Did you Hear That?

Meet Busa

Busa is our new addition to the family. He is an 8-month-old Great Dane/German Shepherd mix we adopted from a young family who was unable to give him much of their time. He is neutered and up to date on his immunizations, and was very well cared for. The family adopted him as a baby from an accidental breeding of a female Great Dane with a nearby male German Shepherd, so he has known only one family in his life so far. He is 30" at the shoulder and weighs only 82 pounds, so he's pretty thin and lanky. He is very playful, but not too much so, and seems to have no problem issues that we need to address. 

He is named after the Hayabusa  motorcycle, the fastest production bike in the world, and though we can't really relate to this affinity of his previous owner, he responds to it and it is the only name he's ever known. When we rescued Sirius he was picked up as a stray, so nobody had any idea what his name might have been, and in that case you can freely choose something that suits you, but since we have had to call Busa and get his attention right away, it seemed simplest to use his name. We often call him Boo for short, and he answers to that as well.
Did you notice the ears? I sure did, and that's what got my attention when I was browsing through Craig's List looking for ads for aquariums and aquarium fish, which I then post on my fish club forum. We have quite a few Hampton Roads members, and a sister club there, so I usually check the Norfolk CL page, and there was Busa. I have experience with Great Dane mixes (our Sirius is half Great Dane and half Rottweiler) so he really caught my eye, and I could not stop laughing at his ears. I kept returning to his page, and finally contacted the owners.
I didn't really think it would come to anything, Craig's List being Craig's List, with all the crazy people who lie and try to rob you, trick you into paying for something you don't get, or, common in the pet section, "flip" animals for profit. People will find free dogs, then repost them for a fee of $300 and higher, like a part time job. You really have to be on your toes to use Craig's List, and I was not optimistic. I figured they'd get a lot of responses, with his unique looks, and me being 90 minutes away from Norfolk would put me at the bottom of the list. I also assumed there'd be a big fee that would take me out of the running.
However, none of these things turned out to be the case. This is a young couple who have a baby and demanding jobs, so they are away a lot, and the babysitter doesn't like big dogs so Busa was crated more than they wanted. They were not interested in financial gain, and even gave us his crate. They simply wanted him to go to a home where he would not have to be locked up constantly and would be played with and loved. I guess they liked my responses and we set up a meeting in Newport News at a park.
We liked his energy right away. He is not skittish or nervous, but curious and active, though a little aloof at first. He doesn't rush over and love all over you, in other words, and I kind of liked that about him. I know plenty of dogs that jump up on you and lick you when they see you, and though I do, of course, want my pet to like me and seek attention, I don't want to be accosted. The couple was surprised that he didn't bark or chuff at us a little when he got out of the car, because usually he is a little hesitant when he sees new people, but he just accepted us right away, though he was not overly demonstrative. We hung out a while, talking, and they showed us his baby pictures and pictures of him with other dogs and their baby.
We wound up taking him home, and introduced him to our Dane, Sirius. Sirius is not exactly thrilled, let's say, but there have been no issues and no fighting. They are cordial. I thought he'd like Busa a lot, since they both have the same type of energy, and, in fact, Busa reminds me of Sirius when we first got him, since he was also about 9 months old at the time. Busa is very "daney" and so is Sirius. In fact, when we first got Sirius our vet thought he was pure Dane, though the rescue, Mid Atlantic Great Dane Rescue, was not sure.
So, now we're going on the third day of ownership, and it is going well. He is very well behaved and eager to please, is very well potty trained and does not guard food or toys. He doesn't get in the trash or chew your shoes, and he doesn't get up on the furniture, though the owners said he would. He chews the heavy sterilized bones we have lying around, and plays tug with his rope. He needs training for the basics, like sit and stay and such, but he's amenable and a happy-go-lucky type dog for the most part. He's very attached to his people, and is taking to our family quite well. He plays fetch as long as you're willing to throw the ball, but he's not obsessed with his ball like some fetching dogs can be. We love that he fetches, since we have never had a dog that was willing to retrieve a ball more than once.
We have taken him out every day so far, going to the pet store and the park, and are trying to keep him socialized, since we're not entirely sure how much exposure he has had. He seems pretty well socialized but he got anxious when we went to PetCo and there were rows of crates with barking rescue dogs, and a bit of chaos. We hung out a bit until he relaxed. We'll start basic obedience classes next week, I hope - we don't want to wait on that, but get him going with training right away. We didn't do that with Sirius because, like Busa, he was already trained in many ways and we felt like he was good to go, and now he has some impulse control and overexcitement issues that we're dealing with, almost six years later. We wish we'd have taken Sirius to class when we first got him, like we have done with our very young pups.
The only problem we've got right now is that he's not interested in eating much, but we've put a lot on him with the move to a new home and taking him all over the place this weekend. He needs to get settled into a routine, and I think this week we'll accomplish that, since my husband and I will be working every day, and the schedule of morning and evening walks with the predictable timetable will help him. Maybe we should have let him settle in before dragging him around town, but I feel strongly that exposure to many social situations is important at this age. I want him to be accustomed to riding in the car and going here and there, and seeing all types of people, young to old, of all races and wearing hats, carrying umbrellas, in wheelchairs, strollers, bikes and skateboards. I'm sure he'll start eating soon, but he's so skinny we are anxious for him to chow down.
Danes develop somewhat late so it is not unusual for young ones to be thin and lanky and get mistaken for greyhounds, as I've been told by a friend who owns and shows Great Danes. She thinks he'll fill out just fine in no time between now and age 2. However, being lean and fit is of great importance to large and giant breeds, since it is easier on their joints as they grow.
He was apparently neutered at around 3 months of age, which I think is way too early, but the owner said his vet recommended it at the time. I much prefer to wait until the dog is 18 months old or so, giving them time to physically mature. Even 6 months would have been better, but what's done is done, and that is one less thing I'll need to worry about.
So, I'll bring him in to my vet for a general checkup and be sure there are no health issues, but he doesn't need any vaccinations until he turns 1 year of age at the end of October.
Today I took him along for my morning walk and he did very well, after we worked on leash training a bit yesterday. By the end of the walk he had greatly improved. He wants to do what you want him to do, and all you have to do is get him to understand what that is. His only leash experience has been on a Flexi leash, so he could range all around you while you walked. He automatically expects to be able to do that on a short lead and that means he tends to pull, but simple corrections seem to work very well.
We have two dogs in the house again and we are all very happy. We have a nice dog that is still young and trainable, but we don't have to deal with housebreaking or chewing or anything like that, which is nice.
Oh, and he'd better not pretend he did't hear us when we call him, either!