Dog breed combos are irellevant as long as they can coexist peacefully. Leash training a 3 year old dog can take a little longer than a puppy, but it can still be done in a couple weeks of daily walks. I highly recommend the zeni collar or gel diffuser for the first weeks/months at home if you can afford them.
this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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Any dog to me is fine with time as far as how they act but size. Ooof. I basically look at them and say. If this dog gets into the upper teens how old will I be and will I be able to lift them to get them to the vet.
I'd be able to lift him, but yes I did also think of that..
not lift him now. lift him in somewhere between 10 and 20 years depending how lucky you are. This becomes more a thing in peoples 40's
Ye I get that.
With how big he is I'm not sure he'd make it past 8...but maybe he's more of a mutt and would have a better chance
I like to think best case. Like I assume my goldens would reach upper teens.
i'd advise going in with the expectation of his anxiety never getting better. of course in the best case scenario, he wouldn't be anxious at all after settling into his new home & with your dog whom he gets along with, but there's also the possibility of him having some lifelong behavioural issues from that anxiety.
if you're prepared for the possibility of that, and can handle a dog who can pull strongly on a lead, i don't see why you couldn't give him his forever home!
Yeah good point. I'm not too concerned with it. our previous dog had anxiety too and it wasn't too big a deal. He wasn't as big though. I think if he's still there in a week we will get him. I would just hate for it not to work out and have to take him back.
What's the size of your current dog? Have you owned XL dogs before? They can be great with some caveats.
Training especially recall and not pulling becomes a lot more important. Large dogs are more likely to get hip and knee issues-this can often result in surgery and the recovery of which will require you supporting much of their weight to go up or down stairs, if you are not strong enough to lift them or support them...
Toys arent really built for them and often dont last as long. They are big and thus need to eat more and often want more exercise/play. Shepherds are working dogs and thus need things to do especially if any of the brain came through the mix. They rarely do well kept in a crate for long periods.
Current dog is 70 lbs golden. He has a ton of energy.
We are rarely gone from home, i guess my biggest concern would be when we do take vacations (3 ish times a year, maybe for 4 days a time) and taking him to a dog daycare may traumatize the poor guy :( but I feel like that's going to be a thing no matter who adopts him..
We have a big yard so he can run and play a lot
I think this sounds ok then as long as you are comfortable with being able to prevent his pulling from being successful while you train. I should note that a 70lb dog tail is at a different height and hits with different force and what each dog would consider a tight space is also different.
My advice for doggy daycare would be to slowly ramp up time there. So do half days 1-2x a week for a couple weeks then full days same thing before any overnights. Similar with leaving alone at home. Of course thats the ideal but things happen. He'd at least have his friend of your other dog that should help his anxiety. Hopefully he doesn't have separation anxiety.
I presume you know the other things of giving them something that smells like their people when boarding them.
Yeah that is a good plan. We did the same with our current dog as far as leaving him home alone.