GENTLE GIANTS RESCUE
- Thread starter Nijinsky3
- Start date
I'll post up some pics of Jake asap...he's 16 weeks and up to 58 lbs.....had his ears done and didn't put up any pics....some folks don't agree with doing the ears, which I understand...but I think Dane's look far better with cropped ears....and they seem to be a little more "hygiene" friendly when they are cropped, too..
Ears are a personaly preference nowadays...but the Dane is the only breed that ORIGINALLY had their ears cropped for an actual purpose...not just for looks or fighting. They were used to hunt wild boar, and the cropping was doen to avoid the boar being able to bite/tear the ear off.
I personally have no issues with it eather way. It's not cruel, they are put out while in surgery, they do itch alot while healing, but none of the puppies we ever had as a kid seemed to be in any pain at all. Just itchy!
I like the look better too! Especially when they stand them up and get that little furl in their brow....if the intruder wasn't afraid of them before, they will be when the dog gets "That look"!
But for those who like the natural look.....have at it.
I rescue alot and it was only when I was a kid that we got themcropped, my mothers choice and pocketbook. Usually I get them in some stage of adulthood and don't bother. I am rescuing them from bigger problems...I just make sure they are healthy and not sick.
But either way is ok with me...doesn't change the personality of the dog....they rock with ears up or down!!
I personally have no issues with it eather way. It's not cruel, they are put out while in surgery, they do itch alot while healing, but none of the puppies we ever had as a kid seemed to be in any pain at all. Just itchy!
I like the look better too! Especially when they stand them up and get that little furl in their brow....if the intruder wasn't afraid of them before, they will be when the dog gets "That look"!
But for those who like the natural look.....have at it.
I rescue alot and it was only when I was a kid that we got themcropped, my mothers choice and pocketbook. Usually I get them in some stage of adulthood and don't bother. I am rescuing them from bigger problems...I just make sure they are healthy and not sick.
But either way is ok with me...doesn't change the personality of the dog....they rock with ears up or down!!
T minus 17 hours AND COUNTING!!!!!!!!!!
Nah...not at all...why do you ask??T minus 17 hours AND COUNTING!!!!!!!!!!
Not excited or anything are ya?
T-16....
Last Dane I had was Diesel (on the right) who passed two weeks before Christmas 1998
I have rescued several and fostered a few till the rescue could take them, but haven't had one I could keep since Diesel.
So yeah I'm excited....it's been a long wait!
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Reason for Edit: None given...|1121519910 -->
Last Dane I had was Diesel (on the right) who passed two weeks before Christmas 1998
I have rescued several and fostered a few till the rescue could take them, but haven't had one I could keep since Diesel.
So yeah I'm excited....it's been a long wait!
<!--EDIT|Nijinsky3
Reason for Edit: None given...|1121519910 -->
13......
YES I am gonna drive ya all nuts with this!!!
Look for pics to follow tomorrow after we get home!!!
Not yet....sorry........I will take some soon and post them!
BTW.......he's about 2-2 1/2 yrs old, Harlequin male with cropped ears and his name is "Sky" because of his blue eyes. He came with the name and we haven't decided if we will change it or not.
"Sky" was one of Tracy's "special" dogs...or the ones she considers unadoptable for some reason. The reason with "Sky" is that he nipped at someone when they moved suddenly. Not a bite, just kinda snapped at them. But with Great danes, they are normally very sweet, but they are BIG and CAN really hurt someone if they actually tried to. So Tracy would not let him go to a regular home. He was basically going to be in a boarding facility for life as she is too booked up to keep him at the rescue and also was nervous about him being with her daughter.
I always try to take the ones who have problems as I am very comfortable and experienced in working with aggressive or hard to handle Great Danes and horses (although some may think these two are in fact one in the same!)
Sky's main issue is that he is very hard of hearing. He only seems to hear very loud noises (such as when I clap my hands LOUDLY) or very high pitched sounds. But normal talking or even yelling at him he does not hear. I think this may be the whole reason behind his snapping. He doesn't startle easily, but he can be startled, especially if he is asleep and you touch him or he wakes up and I am not where I was when he went to sleep....he panicks and will search the house for me till he finds me!
