Great Dane

For other uses, see The Great Dane (disambiguation).

Great Dane

A Harlequin Great Dane
Other names	Grand danois Danish Hound
Nicknames	Dane Gentle Giant
Country of origin	Germany
Traits Weight Male 120–200 lb (54–91 kg) Female 100–130 lb (45–59 kg) Height Male 30–34 in (76–86 cm) Female 28–32 in (71–81 cm)
Classification and standards FCI Group 2 Section 2 #235 standard AKC Working standard CKC standard KC (UK) Working standard NZKC Nonsporting standard UKC Guardian Dogs standard
Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

The Great Dane, also known as Grand Danois or Chien danois (French), Gran Danés (Spanish), Cão dinamarquês (Portuguese), датский дог (Dahtskeey Dog) (Russian), Tanskandoggi (Finnish), Dänischer Hund (German, in use until 1888-89 when the term is replaced by the new term Deutsche Dogge) and Den danske Hund (Danish Hound) in its native Denmark, is a breed of domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) known for its giant size. The Great Dane is one of the world's tallest dog breeds; the current world record holder, measuring 112 cm (44 in) from paw to shoulder, is "Zeus". Great Danes were originally bred to hunt deer and wild boar.

Description

As described by the American Kennel Club:

The Great Dane combines, in its regal appearance, dignity, strength and elegance with great size and a powerful, well-formed, smoothly muscled body. It is one of the giant working breeds, but is unique in that its general conformation must be so well balanced that it never appears clumsy, and shall move with a long reach and powerful drive. The Great Dane is a short haired breed with a strong galloping figure.

In the ratio between length and height, the Great Dane should be square. The male dog should not be less than 30 in (76 cm) at the shoulders, a female 28 in (71 cm). Danes under minimum height are disqualified.

Great Danes of several coat types, from left to right: harlequin, black, brindle, blue and fawn

From year to year, the tallest living dog is typically a Great Dane. Previous record holders include Gibson, Titan and George however the current record holder is a black Great Dane named Zeus who stands 112 cm (44 in) at the shoulder. He is also the tallest dog on record (according Guinness World Records), beating the previous holder who was a blue Great Dane named George, who stood 110 cm (43 in) at the shoulder.

The minimum weight for a Great Dane over eighteen months is 120 lb (54 kg) for males, 100 lb (45 kg) for females. Unusually, the American Kennel Club dropped the minimum weight requirement from its standard. The male should appear more massive throughout than the female, with a larger frame and heavier bone.

Great Danes have naturally floppy, triangular ears. In the past, when Great Danes were commonly used to hunt boars, cropping of the ears was performed to make injuries to the dogs' ears less likely during hunts. Now that Danes are primarily companion animals, cropping is sometimes still done for traditional and cosmetic reasons. In the 1930s when Great Danes had their ears cropped, after the surgery two devices called Easter Bonnets were fitted to their ears to make them stand up. Today, the practice is common in the United States but much less common in Europe. In some European countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, parts of Australia, and in New Zealand, the practice is banned, or controlled to only be performed by veterinary surgeons.

Coat colors

Blue puppy

A harlequin Great Dane puppy.

There are six show-acceptable coat colors for Great Danes:

• Fawn: The color is yellow gold with a black mask. Black should appear on the eye rims and eyebrows, and may appear on the ears.
• Brindle: The color is fawn and black in a chevron stripe pattern. Often also they are referred to as having a tiger-stripe pattern.
• Blue: The color is a pure steel blue. White markings at the chest and toes are not desirable and considered faults.
• Black: The color is a glossy black. White markings at the chest and toes are not desirable and considered faults.
• Harlequin: The base color is pure white with black torn patches irregularly and well distributed over the entire body; a pure white neck is preferred. The black patches should never be large enough to give the appearance of a blanket, nor so small as to give a stippled or dappled effect. Eligible, but less desirable, are a few small grey patches (this grey is consistent with a Merle marking) or a white base with single black hairs showing through, which tend to give a salt and pepper or dirty effect. (Have the same link to deafness and blindness as Merle and white danes.)
• Mantle (in some countries referred to as Bostons due to the similar coloration and pattern as a Boston Terrier): The color is black and white with a solid black blanket extending over the body; black skull with white muzzle; white blaze is optional; whole white collar preferred; a white chest; white on part or whole of forelegs and hind legs; white tipped black tail. A small white marking in the black blanket is acceptable, as is a break in the white collar

