in the beginning because he just didnt need it at all... he followed every command perfectly! my girlfriend's family has 5 dogs and her brother has 3 and ive since adopted a second dog, and i must say my gd/gs is one of a kind in the behavior department. since the day ive adopted him he has never gone to the bathroom in the apartment, never shown aggression, never chewed anything... he has been a little saint. very playful, large and extremely strong but not aggressive in any way. he is just the best behaved dog in the world. i couldnt have asked for any better.

the only way that he is less than perfect in the behavior department is when we are out for a walk. he tends to pull a lot. i have either gotten it under control or just gotten accustomed to it by now, because it doesnt bother me as much. i was using a no-pull harness for a while and that worked rather well, but i dont bother anymore. regardless, this doesnt put a dent in my fondness for this breed whatsoever.