He has already scared the crap outta Charles a time or two, but things are going well now it seems. The day we brought him home, Charles had to leave right away to get to work, so he ha no time to spend with Sky in the house. He got home at 9:45 that night and when he came in the front door, Sky was asleep and woke up suddenly (I figure from the movement of the door opening, we have all wood flooring in the house) and lunged at Charles barking and growling.
We have since realized that he is much mroe touchy about movement and noises that he can hear at night. Once the sun is down, he gets set off easier than he does when its daylight. I can only assume that this is because he can see better in the day and he feels more uneasy at night. Being that he can't really hear, you know what they say about when you lose one sense....the others become stronger and conpensate for it. So I think him in essence being without sight or hearing at night makes him mroe edgy.
Sky seemed pretty tolerant of me disciplining him when he did something wrong, but with the aggression towards Charles, we were afraid to have Charles correct him for fear that Sky might go after him even more. But luckily this fear was laid to rest as the second time he snapped at Charles, Charles gave him a small two fingered smack on the nose and Sky IMMEDIATELY backed off and then humbly walked back over asking to be petted. He had been doing this with me and we are both glad he will be submissive to Charles too. If he had gone after hima nd hurt him, then we would not be able to keep Sky obviously. I would be sad to see him go back to a kennel, but we can't have a dog in our house that will not respect BOTH of us.
Sky has some food aggression issues and that seems to be mostly over. He got a little bit of a growl when I asked him to let go of a bone he was chewing on....again out came the "discipline stick" and he got a little pop on the nose and eventually stopped growling and let me have the bone. Of course I gave it right back to him once he would sit like a good boy, but the point it to teach him that it is NEVER ok to growl at a member of the "family" in such a way. He is not allowed to show aggression to me, Charles or Kraut.
Sky and Kraut went through a little "you are getting on my nerves" stage, but now play like they are best buds....quicker than I thought they would actually. But then Kraut is still very puppyish in his ways and was absolutely DYING for a playmate! So he just pestered Sky until Sky gave in and started playing with him.
This dog is turning out to be everything we wanted. A protector, a friend for Kraut so he doesn't get lonely and someone to play with, and the normal sweet nature of the typical Dane. Sky loves hugs and kisses and is right behind me whereever I go, he never lets me out of his site! (Yes he even stuffs himself into the TINY bathroom we have if I am using the toilet just so he can be near me!) As long as things keep going well, we should be able to keep him. I was worried there for a bit with the aggression towards Charles, but I think Sky may have just been waiting to see if Charles would discipline him and then still show him affection. You have to remember...Danes are VERY emotional! The NEED and CRAVE affection from you at all times. Deaf or hard of hearing Danes are even MORE extreme about it. To a Dane, they are not really testing to see who is top dog, but rather if you will love them even if they are bad. Danes who come from pounds or the rescue are even more like this. They have a complex about being dumped, and the more they get dumped, the harder it is to get them to not scare off the next potential adopter. They don't want to get attached to another person or family and get dumped again. The second that Charles corrected Sky, he wanted affection, and he hasn't growled at him since! So hopefully we are over the major hangups and will enjoy many years with our new family member!
Needless to say...I pitty the dumb sucker who comes into our house or yard because this guy is FIERCELY loyal and would chew 'em up and spit 'em out!
pics to come soon.....
BTW.......he's about 2-2 1/2 yrs old, Harlequin male with cropped ears and his name is "Sky" because of his blue eyes. He came with the name and we haven't decided if we will change it or not.
"Sky" was one of Tracy's "special" dogs...or the ones she considers unadoptable for some reason. The reason with "Sky" is that he nipped at someone when they moved suddenly. Not a bite, just kinda snapped at them. But with Great danes, they are normally very sweet, but they are BIG and CAN really hurt someone if they actually tried to. So Tracy would not let him go to a regular home. He was basically going to be in a boarding facility for life as she is too booked up to keep him at the rescue and also was nervous about him being with her daughter.
I always try to take the ones who have problems as I am very comfortable and experienced in working with aggressive or hard to handle Great Danes and horses (although some may think these two are in fact one in the same!)
Sky's main issue is that he is very hard of hearing. He only seems to hear very loud noises (such as when I clap my hands LOUDLY) or very high pitched sounds. But normal talking or even yelling at him he does not hear. I think this may be the whole reason behind his snapping. He doesn't startle easily, but he can be startled, especially if he is asleep and you touch him or he wakes up and I am not where I was when he went to sleep....he panicks and will search the house for me till he finds me!
