~All About Great Danes~ I thought we should have a thread for helpful information for anyone looking into the breed or those who just want to learn more about them. I'll post some FAQ's that I wrote up a while ago to help start things off.
The Most Common Questions We Dane Owners recieve from those wanting to know about our breed: Below you will find some questions we see often and the answers: 1. Do I need a big house and yard to have a Great Dane? No. Despite the common misconception that a giant dog means giant space required, this is not the case for this breed. As long as your dane is properly excersised, has a fenced in yard or park you can take him/her to often, and has regular leash walks, you will make out just fine. While huge, most danes can be found lounging around the couch or your bed most of the time. Keep in mind that pups are bound to have more energy than older dogs, will have "zoomies" and that some dogs will be more active than others, in general, they are NOT a highly active, energetic breed. 2. How much does a Great Dane cost to buy? The answer to this question depends on a few things. One, whether you are getting your pup from a reputable, registered breeder who shows, does health testing and is otherwise involved in other areas of the breed rather than just breeding pups to sell. A well bred, health tested GD from show lines can cost up to $20oo, depending on where you live, what's included. Example: Pups that are suitable/sold as show potential are more costly than those that are pet quality and put on spay/neuter contracts. If getting your dog from a rescue, the price generally includes spay/neuter, any health issues being seen to by a vet and dealt with prior to adoption, along with your basic vaccinations, heartworm, flea/tick medication given. A rescue dane can be the best option for those not wanting to go through the puppy stage, or those who don't want to pay in the thousands for a dog. Also,by going with an older Dane from a rescue, you have a pretty good indication of what personality/temperment your dog is going to have. Each rescue has their own pricing, so be sure to look around and research REPUTABLE rescues. Just like with breeders, not all are what they claim to be. Great Dane pups can be found on adverstising sites like Craigs list and Kijiji...among others, for much less than your top, reputable breeders charge. However, before ever going that route you should always know what you're getting into. Many times a cheaper pup ends up costing much more in the long run due to genetic health issues and temperment problems caused by in proper breeding. It's buyer beware! Research research and research some more before ever buying a pup. Read more about buying a dane: http://www.daneoutreach.org/Files/Tips_for_choosing.pdf 3. What do I feed a Great Dane Puppy? Many new GD owners do not understand the importance of proper nutrition, especially in a growing Dane pup. It is a big misconception, often touted by vets, that a pup should be fed a large breed puppy food. NOT SO. There are only a FEW brands on the market suitable for a growing GD, Innova Large Breed Puppy being the only one I personally know of and reccommend. Eagle Pack has one as well, but I am not a fan of that brand, nor are many dane owners now, so I will not endorse it. In actuality, a pup should be started right away on a HIGH quality, premium food, not found in grocery stores or walmart. This means...No Purina, No Eukanuba or Iams. The top reccommended brands for danes are as follows: Taste of the Wild Blue Buffallo Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul *Adult Large Breed* Wellness Fromms Merrick Canidae Acana Orijjen there are more...check out our nutrition portion of the forum for more in depth info on this issue. Feeding RAW is also highly reccommended, but is not for every owner. Keep in mind that no food fits all..meaning in order to find the perfect fit for your pup, you may have to try a few before finding the one that works best. Many danes have allergies and sensitivities to certain ingredients and when changing foods, a slow transition is always the safest way to go. Read more about that in our nutrition section. 