Some of you know my sad story. We lost both of our beloved dogs within 3 weeks of each other last fall. Our hearts are ready to give some love to another dog. It’s hard to believe, but dogs are hard to come by. Apparently, due to COVID, everyone that is staying at home these days is buying/adopting a dog. I really want another boxer but breeders are asking up to $3000 for a companion dog! Besides the cost, most of them have waiting lists a mile long and all future litters are spoken for. Our animal allies has had only 1 or 2 dogs at a time and they are adopted immediately. I am kind of picky about what I want. I walk a lot in the woods so I need a larger dog, short hair (no beauty parlor dogs!) and fairly young. So here’s my dilemma. There is now a Great Dane mix at the shelter. He’s 11 months old, already 100+ lbs, and his description on the website sounds like he’s a good, smart dog. What I worry about is the life span of a Great Dane is very short, 6-7 years. After the heartbreak we just experienced, I don’t know if I can do that again. And yes I know, there will be heartbreak with any dog at some point. Do I pursue him?
There are dogs out there that need homes, if you are willing to do some legwork searching. My daughter recently added a new dog to their household. She lives in western PA and the dog was in Texas. They worked out transportation and the dog is very happy. He is an older dog, but my daughter and her fiance plan to make his life extra special and he seems to be reciprocating.
We also helped move some dogs from the Caribbean to their final homes, picking them up at one airport, then driving them to hand them over to the next helper.
In your shoes I’d go to meet the Great Dane. Dwelling on lifespan is hard not to do, but I try not to. I’ve had small breed dogs live a relatively short time and have had giant breeds that shock everyone and live long lives. There’s also the whole quality vs quantity question.
It’s also not a slam dunk that Danes live very short lives–I did meet a lovely GD girl out on a hike and was amazed to discover she was 13, which is a respectable age for any dog let alone a giant breed. She was spry and her faculties were all good so it’s not impossible. On the other hand, my 50 lb border collie mix died of a liver tumor aged 11 but the 75 lb lab/husky mix is 13 now and going on just fine aside from a bit of deafness. Life is a crapshoot and there are never any guarantees. If you meet this doggo and fall in love by all means take him, feed him really good food (those big dogs need good nutrition) and enjoy every day you have with him. Life is short and the shelter sucks, just sayin’.
I’d rather have 10 dogs, even with them dying every five years, than one damn parrot that refuses to die already! 
It drives me nuts that people get parrots without realizing (or trying to find out ahead of time) that they can live as long as people do. They usually don’t though because those same people usually don’t do a very good job of taking care of them and even if they physically survive they still can go really fuckin’ crazy from loneliness and make everyone around them miserable. I can’t keep a bird for this reason–I love them to pieces and would like to have one or two but I can’t keep something that flies in a cage, makes me feel like a total asshole.
I agree with all of the above (and am waiting hopefully to see pictures of your new dog).
I had a friend in LA when I lived there in 1985 that has a parrot. Nice bird, actually. Smart, pretty.
You KNOW that bird is still alive, but I can’t be sure 35 years later that the owner still is.
My B-I-L won’t get any more Great Danes after the last four all dying by age 8. Too heartbreaking.
One thing is for sure-- if no one adopts this dog, he’s not even going to make it to six.
Nothing like guilting a person into doing something they’ve just expressed they don’t think they have the heart to pursue.
Saw some boxer-mix puppies at a rescue in Rosemont, IL. Not sure if this helps or is even close enough to consider. GL.
Well, here he is! We met him on Friday and played in the shelter’s outdoor play area. Then I went back on Saturday and Sunday and walked him on the shelter’s trails. He’s a very good boy. He’s HUGE but very gentle. Great Dane’s are called The Gentle Giants for a reason. He’s going to be neutered tomorrow (Tues) and we can pick him up on Wed. My husband and I are both really excited. He’s potty trained, is good with kids and other dogs. He walked very calmly on the leash. His previous owners said that he could be left at home for up to 10 hours without an accident! We’d never leave him that long, but good to know. OMG, the money that I spent this weekend! The stuff I had from our other dogs is not big enough so bed, harness, leash, collar, food, toys all had to be purchased. I signed him up for obedience classes - a dog that big must have some manners. We’re using the entire room that the previous dogs’ crates were in as his crate! So I had to purchase 2 extra-tall pet gates to put across the doorways (that room has 2 doors). The life span of a GD is short, but we’ll love him while we have him. We know what we signed up for. And like said above, there are no guarantees on life span for anyone or any dog.
And as for his life in the shelter, he actually seems very happy. It’s a beautiful facility (no-kill), he has dog friends there, they usually let him wander around the office, he’s taken for trail walks and gets to play with toys and his buddies. He seems to love the staff.
His backstory: He is a purebred Great Dane. The shelter has to advertise him as a mix because they don’t have any papers proving that he’s a Great Dane. His previous owners bought him from a breeder and then decided he was too big. I’m not sure what they thought they were getting! My guess is he was a COVID dog, bought on a whim because they were all home during the shutdown. Doing the math, he would have been about 2 months old last April/May.
Congratulations! What’s his name?
StG
A friend of mine would love to have a Golden Retriever (it’s her dream dog). This past weekend she saw an ad to rehome a 1 year old Golden Retriever. The owner got the dog and “he’s just too much, he doesn’t behave”.
My friend emailed the woman, explaining that she has lots of dog experience, and she’d work with a trainer to help modify the dog’s behavior. She received a reply stating, “Oh my, training!! You think that would help? We never thought of that.” So the woman is keeping the dog now.
Congrats on the Dane!! They are fun dogs.
Many years ago my mother had a neighbor with a Great Dane. My mother had an Airedale. Watching those two big galoots chase each other around was a joy.
His shelter name is Ace, but I wanted to give him a name from us. So after MANY, MANY hours of looking at lists of male names (humans), dog names, unique dog names, GD names, etc, etc, etc. One name all of a sudden hit me when I saw it…Huckleberry! We’ll call him Huck. Huckleberry fits his goofiness while Huck is a nice manly name for a big guy.
Oh my gosh. Wonderful news! 
Huckleberry Hound!
Congrats. He looks lovely. I always wanted a harlequin GD.
Well, he’s a beautiful dog. Hope you have good times together. But I have to add, your “wants” for a dog don’t quite match up. Everything I’ve read and heard is that Danes aren’t generally up for tons of exercise so he might not like as many walks in the woods as you (once he’s not a puppy)
They need daily exercise. It’s not like we’re hiking around for hours at a time. I go for 2 - 1 hour walks each day. I’ll be 60 this summer and my husband is 62, we’re in good health and active but we won’t be climbing any mountains or going on day-long extended hikes. We live in an area with lots of easily accessible wooded trails. So I think he’ll be fine.