Other colors occur occasionally but are not acceptable for conformation showing, and they are not pursued by breeders who intend to breed show dogs. These colors include white, fawnequin, brindlequin, merle, merlequin, blue merle, fawn mantle, and others. Some breeders may attempt to charge more for puppies of these "rare" colors. However, the breeding of white and merle Danes is particularly controversial, as these colors may be associated with genes that produce deafness. Although they cannot be shown, white or merle Danes can usually still be registered as pedigree dogs.

Temperament

The Great Dane's large and imposing appearance belies its friendly nature. The breed is often referred to as a "gentle giant". Great Danes are generally well disposed toward other dogs, other non-canine pets, and familiar humans. They generally do not exhibit extreme aggressiveness or a high prey drive. The Great Dane is a very gentle and loving animal and with the proper care and training is great around children, especially when being raised with them. However, if not properly socialized a Great Dane may become fearful or aggressive towards new stimuli, such as strangers and new environments.

Exercise

A Harlequin Great Dane running in the sea

Like most dogs, Great Danes require daily walks to remain healthy. However it is important not to over exercise this breed, particularly when young. Great Dane puppies grow very large, very fast, which puts them at risk of joint and bone problems. Because of a puppy's natural energy, Dane owners often take steps to minimize activity while the dog is still growing.

Given their large size, Great Danes continue to grow (mostly gaining weight) longer than most dogs. Even at one year of age a Great Dane will continue to grow for several more months.

A Merle Great Dane

Health

Great Danes, like most giant dogs, have a fairly slow metabolism. This results in less energy and less food consumption per pound of dog than in small breeds. Great Danes have some health problems that are common to large breeds, including bloat (gastric dilatation volvulus(GDV)). The average life span of Great Danes is 6 to 8 years. Like many larger breeds, Great Danes are at particular risk for hip dysplasia.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and many congenital heart diseases are also commonly found in the Great Dane, leading to its nickname: the Heartbreak breed, in conjunction with its shorter lifespan. Great Danes also may carry the merle gene, which is part of the genetic makeup that creates the harlequin coloring. The merle gene is an incomplete dominant, meaning only one copy of the gene is needed to show the merle coloring; two merle genes produce excessive white markings and many health issues such as deafness, blindness, or other debilitating ocular issues.

History

Male Great Dane in 1879

Dogs resembling the Great Dane have been seen on Egyptian monuments dating back to 3,000 BC. In all literature in all languages, bar none, up until the year 1880 the Great Dane is fully recognized as being the great hunting dog for big game from the Royal Danish Kennels.

The Great Dane is depicted on numerous rune stones in Scandinavia, on coinage in Denmark from the 5th Century ACE and in the collection of Old Norse poems, known in English as Poetic Edda. The University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum holds at least seven skeletons of very large hunting dogs, dating from the 5th Century BCE going forward through to the year 1000 ACE.

Otto von Bismarck set up a commission, ”Kynologischer Verein Hektor”^source whose purpose it was to invent a new origin of the hound away from Denmark, its enemy at the time. The result was a new word Deutsche Dogge. This is made public in 1878 and from 1880 it becomes illegal in the German Reich to refer to the dog as anything but ”Deutsche Dogge”. Literature after this date in German, and when translated to other languages such as English sought to perpetuate this new truth.

The original Great Dane was lighter in construction than the current one. We know this both from depictions and from the Royal Danish Hunting Protocols (with the National Archives in Copenhagen). We also know what caused this to change, when and how.

In the 16th Century the Royal Courts of Denmark introduce the new fashion of the Parforce Hunt – a hunt where the hunting dogs are no longer allowed to run down and kill the large game. On the contrary the hounds are expected to hunt the deer, boar or wolf, knock it down and hold it firm until the human huntsman arrives and then makes the kill.