4. Are Great Danes good with children? The short answer is, generally yes. GD's can be raised very happily with children, provided you understand how a GD puppy works...and take precautions to keep both the pup and your children safe. Keep in mind that many reputable breeders and rescues will not sell to families with children under 12. Too many times, they see GD pups being dropped off at rescue, sold on Craigs list or sent to the shelter because they accidentally hurt their child when playing too rough. A dane in play can send a full grown adult flying across the room. Even when taught to be gentle, accidents happen! A good wag of the tail can leave welts and bruises. Many pups are nippy...and what is face level with a dane pup? Your child. So yes, while many families raise Great Danes with children and make out fine, many others do not, and it's almost always the dog that suffers. Another thing to keep in mind. Great Danes are by nature, velcro dogs. They NEED to be with their people and they WILL do whatever they can think of to get the attention they need and want from you. Having a GD pup is no different than having a clingy toddler who wants to be with his Mamma 24/7. 5. How big will my Great Dane get? The answer to this depends on a few things. What size the parents were, ((although even this is just a general guide to go by, as many pups can be much smaller or larger than their parents)) Some lines breed taller, lankier dogs, where as others, breed them heavier, more bulky with less height. Below is the actual Great Dane standard size chart. Great Dane Size Chart ((As mentioned, this is a rough guide. Your individual dane may be taller, shorter, heavier or lighter than the info given here. WeightHeightWeight Height Birth weight1 - 2 lbs 454 - 907g Week 12 - 3 lbs 907g - 1.4kg Week 23 - 5 lbs 1.4 - 2.3kg Week 34 - 7 lbs 1.8 - 3.kg Week 45 - 8 lbs 2.3 - 3.6kg Week 612 - 20 lbs 5.4 - 9.1kg 2 Months18 - 27 lbs13″-17″ 8.2 - 12.3kg 33 - 43cm 3 Months30 - 45 lbs17″-22″ 13.6 - 20.4kg 43 - 56cm 4 Months50 - 65 lbs 21″-25″ 22.7 - 29.5kg 53 - 63.5cm 5 Months65 - 85 lbs 25″-30″ 29.5 - 38.5kg 63.5 - 76cm 6 Months70 - 100 lbs27″-32″ 32 - 45.5kg 69 - 81cm 7 Months75 - 110 lbs27″-33″ 34 - 50 kg 69 - 84 cm 8 Months80 - 115 lbs27″-34″ 36.3 - 42kg 69 - 86.4cm 9 Months85 - 120 lbs28″-34″ 38.5 - 54.4kg 81 - 86.4cm 1 year90 - 135 lbs 28″-36″ 41 - 61kg 81 - 91cm 18 months - 2yrs - Adult100 - 190 lbs 28″-38″ 45.4 - 86.2kg 81 - 96.5cm Typical Dogs140 - 170 lbs33″-36″ 36.5 - 77kg 84 - 91cm Typical Bitches110 - 140 lbs 30″-33″ 50 - 63.5kg 76 - 84cm 6. Can my Great Dane stay/live outside? NO. It's that simple. Great Danes are indoor dogs. They NEED to be with their people, as much as they possibly can. Leaving a GD outside alone for extended periods of time will destroy him or her. It will lead to bad habits, destructive behavior and very often, aggression. Socialization is of huge importance with this breed, and not only with those they live with in the home. A Dane must be exposed to as many people, places and other animals as possible in his/her first year, to prevent fear/aggression and territorial issues. Since everything you are reading is my OWN words, I will spell it out very clearly. Making a Great Dane an "outside" dog, no matter your climate or setup, is in my opinion ABUSE and NEGLECT. If you want an outside dog, you best find another breed or none at all, because no one who'd even consider it, knowing how these guys think and how close they are with their humans, deserves to put their fingertips on a Great Dane, let alone have one to ruin. And I'll say that to ANYONE who even suggests leaving their dane outside for hours upon hours alone...heaven forbid, over night.
