So my wife and I have been wanting to get a new dog- especially since we just moved to a new place that actually allows us to have pets. So we finally got one this last Wednesday...

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There we go. So anyway, his name is Tender, and he's a Merle Great Dane. At 9 weeks old he should be bigger than he is, but this guy was born in a litter of seventeen pups.

We found him on the 'net and drove 3 hours one way to get him. He was pretty scared and skittish the first couple of days, but by now he's really warmed up to us and is getting excited about his new surroundings.

But if you've ever heard anything about Great Danes, you may have heard that they're pretty much lazy dogs. So far, this is true. He plays for maybe 1/2 hr to 1 hr and then it's nap time for like 3 hours, haha. Little guy has wicked dreams though. The other day he was kicking and twitching in his sleep so bad he fell off the couch!

And so far, the house training is coming along well. The only accidents he's had inside are because the wife and I are still trying to recognize his "signs" that he needs to go outside.

But we did take him to the vet today just to get him checked out- vet says he couldn't be a healthier puppy, which is good news for us. We did a lot of research prior to buying him and learned that nutrition for large dogs in general is key to their being healthy. Not that it's not important for other breeds, but large dogs especially need a good diet for a healthy life.

Anyway, just wanted to introduce y'all to him. Right now he's drinking out of my water glass.........

You can sure tell it is going to be huge based on the length of his fore paw. Right now it is disproportionately long. It is funny just like kids. We knew our daughter was about to hit a major growing streak when her torso was disproportionately longer than her legs. Then BANG she grew like 6 or 8 inches.

A great dane is a wonderful dog. I have had golden retrievers for the last 10+ years but I have considered a dane just due to their protective nature to strangers and intimidation factor when they get big. My uncle has 2 great danes and if you walk up to the side of the house WOW! They will pretty much scare the piss out of you but if you go in the back yard with my uncle they just want to play no aggressiveness what so ever. Pretty much the perfect dog.

My golden would probably run up and lick an intruder or go and hide under the shed to hide one of the two.

Awww, what a cute pup! Great Danes are such good dogs.
Congrats on the new member of the family!

Cool. If only they stayed puppies

I know what you mean. My other dog, Helmet (he stays at my parents house) is a Great Pyranese. He's huge. But he's a giant sissy... once he gets to know you. He's very leary of newcomers, but if you let him sniff at ya and pat him on the head, he'll love you forever, haha.

I think the big difference between Helmet and Tender, besides the obvious, is their socialable abilities. Yesterday we took Tender down to the Farmers Market and every Tom, Dick, Harry, Jane, Melissa, Kim, and Rudolph had to stop, pet him, and ask us questions about him. Mostly it was "What breed? How old? Will he change color when he gets big?" It was frustrating because we'd just get him walking and then bam, somebody had to stop us. But Tender was all over it- he loved the attention. If that had been Helmet, he would have been running scared.

Awww, what a cutie!

My 13 year old pit bull Althea can still do some damage... with her tail!

thwap thwap thwap thwap thwap OW!

Looks and sounds like you'll have an awesome dog (and companion)!!

Careful....they go from this:



To this...in about 10 months. He's lean as can be at 82lbs but still getting bigger. Tender will dwarf this little Golden. Enjoy! Tender looks like a good boy.

When they are tiny little puppies, if their eyes are open they need to go out. That is the sign.
You know of course that if you let a great dane on the couch now, You are going to have to find a place to sit because he will be on the couch at 150# later...
I have a Golden. She is a retired search and rescue dog. She is actually trained to give one report bark when she hears something in the yard or driveway. She stands there after the report bark with a stuffed animal in her mouth wagging her tail.
Congratulations on a beautiful new dog...

Mike, when did you start painting your toenails?

ain't that the truth....I have a pit bull mix, more pit bull than whatever else. That tail kills. It'll take your eye out if not careful.

It's just for Halloween.

Well then he started early cause they were a nice shade of hot-pink at RRC. Someone was trying to out-do the Pinkster.

I hope to get a dog next summer, Callie's been gone for a while, And I am ready for another.

Wife however is insisting something 40lbs or less, and I've always been a big dog fan... I may get another Wirehaired Pointer, or even another Airdale, but Labradoodles are also on the list, they are all under 40lbs when they are young right

I had a yellow lab a few years back and sure do miss him!

But onto recent news, a few months back my GF and i picked up a purebred Maltese. Below is a picture of Toby when he was at the breeders. When we got him he weighed only 1.7lbs, and now he's weighs 6lbs+.

Recent picture of Toby:

Oh and when we tried registering Toby with AKC, his name+breed was already taken so we submitted a 2nd name

Congratulations. As a dog breeder, I'd offer this bit of advice.
A Dane is a big dog, and will be a 'puppy' for about two years; the bigger they will be, the longer it takes to mature. So be careful of the diet you feed them. There are some specific diets for large breed puppies from such outfits like Royal Canin, they can really help. Start obedience training early, and it helps to do some research on this as well; the big thing is to write up a list of commands you need to teach, and then be consistent with these commands. The hardest thing to do is to unteach a command because it was used improperly. Example OFF to get off the couch, or off of someone; use DOWN to get the dog to lie down. Also, use WAIT to get the dog to stay in position until you call it to COME; use STAY to get the dog to stay in position until you come back beside it and release it. Too often I see commands used incorrectly, and the dog gets confused.

Best of luck, I'm sure you will have many years of enjoyment.

I would really love to get another dog. I had the best jack russel in the world but my life was in such turmoil it wasn't gonna be a good situation for the dog. I am friends with an older couple with a very nice house and large windows and back yard so he spend his days there looking for birds and chasing squirrels.

I think by next year my life should be more stable and I can get another dog.

Mine was the coolest though. We did everything together and he loved showing off for people. He was hired several times for photo and video shoots including a commercial for Pearle Vision. He would sit there all day if he was getting attention for it so they found him very easy to work with.



If I get another dog it will either be another jack russel or a border terrier.