I'm Hoping This Isn't Too Much of a Long Shot

We have a black lab / dane mix. He is 100 lbs but such a love. I would do a lot of research before bringing home a dane because health wise they can be a handful. (hip problems, bloat and short life span among the ones that come to mind) As for temperment and additude they are loving, fun, energetic dogs.

Is your child toilet trained? It is really difficult to train a puppy when you aren't sure who's poops are on the floor ( I know sounds gross but my ex -notice it was my ex thought it was a good idea to bring home a Husky puppy when I was toilet training my little son). Needless to say that was the icing on the divorce documents. But seriously since you have trained dogs I am sure you know your son will love it, but it will be a lot of stress to start. Some people don't mind it...

What a great question! I LOVE Danes... but our house is not big enough for a small pony :) I never had one, but my aunt used to have 2 when I was very young (maybe 6ish?)... they were the sweetest dogs. The male, Brutus, literally thought he was a lap cat. Those suckers were GIANT! I've got pictures of me curled up between the 2 dogs, all 3 of us taking a nap. I had fallen asleep onthe floor, and the female, Sheba, curled up around me, and Brutus followed. In my childs memory, I always remember them being extremely sweet (even when I was yanking their tails or ears or tongues, they just layed there and took it, LOL)... If I had the space, I would get one just because I had such a wonderful experience with them as a child, they stole my heart!! :)

A very close friend of mine got a Dane when she had 2 small kids at home. She sort of fell into a fostering situation, and ended up totally in love with the dog. She had a baby who was under 6 months, and a 3 yr old. That dog was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen with the kids, totally like a second mommy. She was very careful.

One thing she did, because of the size was to make some accomodations to keep the babies safe. Things like removing extra tables and knick knacks. With my friend, she had a pretty overfurnished house, and it seemed like the dog had to spend a lot of time "being careful" and feeling her way along to not knock something over. You could see that she was trying to be careful. Since she was worrying about so many objects, she couldn't possibly avoid them all the and kids would get bumped and knocked sometimes. Paring down the stuff made it easier for the dog to navigate the house and kids.

You should see if there is a Great Dane rescue in your area and if they need foster parents. It would benefit both you and the dog. You are saving a dog that needs saved, and most of them will have papers just like breeder dogs. They are the dogs that get taken to the pound or rescues when people realize they didn't know what they were getting into. And even better for you, often they will know about the dogs temperament better than a breeder will. You can get one that is already housebroken. And if it doesn't work out, and you can return them to the rescue, but at least for a little while the dog had a nice home. Good luck!

I have not own a dane, but knew several people who did through work at a vet's. Several of the families had kids and one I know had one dane before the little girl and I think they got the second one when she was around 5. Now granted she did get hit in the face with tails every now and then, but she thought it was funny and would tell them to move over. Then again put 2-3 adults, two danes (one of which was very large), and one little girl in an exam room at a vet's office and the tails are going to be getting someone with their happy wags. I think as long as you are comfortable with training and it sounds like you are, and just being extra careful when they are both young it would be fine. They are wonderful dogs and most of them are calm and relaxed from what I have seen and would be good with children. Good luck on your dog search!

My mother had a Dane when we were little and she used to tell about how the dog would baby sit us. The dog know the property boundaries and when we went outside the dog wouldnt let us go beyond HER boundaries, which were about 2 feet within the property ones. She decided she didnt want us anywhere near the edge of the property and would stand between us and the edge. Most Danes are very gentle and loving and excellent with children. However not all Danes are gentle or good with kids so I would make very sure you have a gentle one before bringing it home.

I would definitely wait a whlile. That is a big dog and a little kid. Why
set yourself up for problems.