He has already scared the crap outta Charles a time or two, but things are going well now it seems. The day we brought him home, Charles had to leave right away to get to work, so he ha no time to spend with Sky in the house. He got home at 9:45 that night and when he came in the front door, Sky was asleep and woke up suddenly (I figure from the movement of the door opening, we have all wood flooring in the house) and lunged at Charles barking and growling.
We have since realized that he is much mroe touchy about movement and noises that he can hear at night. Once the sun is down, he gets set off easier than he does when its daylight. I can only assume that this is because he can see better in the day and he feels more uneasy at night. Being that he can't really hear, you know what they say about when you lose one sense....the others become stronger and conpensate for it. So I think him in essence being without sight or hearing at night makes him mroe edgy.
Sky seemed pretty tolerant of me disciplining him when he did something wrong, but with the aggression towards Charles, we were afraid to have Charles correct him for fear that Sky might go after him even more. But luckily this fear was laid to rest as the second time he snapped at Charles, Charles gave him a small two fingered smack on the nose and Sky IMMEDIATELY backed off and then humbly walked back over asking to be petted. He had been doing this with me and we are both glad he will be submissive to Charles too. If he had gone after hima nd hurt him, then we would not be able to keep Sky obviously. I would be sad to see him go back to a kennel, but we can't have a dog in our house that will not respect BOTH of us.
Sky has some food aggression issues and that seems to be mostly over. He got a little bit of a growl when I asked him to let go of a bone he was chewing on....again out came the "discipline stick" and he got a little pop on the nose and eventually stopped growling and let me have the bone. Of course I gave it right back to him once he would sit like a good boy, but the point it to teach him that it is NEVER ok to growl at a member of the "family" in such a way. He is not allowed to show aggression to me, Charles or Kraut.
Sky and Kraut went through a little "you are getting on my nerves" stage, but now play like they are best buds....quicker than I thought they would actually. But then Kraut is still very puppyish in his ways and was absolutely DYING for a playmate! So he just pestered Sky until Sky gave in and started playing with him.
This dog is turning out to be everything we wanted. A protector, a friend for Kraut so he doesn't get lonely and someone to play with, and the normal sweet nature of the typical Dane. Sky loves hugs and kisses and is right behind me whereever I go, he never lets me out of his site! (Yes he even stuffs himself into the TINY bathroom we have if I am using the toilet just so he can be near me!) As long as things keep going well, we should be able to keep him. I was worried there for a bit with the aggression towards Charles, but I think Sky may have just been waiting to see if Charles would discipline him and then still show him affection. You have to remember...Danes are VERY emotional! The NEED and CRAVE affection from you at all times. Deaf or hard of hearing Danes are even MORE extreme about it. To a Dane, they are not really testing to see who is top dog, but rather if you will love them even if they are bad. Danes who come from pounds or the rescue are even more like this. They have a complex about being dumped, and the more they get dumped, the harder it is to get them to not scare off the next potential adopter. They don't want to get attached to another person or family and get dumped again. The second that Charles corrected Sky, he wanted affection, and he hasn't growled at him since! So hopefully we are over the major hangups and will enjoy many years with our new family member!
Needless to say...I pitty the dumb sucker who comes into our house or yard because this guy is FIERCELY loyal and would chew 'em up and spit 'em out!
pics to come soon.....
We do for the most part....he is still grumbling at Charles every now and then. I think it is mostly insecurity. Danes who have been dumped a few times are very insecure....afraid they will be dumped again. This dog knows I love him, I am constantly hugging and kissing on him to make him feel secure. Charles isn't used to a dog that is aggressive this way so it unerves him a bit. Not that I an blame him at all!! There is nothing SOOTHING about a 175lb (give or take) set of teeth looking at you like they are gonna eat ya! But he is doing his best. Problem is, as soon as he starts to trust Sky and think things are ok, Sky will growl at him for whatever reason!
I think it is just gonna take ALOT of patience and consistancy with this dog. It is really ahrd to communicate with a deaf dog who doesn't make much eye contact. We are working on the sign for stay and that seems to be going well.
I think it is just gonna take ALOT of patience and consistancy with this dog. It is really ahrd to communicate with a deaf dog who doesn't make much eye contact. We are working on the sign for stay and that seems to be going well.
