Last few weeks

Judge I forgot to answere your question on crossing a dane. First thing when using a breed to cross to is the question of why? Why are you wanting to cross or what are you looking for. I will talk in terms of a good dane or Boar Hounds, not a junk dane. So why cross to a boar hound? You will be diluting his nose, his desire to hunt, doing nothing for his stamina or strength, and depending on what your crossing him to, your diluting his hardness or doing nothing to improve upon it. A boar hounds hardness is really only equaled by that of a pit. So what have we gained by diluting the boar hound? Virtually nothing if you are crossing it to a cur or pit. Ever tried to walk hunt behind a scent hound that put his nose to the ground and was just gone hunting, won't come back, goes a mile or 3 just where ever his nose takes him? Very difficult to hunt this style of catch dog and back him up by getting to him in a timely manner and certainly need big places for such a dog. You wouldn't turn a scent hound loose on 300 acres nor should you do the same with a boar hound and expect to stay on your permission.
Back to crossing to the boar hound. A big reason to cross one is to restore the structure and natural physic capabilities only a small percentage of the danes still have. Crossing them to something like a deerhound then breeding back to a boar hound for 3/4 dane 1/4 deerhound will improve the structure and confirmation and restore the agility and speed the great dane should have. Remember they are a gaze hound not a daniff. No loose jowls or dulap, not a big broad dog but a somewhat slinder heavy stag type athletic look to the structure and confirmation. Taking the cross back to the boarhound typically yeilds a dane style hunting dog but with improved agility and structure, if such is lacking. It is lacking in my own danes and I have indeed made the cross but I will also have and breed full danes but improve upon structure while trying to maintain the OCD pig dog mentality.
Another reason to cross is for a more practical dog like a good hairy dog. Your basically improving the hairy dog not the dane in this first cross. You will improve nose and hardness and range while keeping a lot of the desire to please and follow commands. For bay doggers to really comprehend what I'm referring to here, it would be like crossing a scent hound to a boarder collie. Your improving the hunt characteristics of the boarder collie if lacking but doing nothing but diluting the scent hounds hunt style and nose but achieving a good hunting dog that listens to you and is more pleasurable and practical to hunt in a lot of situations.
I've seen several dane pit crosses. All were pretty handy dogs being able to do just about anything from crop work to pretty good finder holder type, to really good lead ins. Very practical and handy dogs but you have really only created a larger more athletic pit more than anything here. Also the danes used in the making of such crosses I've seen were junk but the cross turned out pretty decent.
Another handy cross to make is for the crop dogger looking to improve upon the stag. A stag isn't really a 1 out hard dog and crossing it to a pit yeilds a smaller dog than desired. A stag is a danty dog not really powerful enough in the jaw structure to 1 out big boars even if it has the heart in rare cases. Crossing a stag to a good dane such as the boar hound will produce outstanding crop dogs far superior to the full stag. However we need to be crossing a good stag that is 100% ear to a good boar hound. If i was strickly a crop dogger I would make this cross, not to improve upon the dane but to improve the stag as a pig dog crop dog.
So crossing to a Dane is good if you know what your doing but I know of only 1 other person in the entire US with the knowledge and understanding of dogs to make crosses like this that will eventually improve upon the dane rather than distort it. Crossing to a bay dog, why do this? Like crossing a pit to a bay dog, what the heck have you just improved upon? A good pit man would throw up in his mouth if he sees such a cross lol. Just get a good pit, I promis they are out there. Improve upon the breed, don't dilute it. Crossing a scent hound to a bay dog, what are you after here? Silent style scent hound or more nose and hunt to your bay dog, I can see this but your not improving the scent hound, your just improving the bay dog.
Basically why cross to a Dane? To improve upon a different breed such as the stag for a more appropriate crop dog, or to put more size and hunt in a pit, or to restore the structure and agility in the great dane breed itself because of all the mastiff blood and Euro crap that's handicapped the breed as a working dog now but, you need to go back to the great dane not continuely breed away from it. 3/4 dane 1/4 deerhound or 7/8 dane 1/8 deerhound etc to really restore and bring back the proper structure if the dane while keeping to the dane mentality.