Hay all
Im really torn about something that happend yesterday and i could really do with some good advice , constructive comments please !

A couple of days ago i decided phone about a 15 week old mearl  great dane puppy i had seen advertised on a internet site(yes i thought about it guys ) , i made the phone call and the woman said she had owned the puppy since it was 4 weeks old as his mother had been run over, so the breeder (someone she knows i suppose ) gave him to her to hand rear .

Apparently it all had been going ok untill acouple of weeks ago when he started to be "over protective" of her 15 month old son (who is one of 3 children she has ) ,she told me she has spoken to her trainer and dane rescue who both advised her to re/home as he was growling at her hushand when he went near the child . 

Well i thought about it and  said i was still willing to see him (i wasnt sure it was aggression or what it was) she said that she was seeing her sister that lives near me on saterday ,and that she could bring him to my home to meet my dog family ect , i said ok but that i would also like to see him in his own home to look at his behaviour there .

So yesterday there was the door ,and there stood the most pathetic little scrap i had ever seen ,he was underwaight and a nervouse wreck ,he had a broken toe they seemed not to know about and he was urinating and skaking like a leaf , i went and bent down near to him but  he just kept on growling and shaking i tryed just sitting by him tempting him with food for about 20 mins but he wasnt budgin .

I decided it might be worth walking with him ,he let me hold his lead but walked as far away as he could ,allthough he did touch my hand twice .

We got home and  he did go in ,growl at every body in the dining room and run back out to be near the woman that had come in with him (her husband had sat in the car the whole time )

She surgested  that she go and leave him with us for  an hour ,however i felt it might be asking to much from him so i said ide phone her and let her know today .

Now im really torn on what to do ,im wondering how much is true, and wondering if it might be worth getting him to get him the help he seems to need ,it diddnt seem like he had met people before and wasnt sure what to do about the situation he was in .
Anyway any advice will be great !
Could this be that hes had no acsess to other people /situations ,or could it be that the owners have been trying but hes poorly bread /damaged in some way ,im really not sure but something dosnt seem right .
Thanks all in advance
Oh forgot to say they were asking for nearly £500 for him not that that really the issue !
thanks once again  xxx

It's very difficult to advise on aggression issues over the internet, as a behaviourist really needs to see the body language of the animals and humans involved.  However, if this poor lad had a broken toe which wasn't treated, he may well have been in a lot of pain and assosiated the presence of humans with that pain :(  Can you ask your vet for a referral to a member of the UKRCB, APBC or APDT who has an interest in behaviour?

The decision has to be yours but I would point out that sob stories about "something happening to the mother" is a classic style of dealers.  The fact that she has dodged you visiting her home is another highly suspicious element to me.  It is possible that if you did visit you might find several puppies, of different breeds, there having "lost their mothers".  It is very sad for this puppy but by buying it you may be assisted a puppy dealing enterprise and this puppy's place with soon be "restocked".  I'm fairly sure you will at this point have not been given an address but personally what I would do is try my best to wheedle one out of her and then immediately report the puppy to the RSPCA on the basis of an unexplained and untreated injury and then leave it in their hands.

Put the puppy down and walk away!

You are being told a complete cock and bull story - if you buy this poor puppy it will only enable the wicked people who are telling you such a tale to breed the mother (resurrected ;) ) again.

There will be no health tests, nothing - you will only be giving yourself heartache.

Margot

Cant give you any advice but what a situation you must be torn about what to do,it must of been so distressing it does sound a bit fishy though,and asking that sort of money,you would think they would be glad it was going to be rehomed decently if they loved it and had to rehome it because of over protecting their son (did you say).GOOD LUCK!!! in whatever you decide.
Lynn

It sounds a bit suspicious, but it's also totally heart rending esp. if the dog is unsocialised as he seems to be, and to cap it all has a broken toe :(
I agree about the money angle, you would indeed think they would want a good home for him. Her story doesn't sound genuine, could you contact Dane rescues and see if she has indeed contacted then for advice?

I'd be inclined to take the dog but point out broken toe and vet bills and get them right down. At 13 weeks it may be that with the right socialisation and care he would come round; my best dog ever didn't come to my home until she was 15 weeks so it can be done, but it would be a risk.
If you did this I'd suggest getting behavioural help and support straight away for optimum possibilty of success.

Best wishes
Lindsay
x

Thankyou all for your advice so far ,i have been thinking about what to do non stop !

I have spoken to dane rescue and it dosnt look like she has spoken to anybody there ,but theres also dane line ect .
I have arranged to go see him tomorrow night ,i thought it best to see him at home and see how it goes from there .
They do seem to love him and i dont want to make them sound like horrable people but i wanted to give everybody the facts best i can .

They want him to meet people a few times and that does sound like a good idea ,i dont want to scare him .
So please wish me luck ,im still trying to decided what to do ,i would get him to a fantastic lady that works with behaviour asap and also i was thinking about a large crate in the dining room so that he can go there if he feels scared or worried .

I Just hope that im good enough to help him ,ive had a dane before but not like him and i just want him to be happy
Ill update you all again tomorrow night when i get home ,im going to try to get the price down a little bit ,if all goes well im going to have alot to pay for !!
Oh ps i forgot to mention that i have 3 children ,but then hes been living with children ,how do you all think he will cope??

If the puppy looks unhealthy and agressive i wouldn't take any chances buying a puppy with such a bad tempermant and health issue. Wait for the right breeder to come along you will be much happier, took me half a year to find a good breeder for my first ever golden , i've beenin contact with him ever since!

At that price I would be interested in seeing it's papers.  I would love to know where the breeder is in all this?  Also it could be that they bought pup from the breeder but seeing the state that it is in they are too embarrassed to get back to them about it?  Good luck.  I would not offer them any more than a resuce price for him, you should point out that he will need a lot of veterinary expense and a behaviourist which doesn't come cheap.

