Here Comes Tank

[lilli_]

This Is Tank. He's A Great Dane. He Also Is Turning 8 Months In A Few Weeks. He Is A Big Pain And Thinks Im His Play Mate Because I Let Him Get Away With Stuff When He Was A Baby. I Hope This Works I Just Bought Him A Clicker From Pet Smart. Wish Tank & I Luck !!

 

[southerngirl]

Welcome. Good luck with training Tank. If you have any questions just ask.

 

[lilli_]

Okay Thank You

 

[brody_smom]

Welcome. Tank is a great name, very appropriate. Too bad you let so much time go by before taking his training seriously. Not something you want to do with a dog of that size. There was an owner of several GDs on the board a while ago, but I haven't seen her around lately. Her user name is "tylerthegiant". You can search her posts or even send her a private message.

 

[MaryK]

Hi and Welcome Tank Ooops you forgot the old rule "Start as you mean to continue" - in other words, don't let puppies get away with inappropriate behavior

Not to fret. With patience, loads of patience, plus your clicker and Positive Reinforcement training you'll soon have Tank behaving like an Angel

Any specific problems, don't hesitate to start a new thread, we're only to happy to help you.

Yes, there is another GD around, Brody's Mom, but I haven't seen on her online for a while either.

 

[southerngirl]

Hi, how is Tank doing. I have a pup I got after you joined she's about Tank's age, they are such a handful. How is clicker training going?

 

[running_dog]

What is Tank's colour called? It looks like merle but is that what is known as harlequin in great danes? I've heard that harlequins are supposed to be more of a handful than the other colours
BTW I love the name "Tank"

 

[Dlilly]

Welcome!! Love the name by the way!

 

[brody_smom]

What is Tank's colour called? It looks like merle but is that what is known as harlequin in great danes? I've heard that harlequins are supposed to be more of a handful than the other colours
BTW I love the name "Tank"

Harlequins are the black and white, I think. They kind of look like cows!

 

[running_dog]

Harlequins are the black and white, I think. They kind of look like cows!

White with black spots/patches and Tank is grey with black spots/patches, I looked them up and though they are classed as different colours apparently the genetics of harlequin colour/pattern is a modified merle. Similarly to the situation with merles if you breed two harlequins together they can produce deaf and blind pups.

 

[brody_smom]

White with black spots/patches and Tank is grey with black spots/patches, I looked them up and though they are classed as different colours apparently the genetics of harlequin colour/pattern is a modified merle. Similarly to the situation with merles if you breed two harlequins together they can produce deaf and blind pups.

This has been discussed on the forums before, with Sara I think, and maybe the owner of a double harlequin GD? It was quite a few months ago. Tanks coloring is quite unusual though, isn't it?

 

[brody_smom]

I think Tank would be classified as a silver or platinum merle. Not one of the six accepted by the AKC for showing, but beautiful nonetheless!

 

[running_dog]

I love Tank's colouring
I was interested in the merle being linked with harlequin because someone I knew with a harlequin said they were supposed to be a bit more lively. Whether that is truly the case for either merle or harlequin I don't know.

 

[brody_smom]

I love Tank's colouring
I was interested in the merle being linked with harlequin because someone I knew with a harlequin said they were supposed to be a bit more lively. Whether that is truly the case for either merle or harlequin I don't know.

I would be interested to know generally if the gene for coat color was in any way connected to the gene that determines liveliness! Like for BCs or Aussies, are tricolors different than black and white or red or merles? Is the coat length any indication of personality? You wouldn't think that these externals would be indicators of temperament, but you never know!

 

[running_dog]

I would be interested to know generally if the gene for coat color was in any way connected to the gene that determines liveliness! Like for BCs or Aussies, are tricolors different than black and white or red or merles? Is the coat length any indication of personality? You wouldn't think that these externals would be indicators of temperament, but you never know!

I've heard brown standard poodles and chocolate labradors are a bit more goofy than the other colours. I don't know if it is true but I don't see why it shouldn't be. Especially when you think that "new" colour variations were probably bred from a small gene pool within a small gene pool. Over time I think this effect would be diluted.

A cow farmer once told us BC's for working with cattle needed to have more black than white because blacker BCs were harder dogs. Again I've no idea if it is true, I've seen almost white BC's working sheep but I don't often see them with cattle so I don't know. Unlike the poodles/labradors scenario this would not be to do with small gene pool it would be directly colour related if it were true.

 

[brody_smom]

I've heard brown standard poodles and chocolate labradors are a bit more goofy than the other colours. I don't know if it is true but I don't see why it shouldn't be. Especially when you think that "new" colour variations were probably bred from a small gene pool within a small gene pool. Over time I think this effect would be diluted.

A cow farmer once told us BC's for working with cattle needed to have more black than white because blacker BCs were harder dogs. Again I've no idea if it is true, I've seen almost white BC's working sheep but I don't often see them with cattle so I don't know. Unlike the poodles/labradors scenario this would not be to do with small gene pool it would be directly colour related if it were true.

Okay, this thread has officially gone way off topic, but since the OP hasn't been here since January, I'll keep running with it. Back when I was researching Border Collies about a year ago, I ran across a thread on a BC forum talking about the "signs" of a smart Border Collie. They listed things like how much black was on the roof of the mouth, how pointy their "smart bump" was (on the top of the head), whether there were only 3 whiskers under their chin, and so on. Eventually starts to sound a lot like old wives tales. I don't know if coat color is similar to skin color in how it is inherited, but in people it's pretty safe to say you can't tell how smart/strong/musical/goofy someone is by the color of their skin. As for the farmer's idea, it sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If he believes it to be true, he would probably never put an almost all white dog in with the cows.

 

[running_dog]

Eventually starts to sound a lot like old wives tales. I don't know if coat color is similar to skin color in how it is inherited, but in people it's pretty safe to say you can't tell how smart/strong/musical/goofy someone is by the color of their skin.

Coat colour is not similar to skin colour in the sense you mean. In humans we do have certain reputations associated with particular hair colours - though again I'm not saying they are actually true or not. I believe there has been a study which suggests people with a particular hair colour can have a higher pain threshold. In cats we sometimes talk about "naughty torties" - that doesn't mean that all tortoiseshells are wild just that maybe there might be a higher proportion of lively cats who wear a tortoishell coat than other colours, maybe it is true, maybe not.

As for the farmer's idea, it sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If he believes it to be true, he would probably never put an almost all white dog in with the cows.

Possibly, though he has had more working cattle dogs than either of us so I'm not going to insult his intelligence. Even supposing it is no longer true perhaps there was a dog that tended to sire white pups that were a bit wimpish, it could then have a link to a particular bloodline. Another idea I have is that merle merle crosses can produce very white pups which have a higher incidence of deafness and/or blindness and maybe the theory is somehow linked to that. Interestingly there is no traditional discrimination against the thick maned white headed collies (the farmer had one) which is controlled by a totally different gene to the rest of the body. To me that suggests there has in the past been some genetic foundation for this idea. There is a website with more info on border collie genetics and merle border collies which I found quite interesting.

I don't find it impossible that there are correlations between coat colour and character traits. They would just be very complex to identify and also difficult to figure out whether they were bloodlines or widespread. They would evidence as frequencies rather than certainties - like white dogs are more likely to be deaf but most are not.

 

[southerngirl]

I just wanted to jump in and say that the color is not all that uncommon. My neighbor used to breed Great Danes and she had a few puppies of the same coloring as Tank. I recall one of them was crazy hyper. I think the mom was harlequin.