I'd say to go with the Great Dane. If your boyfriend is uncomfortable dealing with Bully breeds, or headstrong (and large) dogs, then a Corso probably wouldn't be the best addition to your household.

That being said, please make sure to do TONS of research on Danes. I know you said your boyfriend owned some before, so hopefully he's aware of the ins and outs of the breed, but many people (even some people who own them) really don't understand how much care they need.

If you got a Dane, I'd worry about the different exercise requirements your two dogs would have. A Dane puppy can't be heavily run or excessively exercised until AT LEAST 18 months of age, due to the fact that they can easily damage their underdeveloped bones and joints. If your Pit needs an hour of exercise every day, but your Dane puppy can't stand that much, then it's going to be somewhat more troublesome to make sure both dogs are getting what they need.

Also, you say the Pit female is dominant - in what way? Will she tolerate a puppy in your home?

 

Thanks for the response and info. It's not that my boyfriend's uncomfortable with bully breeds, more that he's not very experienced with them, and tends to let dogs push him around a bit. It is one of my concerns with adding another bully to the house.

I was aware that Danes take longer to mentally mature, but I was not aware of their fragility as puppies. The pit (Doyle, stole her name for this forum) does not require an hour of heavy exercise every day, she does well with a daily long walk. However, we do enjoy hiking, and part of wanting a large breed is so that it can join us and carry its own pack. We have been training ourselves and the pit to do longer hikes, so this may be a concern.

Doyle has lived with dogs in the past, both large and small breeds, and has done well with them. I say she is dominant because that is the way she acts towards humans. She can be very pushy and stubborn. She was my boyfriend's dog and he had her for years before I came into the picture. In the last six months since I moved in and started working with her, she's gotten much better. While I do not fear aggression towards her, I want to make this choice carefully and attempt for as smooth a transition as possible.

 

Ah, ok. Yeah, Danes are not good hiking dogs, and should never be forced to carry a heavy weight on their back. They're good for a 30 minute walk twice a day, then laying on the couch for the rest of the day. Also, hiking with a Dane wouldn't be possible until they were nearly two, due to their slow development.

The problem is that with ANY large breed, hikes, carrying packs, etc, aren't really recommended until around two years of age. Corsos grow until they're about a year and a half or two as well, just like Danes.

Honestly, if you want a dog to go on long hikes and carry its own pack, a Great Dane is not for you. If you were to get a Corso as a puppy, he couldn't hike with you until around 2 years old either, though he could carry a pack as an adult dog. ANY giant breed (over 120 lbs) is going to pose these same problems.

May I ask why you want a "giant" breed dog as a hiking buddy? Medium sized breeds, like the Pit you have now, are perfect for hikes, whereas giant breeds are going to tire much faster.

 

I definitely think you should give both of these breeds a LOT of thought before making a final decision. With the kind of lifestyle you have described so far, you're going to be waiting quite a while before being able to do the things you want to do with this new dog because neither breed can be over exercised At ALL and I don't just mean hiking, before the age of two at the earliest.

And I agree with dmickle on the comment that even some people who have owned or DO own Great Danes, have very little true info on the specific needs of this breed. I see it literally everyday in GD forums and groups that I frequent, and spend a lot of time helping out people who have owned the breed for years, yet don't know what they should. Neither of these breeds should be taken lightly, by any owner. For differing reasons.

I will say a few things bother me based on what you mentioned. The fact that the new dog will be "primarily yours". While this is a common thing, it can also become a disaster in a household with multiple dogs.Especially dogs that have "dominant" personalities or whom are prone to dog aggression issues. Splitting up owners and dogs in a household can cause severe issues with the dogs themselves. Fights, jealousy, possessiveness, and neither of these three breeds are ones you want to mess with when it comes to fights. You have two breeds here who will bond EXTREMELY close to their owners. I know what it's like to have a one person dog, and let me tell ya, as much as I love and adore my relationship with Luke, if I were to all of the sudden decide to move in with my partner, and have him share me for more than a few days a week, I'd have one hell of a time working with him to keep him from acting out. And he loves my gf.