Thankyou all for you advice
Ive spoken to his owners again and again but im still not really sure whats going on.
They are now saying they havnt recived his paperwork from the KC,  also that they have spoken to his breeder who say, " all the people that take his pups say this but after alot of socialising (sp) there fine ,he apparently sees it as a good thing and says that all his dogs are gard dogs so there not used to being handled !!!
Ive decided to walk away ,i think his problems /issues might be more than i can deal with properly .
So to cut a long story short im back looking ,ive been offerd a couple to see by one of the rescues and i have two litters to see of blacks and blues, i want to help but theres something really not right here .
Thankyou all once again

I think you have to go with your instincts,if you feel its not right and you couldnt handle it probably best to walk away,how about as i think it was Cloeh said contact Daneline,if you are still worried,good luck with the others you are going to see one will be right for you,good on you for trying with the other one.

Firstly, Dane rescue wouldn't suggest she rehomes - they would either take the pup or not themselves.

Personally? I'd offer them £300 cash, take the pup - see how you get on and get in touch with lissi at Daneline - she will help you through this. Good luck.

Well good news everybody !!!!!!!!!
We got our baby boy home at 3.30 this morning !! We called a lady who had a litter of puppys ,she was a long way from us ,it took 8 hours but it was worth the trip.
We diddnt plan on it being so fast ,it just happend that they were ready to go to there new mums and dads .

Hes perfect !! his breeder has his mum dad and aunty and all are family pets ,they have been raised in her house all 11 of them !! and hes been very well handled by young and old alike since the day he was born ,all heath checks had been carred out and hes KC reg ect .

Hes even used to "going" in the garden and weve only had one little wee so far .
Hes from the apache line ,german breed apparently , he just seemed sooo right ,the people that had him were lovley and were very interesed to hear all about us and also to show us everything about there dogs ,they were great .
We have decided to call him Nelson (the kids chose !) and even the cats seem to like him so far .
We are soo pleased with him and i think im going to be on here all the time now asking questions ,so ill say sorry in advance !
Best get on his tea is due ,its like having a new baby !
Thanks all for your wonderfull advice and im sure ive made the best decision because of it.

Congratulations rubyckcs!! I bet Nelson is lovely!!! Would love to see pics if you have any!! :D Good luck with him and keep us posted!! :-)

Ill get the OH to get some on his phone when he gets home and try to put them on ,im soo excited !!

Congratulations on the new arrival. Looking forward to updates on his progress :) :) What colour is he?

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/paulgramsay/album?.dir=e38a&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Here he is guys ,hope it works ! thats me looking like ide had 2 hours sleep for some reson lol

What a sweetie. Can see why it was love at first sight for you :) He is adorable!

He's gorgeous how old is he?

You're going to have bags of fun!!

Hes just gone seven weeks

He's gorgeous :-)

Sorry more advice needed ive just been reading the post about the 15 week old dane eating her owners house ,i have got a 42 inc crate for nelson ,i have left him in there today for 15 min ( my kids had a swimming lesson) and he cryed for 2/3 mins but then stoped ,ive also put him in for a couple of mins today while i was pottering around to get him used to it ,can u all tell me what i ought to do at night ,i want him to be safe but i understant he cant hold it very long ?

Ohhhhh sweet he will grow and grow and grow and did i say grow? Its like they have been stuck in a growbag for 12months :D

Aaaawwww...he is SO gorgeous!!! He is gonna be a BIG boy!!! I remember when i first got my Mastiff, and how small i thought he was!!! Well....they grow VERY quickly. Before you know it, he will be HUGE!! Enjoy him!! :D :D :D :D

Sniff I can't get the link to work, help!

Aww Rubyckcs wot a sweetie and bundles of fun

Generally i have found danes highly adept at holding on and hating to disgrace themselves by soiling the bedding but that doesn't mean they can be left till late. ( I had one at 12weeks and one at 7weeks)
My routine was 11pm then bed then 6am toilet/feed/toilet back to bed until 8am.

Never done the crate method during the night i have took them to bed with me (on the floor!):D any movement during the night, straight out! and they were clean in a week.
Not advising this method as temptation is all too easy at 3am for a dog to be found cutting off your circulation to your legs all flat out asleep on the bed!!

My O/H satyed up on the couch with him last night ,he put him to bed about 2 am then he cryed so i got up to him at 6 am .
I think tonight im going to give him his tea at 10 (hes used to that )then put him to bed about 11 and see how he goes ,ill get up a couple of times and let him out ,just in case.
Hes used to breakfast of weetabix and milk at 7 then lunch of beta puppy and webbox and 12 then the same at 6, them weetabix again at bedtime 10 pm does this sound ok ,i got my last Dane at seven months so im havnt done this before .xxxxxxxxx

Hello hes lovely :-) Take no notice of me and my dane Ruby i am very inexperienced haveing not had a pup for such a long time and i mean a long time let alone having a giant pup :-)
Everyone gave me such fab advice yesterday and im off for a crate tomorow!
:-)

Oooo....he's gorgeous. I love danes as I grew up with one :)
Have fun :)

Hooray for crate training! Gee , i wonder if they even make adequite sized crates for a full grown dane! Get the wood and metal fencing out! :P

Yep, called bungalows I think :P  (with attic conversions of course)

Well so far hes in a 42 inc but ive got the O/H to start building him a huge run in the garden of one of our brick sheds so he can go out there in the future ,say if i pop for a couple of hours or something ,at least then he and my house will be safe  and ill keep sane !

well as sane as you can be with 3 girls under 8 ,two dogs ,a rabbit, two cats, a guinea pig ,fish ,a hampster, and two rats !!