If an owner of the breed could answer these, I'd be eternally grateful How much complete dry food does 1 averaged sized male eat? What health (genetic) problems can they suffer from and how common within the breed are they? How much exercise does this breed need? (based on a healthy adult male)? How intelligent are they? And are they quite willing to learn, or quite difficult to train? Apart from their size, what other issues should a new owner be aware of? Thanks in advance Amanda
Firstly I would never feed a dane dry food. They are susceptibly to bloat (I lost my dane bitch to it) and feeding dry food is like holding a gun to it's head (this is what my vet told me). Exercise - very average, and not very much to start with as those bones have to develop to carry all that weight. Extremely intelligent - my dane would sit, give paw, lie down, everything just took a few seconds longer as the floor's further away! HTH
hi i have 2 danes,they are my seventh and eighth danes,i feed dry complete and raw meat n bones,they are prone to bloat,(mine have never had it,touch wood),they eat about 650-1000 gs,sometimes they eat it sometimes they only eat part of it,all my danes have done this,i split the allowance,2 meals a day,if they leave breakfst i dont feed at t.time,i dont feed on the floor,feed at chest height,i dont let them drink straight after eating,definately no exercise after meals wait at least an hour(apply same rules as horses,it works for me ) some of the health problems are,hip dysplasia,hypothyroidism,wobblers,OCD and heart problems,all though i have known dogs who have suffered from some of these problems i myself in over 20yrs of owning danes have been very fortunate and have never had any of these problems with any of my danes, they need moderate exercise,20 minutes with free run mine get on wet miserable days,when i go on long walks they have thier free run then i put them on leads and continue the walk,as pups limited exercise until about 12-18 mths intelligence,mmm,mine have been pretty good learners,until harvey,harlequin,i find fawns,brindles and blacks seem more steady,blues and harles are bit of hooligans,comedians, hector is very clever,does tricks too,they are a very loving and loyal breed,fantastic family dogs,i will never ever be without one,others may differ in thier opinions of danes,i have just put how i do things,it works for me and my danes,hope this helps
One of my previous vets used to own/breed these, and when I said I would love to own one he told me never to buy one because it is a nightmare trying to keep the weight on them and they suffer with numerous problems and don't live very long! Sorry, but that's straight from the vet's mouth as I fell in love with one of his dogs who was in the surgery one day. :-( I adore them, beautiful dogs.
Thanks Sez, it sounds as if you have a very good breed line since you have managed to escape the health probs with your own Danes I didn't realise they can suffer from HD too. I know someone who has one and she suffers from epilepsy. Is this one of the inherant ailments or is she a one off? Now it's interesting that you say that you can feed them complete as I also wondered about feeding them at a higher level would help to overcome bloat. (I know a few breeds suffer from this and that was one way of overcoming it, so thanks). I have to admit that they don't eat as much as I had thought. My GSD has 650gs of dry complete each day split over 2 meals (He is an oversized dog though who weighs 43kg), so would have presumed a Great Dane would need double that. So do they have a very strong guarding instinct as that was their original purpose or is this again dependant on the line? Are they very vocal?
hi,i havent always had the same line,the 2 i have now are from different lines,just been lucky,i have never had trouble with weight but i have fostered some poor qaulity danes who cant hold thier weight,they are good house dogs and will bark,but werent bred to guard,more watch dog,thier size is off putting to intruders,they were bred to hunt,mainly wild boar, i for got to mention that the food amounts i gave are mantainance diet,growing pups need more, you can see my 2 boys in the pics threads,both nicely covered
oh and the epilepsy,that rears its ugly head in any breed,i have afriend with a ridge back,she has it and a friend whos rottie had it
My vet told me meat only, not even biscuit. Unfortunately, once they have bloat, they are likely to get it again. My Suki did, 6 weeks later, and died.
Only vocal when they need to be, and are intimidating so are a great guard. Unfortunately, not a very long life span. About 9 years is average. I think out of all the dog's I've lost, I miss my dane the most. They really do steal your heart.
See I knew asking on here would teach me more than I'd ever read in a book... Thanks Sez The epilepsy thing is bad isn't it, but just wondered if it was commonly found in the danes. Glad that it isn't. I'm so sorry to hear about Suki. So did she still get bloat when you fed her meat only?
oh vicki thats so sad,i have been sooo lucky,like i said i have had danes for over 20yrs now,bred 2 litters,one of wich has just died 81/2 yrs old,he was out of my second litter,i firmly believe that no exercise or water after eating,this seems to work for me(touch wood),my old boy will be 7 in may,he looks fab,still bounds around like a pup,so sorry about your suki:-( ,but dont let it put you off
Cheers Vicki 9 years is still better than none though, but I am rather worried about the food issue. My friend feeds her on complete and meat, so I'm worried that she's going to die of bloat
dont worry about your friends dane,does she feed raised off the ground,tell her no exercise after food for at least an hour,this includes running round the garden or charging upstairs,lift water bowls,i put them back down after an hour,of all the people i know with danes and its a lot,breeders too,i only know of 5 lost to bloat,ive lost 5 dogs to cancer,my friends GSD died through bloat
Yes, Suki was on meat only when the bloat recurred. Had I known it was likely to happen again (the vet didn't tell me this when Suki was rushed in for surgery the first time) I think I would have put her to sleep there and then, rather than have her suffer it all over again. To come home from work and find your dog close to death is ghastly.
Believe me, I'm not put off - they really are the kings of dogs IMO. A real gentle giant, and so protective and loving. Suki used to curl up in a ball on "her" chair, and then "unfold" to get up - always made me think of "Alien". Also, if we had company, we used to take Suki's blanket off her chair so the guest could sit down. When they had, Suki used to stand and stare at them. Eventually, they got the message and gave her the chair back. The guests invariably ended up sitting on the floor
I also like the way their size intimidates some people they really don't know how soft they are (until pushed....)