We currently have a deaf great dane and love it. Both my boys at the time we got our Dane were 13 and 8. Though if I had come across a dane when they were younger we would have still gotten one. I have had a few friends who had toddlers when they got their danes. And I will say a fast growing dane puppy and toddlers can make for many bruises,bumps and falls. But I haven't seen major injuries with the mix. I have seen that adult danes tend to be more careful around toddlers. Though toddlers with any type of dog can lead to falls,bumps and bruises. You just have to be watchful just like with any dog.

we have a great pyrenees which is about the same size but are a little heavier mine is 150 pounds - but they don't have the health probs and they live a normal life span - great danes are also wonderful. big dogs are usually great around kids, mine has knocked over my daughter once by accident, we have had ours since our daughter was a baby.
we keep our outdoors, but he comes in from time to time, its just like having another person in the house!

i love danes too...."someday"....lol. good luck and enjoy! we just got our first family dog...a lil 30 lb mix lol....well...baby steps!

They are big and sweet and wonderful. But they can have serious health issues and they don't live very long.
oh and big dog = big poop...

YMMV
LBC

As far as the breed of dog, i'd MUCH rather have a Great Dane around a small child than a smaller more hyper dog like a lab or even a nippy poodle... in general, Dane's are much calmer and more laid back. I'm a vet tech and used to work in a boarding/grooming kennel, so i have experience with many breeds and LOVE the Great Danes, just about every one i've ever met has been a very sweet, gentle dog.

That being said, as far as age goes, my husband and i decided we need to wait until potty training is over before investing in a new puppy! Our twins are only 5 months old, so we've got a while and my husband is eager, but realistically we know a puppy wouldn't easily fit into our lifestyle yet!

*As a side note, after reading your "So what happened?"... just keep in mind you'll never have the "dream dog"... they each have their own personalities... just something to remember when the dog isn't always the "canine you dream of" :)

Its a very personal choice! only you know what you can handle! Good luck and enjoy the dog whenever you get him/her!!

I am not a dog person but based on my son's behavior at 2 and now at 4 I would wait a little longer. Probably next summer would be better. I wouldn't not trust a child under 3 around a young, untrained animal like a puppy or kitten. Puppies are unpredictable as are all animals to some extent. Your son has to be old enough to understand not to harass the dog and I think 2.5 or 3 would be a minimum for that level of understanding and following rules. I was bitten/nipped by a relative's labrador retriever at age 3. The relative thought I was bothering the dog but that is expected from a child that young. They don't know better and need supervision. You can't supervise 24/7. I would also get you son used to dogs a bit, maybe letting him play with a friend's dog under supervision.

My son is very active and still struggling to be gentle with out cat (who is 20 and blind, he was okay when she was healthier). He would be fine with a healthy adult dog or cat I think. You may have fewer issues if your son has a calmer temperment. My 16 month old daughter is able to be gentle with the cat when supervised already. Keep in mind I have a small, declawed elderly cat that sleeps 20 hours a day and is rarely aggressive.

Funny you should ask! I had 2 Danes when my children were very small. In fact, I believe with the first one my son was 18 months when we got him and I was still pregnant with my daughter. And with the second one, they must have been 5 or 6, in that age range. It's been a long time since they were young, lol.

Both dogs were very mild tempered and the children could do just about anything to them, but I was always cautious as you should always be with young children and dogs. But they were great dogs, and tolerated anything the kids did to them. They both loved the kids and played with them all the time. They are so big and goofy and are totally unaware of their own size, so it's pretty funny to watch them.

Just be sure you see a health certificate from the breeder. Danes have a lot of problems with their hips because of their size. They may be prone to bloat too, I would read up on that if I were you. I had never heard of bloat back then (30 years ago), so I can't tell you if they are one of the breeds that tend to have problems with it. I think they may be because of their size.

But they are great dogs, they really are. I had a black and a blue and the blue was absolutely gorgeous. Ohhhh, bringing back memories....

Great Danes are wonderful dogs! I got a large female from a rescue named Queen when my daugher wasn't quite two. She was calm and loving toward Veronica. The amazing thing was she would let Veronica "walk" her! I could give the leash to Veronica and that do did not pull or anything! She was like a canine mommie to her. If I had the property for a Dane to run, I would have another in an instant!