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I found a male Great Dane puppy for free who is deff.?

I found online a male White Great Dane puppy who is deff. The breeder said I can have him for free. I would like to know if I should take him and give him a chance, or not. I dont want to take the chance of not taking him and the breeder putting him to sleep. Should I adopt him and help him. If so, can I have some information from other Great Dane dane owners whos dog is deff. Are they hard to train, are they loving dogs. Please Help. =) Thank You. I have dogs of my own, this isnt my first dog. i have big dog experience also. I have owned dogs in the past.

Public Comments

1. I like the expression that has been become common here, "There is no such thing as a free dog." You need to know that when a dog comes with special needs, they require much more time and affection. The severity of the need depends on how much time you need to spend with him. You will have to put a lot of time into training, and may even have to put forth the extra dollar to ensure he has no other problems and that he can get the proper training he'll need to communicate with you.
2. You will need to put in a lot of effort and time teaching this puppy how to communicate with you via dog sign language. Deaf albino dogs come with health problems. You are going to be in and out of the vets spending a lot of money. The final decision rests on you.No one here can make that decision for you.
3. When I was teaching agility, a dog came who was completely deaf. They can be very sweet and loving, but they are also a lot of work. Yo have to cater to their sight and smell like you would with hearing. I've found it's hard to praise a deaf dog without giving it treats, but if you give it the thumbs up everytime you give it a treat, it progresses in the same way clicker training does. Overall, for a first dog I wouldn't exactly reccomend it, but it's not unmanageable. Sometimes it's frustrating, thouigh, because they can't tell your tone of voice. Asfor great danes, I don't know a whole lot about them, but all of the ones I've met have been very sweet.
4. take him if you are willing to care for him. it wont be supper hard to train. like if you want to teach him to sit: make him look at you, push his butt down and create a hand signal (such as a solid fist) and then give him a treat. keep repeating with the same hand signal and soon he will see that signal and know to sit (we did this with my dog even though she isnt deaf. ive used it on deaf dogs too though) if you want to teach him to lay down: have him looking at you and then put his butt down and front legs out so he is laying. when you do that have a hand signal (such as a flat hand moving towards the ground) and then reward him. great danes are very loving dogs. i knew a great dane who loved to just sit in your lap and be snuggled! biggest baby ever!
5. As someone who's looking at adopting a deaf great dane, they are a lot of work. They are loving, and they are as easy to train as their personality permits. But you have to remember, they're deaf. If you let them off a leash, you need a recall, because they can't hear you. You need to figure out different hand signals that can be seen far away, you need to train them to look at you as often as they can, etc... They are a LOT of work! Please don't get one just to try to save it- it will most likely end up in an animal shelter! EDIT: I also want to add that a lot of deaf danes later get vision problems. Are you financially able to take care of a blind and deaf dog for 10-12 years? (remember, for a combination of blind and deaf, plus the added emergency bills for a dog that can't see, and therefore gets injured easier, plus a breed that is prone to hip dysplasia (sp?) you'll need to budget for $1000+ a year). Are you patient enough to train a blind and deaf dog? Are you willing/able to put in the time and effort to train a blind and deaf dog?
6. Deaf Danes can be just as loving as any other Dane. That being said, they do create some challenges as far as training is concerned. You'll have to teach the dog to look at you almost all the time; you'll have to teach him hand signals instead of using voice commands or clicker training techniques. It's not impossible, but also not for the faint of heart- it takes alot of persistence & alot of patience. I don't know if this would be your first dog or not, if so I wouldn't recommend keeping him. You could, however, get in touch with your local Dane rescue group & tell them about him, or take him from the breeder yourself then hand him over to the rescue. Some breeders don't like to hand their pups over to rescue b/c some rescues may not speak very highly of them. This is what I'd recommend. It's definitely not a decision to be made on a whim- it'll take a life long commitment on your part. Just remember, a deaf puppy will probably take twice as long to housebreak as a hearing puppy. If you do decide to keep him you may want to check out www.dogwise.com- there are many training books available & I'm sure you'd be able to find something on training deaf dogs. HTH