The Most Common Questions We Dane Owners recieve from those wanting to know about our breed: continued........ - "I heard that Great Danes have a lot of health issues, is that true?" This is one of the hardest questions to answer properly, because there is no short answer, atleast not a complete one that's totally honest, and most people want the short and quick answers to everything in life. The reality is that yes, it is very common for Great Danes to suffer from a wide variety of health issues, both genetic and environmental. Inproper feeding can cause a lot of damage, as can over excersising a growing pup, or using the wrong type of excersise.......breeders who simply stick two good looking, nice dogs together without having any understanding of genetics and how things are passed on, without understanding the diseases that are common and those that may not be...are a HUGE reason we are seeing so many problems in the breed. Many top notch "reputable" breeders have been known to say that GD's are no more prone to health issues than any other breed, IF they are properly bred, health tested, and bred for the purpose of bettering the breed. However even those top notch dogs are not always exempt from these problems. The more I meet or read about Dane Owners across the globe, the more I am beginning to see that some dogs seem to be prone to so many things, while others are not, irregardless of where they came from or how they came to be. That being said, it is only logical and smart, to want to reduce the chances of health and temperment issues, by going with a breeder who does everything humanly possible to breed better, healthier GD's. A breeder who does genetic screening and health testing on the sire and dam, who has an extensive knowlege of the genetic history of their dogs, back atleast a few generations. Not everything is going to be passed down from the parents..some things can skip a generation, just like with humans...so it's really important to know your lines....to have kept track of EVERY pup who came from every breeding for their lifetime..and to know what dogs suffered from what conditions, which ones did not, and go from there. ((Not many hobby/byb do that)) Simply having a healthy Mom and a healthy Stud is not even close to a guarantee that the pups resulting from such a breeding would be fine. This is why reputable breeders harp on the BYB's so much...because they are working hard to fix the problems caused by irresponsible breeding of generations of GD's. So, the short answer I guess is , this is NOT the breed for you if you're hoping to have a cake walk for 1o years in regards to health. Before ever buying a dane, rescuing one, young or old, have it straight up in your mind that you may very well be taking on a HUGE financial and emotional burden with this dog. That's just the sad reality of dane ownership. Never assume that just because you bought from a so called top notch breeder that you're safe from that worry. The chances might be reduced quite a bit, but they are still there, and it is irresponsible for anyone to deny that to any potential new dane owner. (IMO) A reputable breeder will guarantee the health of their pup up to a certain time frame, but really when push comes to shove...by the time you know whether your dane is going to be seriously ill or not, you're already madly in love, have invested time and emotion not to mention much more money than the pup origionally cost...No money back guarentee is going to do much to fix what is broken. Sure, you might get a new pup...doesnt change what happened to the first one does it? Some breeders require that you send back the sick dog for a replacement pup. Um...who's gonna do that? No one I want to know anyway. So be careful about letting those guarantees fool you into thinking that beause there IS one..your dog will never get sick. It just isn't so. Otherwise there'd be no need for a guarantee in the first place would there? - "Are Great Danes good with other dogs/animals?" Generally speaking, most GD's do just fine with other dogs and animals, provided they are given ample socialization from the time they are at the breeders and long after they have gone to their new home. There are some GD's who seem to be more dog aggressive, same sex aggressive or both, than others. DA does not appear to be a wide spread issue with the breed. Training and seeking a skilled behavioralist can often times resolve these issues...although in rare cases the dog is genetically, mentally flawed and no amount of work will completely remove that DA. Some danes have a higher prey drive than others. Many live quite happily and harmoniously with cats, while others not so much. Every dog is an individual at it's core. The environment, how they are trained from day one is extremely important in determining just how well the dog will do with other animals. "Are Great Danes Expensive to keep?" Truthfully? Yes. Even a perfectly healthy dane is going to cost you more at the vet's office, because most things are charged by weight/size. Then you have the cost of food, which as already stated above, needs to be either RAW, or a premium brand kibble, both of which are not cheap. That being said, if fed a good food, a GD is not going to eat as much as a higher energy dog with a much higher metabolism, like a Lab for instance. They certainly eat more than a shih tzu though A lot of people seem to think that it would be cheaper for them to feed their dane a lesser quality, grocery store food, as the price is less...but in all actuality, they will end up feeding much MORE of the food, costing them more in the long run, so there's no escaping it...it's