I got Earnest, my Lab/Great Dane mix, from a BYB who had a pair of Labs he intended to breed, but his Dane knew the female was in heat before anyone else. I'd been looking to adopt an older/adolescent Dane, but I didn't have a fence, and the Dane rescue in my area is really picky, even though I have a lifetime career in the animal field, worked in rescue for some time, and am a former Animal Control officer I didn't fit their criteria for a "good home". So when I saw the advertisement for these pups I went "just to look". The man had a really long driveway, with a parking area about halfway to the house. The dogs were in a pen behind the house. I got out of my car and started walking down the driveway when a little blue streak squirted out under the gate and came running. Big ears flapping, little legs churning, just running for alll he was worth. When he got to me he sat, pretty as you please, with his tail going a mile a minute and said "Hi mom, I knew you'd come and get me soon." That was it, to this day I couldn't tell you what the other pups looked like, except they were black.
Phyfe, our St. Bernard/Mastiff mix, came to us from freecycle. my son wanted a dog of his own, so I promised to look. Just before Christmas this year I saw an ad that said "Great Dane Golden Retriever Mix. Be aware that this is a VERY BIG dog. Moving, must be gone by Saturday A.M." This was on Thursday evening. I contacted his family, and went down in a rainstorm on Friday evening ( he was 2hrs. away). When I got there here was this poor dog, in an almost empty house, so confused as to what happened to the furniture and where his people were all the time. It was immediately obvious he's not Dane/Golden and when I asked, the man said that 6 months before when he got him from the Humane Society they said St. Bernard/Mastiff, but he was afraid to put that in the ad because no one would want him. He was too thin, they'd been feeding him Ol' Roy, and he was dirty from living outside. My son fell in love- and although I didn't get that feeling, my son did, so Phyfe came home with us. He has turned out to be a wonderful, patient, loving dog. We're very active with a group of Lab owners, and everytime we go on a dog outing, he runs and plays with the other dogs, and every now and then comes and leans on me and smiles, as if to telll me how much he appreciates his new life.