We can see from the Hunting Protocols of the Royal Danish court that the Great Dane was not well equipped to perform this new role in the Parforce Hunt. It was too light in built to hold down a deer or wolf without killing it. To solve this problem Frederick II of Denmark sends a ship to London in 1585 to bring back “Englandshvalpe” (English puppies) given to him by Queen Elizabeth I of England. The "English puppies" are the far heavier English mastiff (today known by it's name in Danish from the 19th Century "Broholmer"). The protocols of the Royal Danish Kennel maintain two separates lines in the kennel’s breeding programme; the Danish and the English line. The cross breeding becomes known in Danish as “Blendinge” (same word and meaning as the English word “Blend”). This new line of large hounds is the foundation of the present day Great Dane. For further reading on the Danish hunt, see C. Weismann: Vildtets og Jagtens Historie (1931).

The German attempt to make the Great Dane a German breed continued with the rise Nazi Germany. In December 1936 the Danish national kennel association “Dansk Kennel Klub” was put on notice in writing that Germany will demand the cessation of usage of any words not identifying the hound as of German origin on the forthcoming General Assembly of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in Paris 22nd July 1937. The German claims were refuted. After World War II The Secretary General of the FCI Baron A. Houtart writes a letter, copied to the Danish national kennel association. The letter is dated 15th November 1948 and says in French:

"Pour la F.C.I. cette race a toujours été et reste encore une race nationale danoise ; seul le standard déposé par le Dansk Kennelklub est officiel à ses yeux"

(As far as the FCI is concerned, this breed [The Great Dane] has always been and shall remain a Danish breed; only the standard provided by the Danish national kennel association is the official one in our view). The original letter is kept with the FCI and the Great Dane Club of Denmark.

The Great Dane Raro, Denmark 1655

Popular culture

• Fang, Hagrid's dog from the Harry Potter series, is a boarhound, another name for Great Danes. Though in the movie, the role was played by a Neapolitan Mastiff.
• English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) kept a Great Dane named Bounce. Pope, who was crippled, physically weak and subject to threats due to his frequent lampoons, never left his house without Bounce for protection. His dog was immortalized in his poem, "Bounce to Fop", [1] a satirical address from his dog to the royal dog Fop, and also in the painting "Alexander Pope and His Dog, Bounce" (1718) by Jonathan Richardson [2].
• Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was nicknamed the "Great Dane".
• The Great Dane was named the state dog of Pennsylvania in 1965.
• Scooby-Doo, the famous Hanna-Barbera character, was based on a Great Dane by animation designer Iwao Takamoto. Takamoto based his illustrations on sketches given to him by a Hanna-Barbera employee who bred this dog. Scooby closely resembles a Great Dane, although his tail is longer than the breed's, bearing closer resemblance to a cat's tail.
• The athletic teams of the University at Albany have been known as the Great Danes since 1965. Damien The Great Dane has been the mascot since that time. In 2003, the school added Lil' D, a smaller Great Dane, to help Damien entertain the crowds.
• Astro, the dog in The Jetsons.
• Brutus in The Ugly Dachshund, a Great Dane raised by a Dachshund mother.
• Marmaduke is a newspaper comic strip drawn by Brad Anderson from 1954 to the present day. The strip revolves around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke.
• Singer, the main but tragic hero of The Guardian, a novel by Nicholas Sparks.
• Elmer, a Great Dane in Oswald the Lucky Rabbit by Walter Lantz
• In each film version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Great Dane was cast as the cursed hellhound that kills the Baskerville family.
• Ace the Bat-Hound, from the Batman TV series, was depicted as a Great Dane mix.
• Ben, Hōgen, and Genba from Japanese anime and manga, Ginga Nagareboshi Gin and Ginga Densetsu Weed.
• Just Nuisance who was the only dog to be officially enlisted in the Royal Navy. Done mainly as a morale booster for World War II enlisted troops, Nuisance proved to be a lasting legacy of the small Cape Town suburb of Simons Town.

See also

• Reichshund, term used in Germany for Bismarck's Great Danes and for a while for the breed
• Brindlequin

External links

• Great Dane breed standard at the official American Kennel Club website
• Breed Information Resource