not going to be a ten dollar a month food bill for your dane. If you have a GD with any health issues at all? Expect big bills. BIG bills. Even the simplest of proceedures can cost in the hundreds if not thousands for a dane. Spay/Neuter is much more than a normal breed. So keep all that in mind when considering a GD. -"Do Great Danes Need A Lot of Excersise?" No. This is another common misconception of the breed. Great Danes are a moderate-low energy breed that does not require constant excersise and stimulation the way other breeds like a GSD or Border Collie, or even a Lab would require. Most danes are content to spend the majority of their time lounging around the house, on the couch or bed, snuggling up with their people. And sleeping of course. They do A LOT of that They of course need regular walks and a run in the park once a day or so...but no heavy duty excersise. In fact, until the age of 2, when the growth plates begin to close, a Dane pup should never be forced to over exert him/herself. This means NO jogging on pavement, or hard surfaces of the like. Restrict jumping off of things or too much stair usage. It doesn't take much for a growing dane to pull a muscle, tear an ACL or damage their joints. I always advise puppy owners to monitor the play between their pup and other dogs, both at home or with doggy friends, carefully so as to prevent injuries. Some dogs play very rough and can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. A good free run in the park and a steady walk for a half hour is just plenty for most danes. You may have a dog that requires less or a bit more, and you can adjust your excersise to fit those needs. ********Dog sports like agility are becoming more and more popular around the globe in recent years, and many dane owners want to take part in these activities. I do NOT reccomend to any owner with a GD under two years old to do any agility, flyball, dock diving or anything that requires continuous jumping, running for long periods of time or excersise that otherwise puts a lot of pressure on growing joints and bones. Some dissagree, and a few have entered their pups in these activities with seemingly no problems ((atleast not as yet)) but for me it's simply not worth it. Anyone who's seen how a dane with joint and hip pain suffers would agree with me **********
These are just MY personal opinions...my thoughts..so take em or leave em basically. Do NOT Get A Great Dane If: You think that a dog has it's "place" and that place is not with you. If you want a dog that will automatically learn every trick you try to teach him, never make a mistake, never have it's moments of refusing to do what you KNOW he/she knows how to do. They are not robots! Don't get a Dane...if you think that dogs should stay outside all day and only come in at night. These precious dogs NEED you...ALL of the time. To outcast them is to break their mind and spirit. Don't get a dane, if you think harsh commands and treatment is the way to train. They are extremely sensitive, and nothing will shut them down faster than having the one they love yelling, hitting or using other harsh methods to get your way with your dog. Don't get a dane if you worry about drool or slobber on your clothes, in your hair, ont he couch, EVERYWHERE! Those of us who truly love these dogs, clean it up with a smile because it's just part of what makes them who they are. Don't get a Great Dane if you cannot comprehend that they are unlike any other animal, any other breed on the face of the planet. What works for one breed in training, behavior and otherwise may not and often times DOES not work with these dogs. They are unique, they are incredibly special, and they are truly a blessing to anyone who is lucky enough to have them in their home. They are not just dogs, they are family. They are your best friends, your confidantes. They will make you laugh and they will make you cry. You will worry yourself sick over every little hiccup and bump and bruise...sometimes worse than you did your own children. You will pray everyday that God is merciful and allows you to keep them in your life for longer than what is so often the case with this breed. Do not get a Dane, if you are not willing to go through each and every stage they have with them. If having your furniture messed up or destroyed, your shoes obliviated, your clothes full of hair and drool bothers you....these are not the dogs for you. ((ALTHOUGH not every dane is destructive, you never know until you get one, it's a chance you take until they're trained)) Don't get a Great Dane if the only reason you want one is their size, their ability to intimidate, just by their look and size alone. They are not there to make you look cool! Don't get a Dane if you're not prepared to spend the extra money to buy a premium dog food and to research extensively the best foods to give them. Don't get a Great Dane if you cannot find humour in the silly things they do...in the zoomies that will totally wreck your livingroom but to those of us who love them, bring nothing but laughter and a smile to our faces. If you can't give 100% of your love, affection and care to one of these giants...then walk away and get another breed. Do ALOT of research and talk to people who live and love these dogs, find out what day to day life is REALLY like with them before taking that leap. DO Get a Dane: If you want the best friend you ever had, the best cuddle partner, the funniest, the most gentle hearted, loving spirited creature on the face of the planet. You will never regret a minute of your time with a Great Dane if you truly love and appreciate them for just what they are.