As for the Corsos...while they are an AWESOME breed, they take a VERY special owner, especially if you happen to have one with issues. These are not dogs to be fooled with. A Corso in the wrong hands isn't just a danger to other dogs, it can and sometimes is, a danger to people as well. As a mastiff should be, (and they have it more so than some of the other mastiff's like the English mastiff for instance) they are very leery of strangers, even with extensive socialization. They can be and often times are very dog aggressive

. I love the mastiff's...they are and always have been my breed of choice, but I know not everyone can handle them, so be very sure you know what you're getting into. Also be aware that a lot of corso lines are riddled with health issues....just as many GD's are. So finding a truly reputable breeder who does all the right genetic testing is a must, not to mention temperments are a huge deal. I'm not trying to dissuade you from either breed, I'm sorry if it comes across that way...I am just very honest when it comes to dogs and I don't believe in making any breed out to be all rainbows and butterflies...because in the end the dog suffers when the person ends up with a dog totally different than that cookie cutter image they were expecting.

Something else to think about. When you buy your house and have it ensured, make sure your insurance company doesn't have breed bans included. A lot of insurance companies won't touch you with a ten foot pole if you have a bully breed, mastiff, even some gsd's.

 

i agree with everything here.

 

Same here, I too agree. I own a Great Dane and I know quite a bit about the breed, Corso's not so much.
Do your homework. Join breed specific forums and learn as much as you can before you get one. I'm glad I learned what I did before I got one and researched the breed for almost 2 years.
Great Danes are not for everyone even though they have this 'gentle giant' reputation.
They are a lot of dog and the care of a great dane is very different than a lot of breeds.

 

I love Great Danes but I know hardly nothing about them - are they excitable like other puppies are? What if they pull and stuff, how do you even begin to handle a dog that big that pulls? I don't think I could ever own one - but I really love and admire them, all the Danes I've met have been so so sweet.

Labs & Shepherds make great hiking partners!

 

The trick with a dane is teaching proper manners from day one. Not waiting until they are big enough to become unruly and unmanageable, which by the way is one of the big common mistakes new dane owners often make with their pups. Even knowing how fast they grow, how big they will end up, it's not the same as actually watching it happen right before your eyes. And I'm talking, the next morning you wake up and it's a differentn dog almost lol. They grow THAT fast. Before you know it, you have a dog that is the size of a lab, who is still very much a BABY, and has no manners. What you can get away with for a while in smaller breeds (as they have more time to grow and you have more time to come to grips with the fact that they're maturing) you cannot and will not get away with in a dane.

To answer your question: It depends on the dog. Luke, was a very low key boy. I always say it, I got extremely lucky with him as a pup. I didn't suffer with some of the issues my other GD friends did with their pups...in fact I often got friendly flak for how easy Luke really was lol. He never chewed, never nipped, never barked, never jumped. I know many dane pups who are quiet a handful, willful, stubborn, saucy, determined to get their way. While still usually not a high energy breed in itself, there are still those pups who are go go go..."I wanna get in to everything, I want to play NOW!" You've got a pup, who at five months is usually tall enough to totally swipe whatever they want off a counter top or stove. A pup who if they do jump, can knock down a grown man even if he's bracing himself, not to mention your entire hand will fit into their mouths at four months old . So yes...teaching manners and proper behavior is soooo important for this breed. They're just too darn big and powerful to neglect that.
It's hard to see them as puppies when they are looking you in the face while on all fours, but they ARE, until at earliest, the age of two. Some lines don't mature mentally until well into their third year. They have the same stages of mental and physical growth as a human kid and teenager. And oh when they hit that teenage stage, it can seem like the perfect pup who knew it all, all of the sudden has amnesia and doesn't remember a thing they've been taught. This is one of the reasons obediance classes, and NOT just beginners or kindergarten ones are so highly recommended for new dane owners. Even those experienced in training dogs of other breeds. Because at the end of the day, what works for most dogs may not and often times does not work for this breed. They truly are unique, and unless you live with one, and have one literally up your butt and around the corner 24/7 for a while, it's hard to comprehend just how unique they are.

 

Jenn is right, training is key. Really training is key with all breeds but it's Especailly important in a large breed dog. Alex started training at 10 weeks. We did puppy kindergarden, basic obedience, advanced obedience, personal training and therapy training. He'll be 6 this year and still to this day we work on training methods. He's a very well mannered dog and very obedient. He does wonderful on the lead and is so gentle with my 3 children, ages 11, 3 and 3 months. Training is the key and you have to be consistent.