This is the only breed of dog I’ve owned as an adult. My first dane was a merle, basically like a blue-tick, and so was not show quality. I wanted a pet, so that suited me fine. He was very smart, woke us up his first day with his food dish in his mouth. He was potty trained in a week (no “accidents” after that week) and learned commands quickly. It often took him only one time to be told something, and that was it. A good example, I woke up to rustling noises, and walked into the kitchen to find him getting into the garbage. I snuck up behind him, grabbed his hips and bellowed, “What do you think you’re doing? Doggies don’t get into the garbage!” Scared the crap out of him, and he never did it again. He was very loving, thought he was a lap dog and tried to cuddle, though he pretty much matched me in weight, all the way up until the time he died. Unfortunatley, he died of a heart attack.
Our next dane was a black, and he was a bit more stubborn than the merle. He was also a lot more adventuresome. (The merle was afraid to walk on the linoleum). He would rad board with us, loved the water, would follow us all day if we went dirt bike riding, but then still wanted his own pillow and blanket at night. He loved other dogs, loved children, and didn’t have to appear vicious to serve as a guard dog. He would jump up beside me, to see out the window when visitors arrived, and people who had never met him would usually take a step back, door between them or not. Great dog, but though he died at age 7, he wasn’t unusually young for a dane.
Our last dane was another black, and he was a goofball. Another one afraid of the linoleum, and potty trained in a week. He was also very loving, and went everywhere with me. People at drive-thrus knew him, “a burger with the meat and bun only, and a large water”, as did a lot of the kids at a nearby park. He was very protective, in that he kept a close eye on things, but there was never any close calls, etc. He was a dry mouth, like the first dane, so not a huge problem with drooling.
This is getting long, but I really want to get across the wonderful feelings I had sharing time with those dogs. Schwarz (the last guy), was really protective, like I said, but he would let our parakeet sit on him, though all he wanted to do was eat the “bug”. He knew the difference between his ball, rope, and bone. If I wanted him to look at something, say a mountain goat up in the higher reaches while hiking, I could point and say “look” and he’d follow my finger with his line of sight. He knew so many commands, and I felt he was limited more by my ability to convey what I wanted from him, rather than lacking in intelligence. He didn’t scratch or bark to be let in, he turned the knobs with his mouth. No training there, he saw us do it and realized that was the way in. Very cool guy. So my main drawback, they die too young and it takes too long to stop missing them, but very worthwhile just the same.
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