Great Dane Questions & Answers Continued... "Is a Great Dane Hard to Train?" Yes and no. By nature they definitely want to please their person. This is why praise and positive reinforcment is the way to go with this breed. Harsher methods can and often times does, destroy their spirt, their trust and their willingness to work with you. These are sensitive dogs. They read your body language and emotions when you don't even realize you're giving any off. Most have a stubborn streak in there ;-) Especially during their growing/teenage stages. Oh a teen dane can be a handful, even when well trained and well behaved up to that point. All of the sudden they "forget" everything they were ever taught. The trick with these dogs, is understanding your INDIVIVIDUAL dog, what motivates them, what works and what doesn't. And going from there. If you have a food motivated dog, which many are, great! Use it! If your dane pup seems to be more eager for your praise, use it in abundance. Another dane trait is laziness. Some may take this as a sign of disobediance or a dominance thing. Really it's just a matter of "I don't feel like doing this right now, so I won't". Always keep training short and sweet, and try to make it as fun and enjoyable for them as possible. A dane bores easily with training..especially as a pup. Remember you may end up with a super easy to train, easily biddable dane, or you may end up with the more stubborn one. They are all different in their own ways. But they are a mastiff breed and sometimes orders just aint the way to go with these guys. Be firm but gentle. Be fair. Be consistant. And know when to say enough..go play. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking these dogs aren't bright. Not true. They are VERY smart, it's just a matter of making them think they WANT to do what you want them to do. "I heard Great Danes are super destructive..is that true?" Unfortunately, many danes are destructive as pups. And what will take another breed an hour or more to destroy, a dane can do it in less than five minutes. I've known people to have had THOUSANDS of dollars in damage to their home and belongings simply by getting in the shower an leaving their dane out. And not just puppies. Most people are highly advised to crate train their dane pup, for this reason. Also keep in mind that this breed is also known for having severe seperation anxiety. Left alone in the house for any amount of time, and upset...be prepared to lose whatever they can reach. One person came home to find their ceiling fan on the floor We won't even go into what else was ruined. Start out from day one giving your pup LOTS of appropriate chew toys and bones, readily available at all times. Supervise supervise supervise. If you can't..crate or block off a room/area. The more opportunities a dane has to destroy something, the more he will continue to do so. Chewing is a self rewarding behavior and they do love to reward themselves ;-) Also keep in mind if you have even a moderate chewer...alot of dog toys made even for large breeds or heavy chewers will last minutes with a dane. So unless you've got a non chewer like Luke..be prepared to spend BIG bucks on the toughest toys you can find on the market. Otherwise you're wasting time and money. "I have a small/toy breed dog. Is it safe to get a Great Dane puppy/dog?" Many dane owners also have other breeds in the home. It CAN be done safely, if managed properly and common sense is used. Injuries can happen to a smaller dog in a second of play that are totally accidental. The power behind one paw stepping on the back of a small breed can be fatal. Not to mention Danes like to use their mouths a lot in play. One wrong crunch..well you get the picture. While they are a gentle breed...they must be TAUGHT to be gentle from day one. Bite inhibition is an important lesson with these guys. A growing dane pup can be quite clumbsy at times. Picture a bull in a china shop. Accidents happen. So, always supervise play...always maintain control, never let play get aggressive or over the top. If it starts to, seperate them immediately. I personally, after hearing of things happening when danes were left out together with their smaller doggy mates, would never leave a small/toy breed out alone with a dane. Just as a precaution. It only takes a second..one of them gets a ticked off and someone gets shaken or stomped on..not worth it. "I heard that you can't excersise a Great Dane before or after eating. Is that true?" YES! Bloat aka Gastric Torsion, is the number one killer of this breed. Although there are many theories, we still do not know ALL of the many causes of bloat...however there are some preventatives that we dane owners take every day. NEVER allow your dane to run around and play for atleast one hour after eating. This gives their stomache time to settle the food, reducing the