Hey, my husband and i just bought a Merle colored great dane. He is 5 weeks old now. We took him to petsmart with us to pick out some toys and stuff yesterday and we were talking to the cashier, and she said that great danes that are that color and have blue eyes are usually deaf or blind. I've heard that, but i didnt think that he was.

But the more and more i play with him and talk to him, i get the thought in the back of my mind, that maybe he is..

I will tell you a little bit about him:

When he is sleeping i try and get his attention and he only hears me when i am really close to him. So im not sure if its because he can hear the vibration of my voice or if his ears arent fully developed or what not..

When we open and shut the door, he notices..but still, not sure if it's because of the vibrations..

His squeaky toys get his attention only sometimes..not all the time

He is only 5 weeks old so i dont know..

We have him an appointment with the vet, but the only daye thay can get him in, is in two weeks. So i thought i would just write on here and ask people on here.

He is light grey and white with dark grey splotches..

Also i was wondering, i read on the internet that you shouldnt breed them because their babies will be either deaf or blind..

i just dont know what to do..i ordered some books online but they wont be here for a while, and everything i read on the internet tells me different things..so i dontknow what do believe.

So if anyone on here has a great dane or a dog that is deaf, let me know what i can do.

Thank you so much!!

Breeding merle-colored danes can result in deaf and blind puppies. More importantly, you don't seem to have done much research before getting this dog, so you shouldn't be thinking of breeding him. Do you know what health problems are in his line? Genetic defects that might show up in the pups? How are his hips? How does he fall short of the breed standard? (Here's a hint... merle is not an AKC-accepted color for showing.) What traits does the need to have to off-set the faults in your male? If you can't answer those questions, do not breed your dog.

Breeding merle-colored danes can result in deaf and blind puppies. More importantly, you don't seem to have done much research before getting this dog, so you shouldn't be thinking of breeding him. Do you know what health problems are in his line? Genetic defects that might show up in the pups? How are his hips? How does he fall short of the breed standard? (Here's a hint... merle is not an AKC-accepted color for showing.) What traits does the need to have to off-set the faults in your male? If you can't answer those questions, do not breed your dog.

Oh no, we don't want to breed him. I just wanted to ask about it.

Hi, I am sure the vet will be able to help you find answers to the health of your new pup. I am concerned about the b"breeder" you got the pup from. 5 weeks is TOO YOUNG to be taken from the mother. I am very curious as to why the breeder allowed it?

The more white on a merle-colored dog,especially on the head, the more risk of eye and ear problems.
Try to find something that makes a loud noise without causing vibrations--can you or one of your friends whistle really loud? A startle response is a good indication that he has some degree of hearing. He could be deaf in only one ear, which might show up as a startle response but inability to figure out the direction the sound came from.
The only way to know for sure what degree of hearing loss is for a specialist to perform a BAER test that measures brain waves in response to sound.

Hi, I am sure the vet will be able to help you find answers to the health of your new pup. I am concerned about the b"breeder" you got the pup from. 5 weeks is TOO YOUNG to be taken from the mother. I am very curious as to why the breeder allowed it?


That's what I was thinking.. all she said was they are eating solid food so they are ready to go. Then I asked her if it was too early because they usually get set free at about 8 right? All she told me was that if they are eating solid food then they are good to go.. it was a bit weird, but I went and got him anyway.

We've been working with him and we think he is deaf in only one ear. Because like someone responded, his ears do move when we whistle, but he struggles to find out where it's coming from.

He is doing better but we will see really what's up when we go to the vet this week.

Thanks so much for all your help! :)

-Jaimie, Tyler, and Titan