chance of the stomache flipping and twisting, which can cause death within less than an hour. The sad truth is that the majority of cases never make it to the vet in time to save them once torsion has set in.:-( No extreme excersise for atleast a half hour BEFORE eating. Do not allow your dane to drink a huge amount of water after eating. Small meals throughout the day are best. I feed atleast 3 but I'm not on a set schedule. NO LESS than two meals per day.Pups should always be fed atleast 3 times a day. Some owners cut back to 2 around a year old. To me it just makes sense, just like with people...the less you have in your stomache at one time, the easier it is to digest. NEVER FREE FEED A DANE!! It is important to know at all times when and how much your dane has eaten. Not only for bloat reasons, but in case you should ever have an unexpected vet visit...it helps for the vet to know what they've had in their system and when. NO Raw hide! This is not digestable. IF you can be sure that you will be able to get the raw hide from your dane before it gets wet and chewy..and before they can swallow it ((Most danes will swallow huge chunks of things..trust me you'd be astounded to hear some of what a GD hasbeen known to eat)) it is safer and smarter to never give them rawhide or bones/toys of that material at all. The vast majority of dane owners raise their food bowls. Again..common sense. Even if it is't a cure all for bloat, would YOU want to eat your dinner upside down standing on your head? For a dane..that is what eating off the floor is like. You're going to ingest much more air eating that way, than you would sitting at the kitchen table.;-) Do not feed human foods that can cause gas. You have already read about the need for a quality food for a dane but a reminder that cheaply made foods with fillers and a lot of grains can and do cause a lot of gas and intenstinal issues with this breed. Feed a quality food, see less stool, less gas, and a healthier dog. ____More to be added later___
Please excuse my ignorance but isn't a Dane a hound? I know they were bred to work but didn't realise they were in the working group.
The AKC and CKC classes them in the working group and have since 1887. Years ago they were called a few different names, "Boar Hound" being one of them, but they haven't been used for that in a very long time, and really do not share many characteristics at all with the hound group. They are companion animals first and foremost and over the years have been bred as such. Unlike some working breeds that require a lot of stimulation and excersise due to their origional origins...Great Danes do not. They still make great "estate guardians" though as they are extremely loyal to their family/person and will look out for and protect their property. But hunters? Not many danes I know are going to go hunting anything except butt rubs lol
GREAT DANE (REVISED JULY 1, 2009) Guardian Dog Group View Registration Requirements ©Copyright 1991, United Kennel Club, Inc. Revised July 1, 2009 http://www.ukcdogs.com/WebSite.nsf/Breeds/GreatDaneRevisedJuly12009
I really don't know what to tell you guys other than in Canada and the US they are under the working dog group. Does it really matter? We have different names for things than we have over here. On this site, Great Danes are also classed as working breed.
No...I said: Apparently the UK recognizes them as the Guardian breed group to which you said: we dont have a 'guardian' group I then gave you the link to where it said it was in the "guardian group" GREAT DANE (REVISED JULY 1, 2009) Guardian Dog Group View Registration Requirements ©Copyright 1991, United Kennel Club, Inc. Revised July 1, 2009 http://www.ukcdogs.com/WebSite.ns[a social network site]...visedJuly12009 I did however say that nowadays they are used mostly as companions, not hunters.
the great danes are the same over here, in the working group thanks for all that info, ive loved reading through it all, i want a dane so badly, ever since i was little (i like a lot of other breeds too) found the info really enjoyable to read, even though alot of the things like food and bloat and early training etc seem like common sense to me (bearing in mind all i ever do is read about dog realted things) its really useful for new (or people who arent as in depth as dogsey folk) ive already found the breeder i would like to get my dane from when time permits and i look forward to hearing more information when you write some more
The GD is in the working group here in the UK, never heard of the Guardian group, so would be a bit suspect of the site it came from. Good info on the breed though;-)
I mixed up "Kennel club" with "United Kennel club" that's why. I was looking at the UKC description where it's listed as a guardian breed. I'm not familiar with the differences in the UK as I always use the AKC or CKC.