About The Great Dane

[DaneGirl2208]

BRIEF HISTORY
Drawings of a large dog similar to the Great Dane were discovered on Egyptian monuents over 5000 years old. selective breeding of this type of dog began centuries later in Germany when mastiff-type dogs were crossed with Irish Wolfhounds. (Despite the name, the dog does not originate in Denmark.) This noble breed has been used in war, as a coach dog, boar hunter, guard and watchdog. Today the Great Dane is primarily a watchdog and companion

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
A very large, elegant, muscular dog with a short sleek coat.
Danes come in many colors. The show aproved colors are Black, Fawn, Brindle, Blue, Mantle and Harlequin. Other colors ofton seen with Danes is Merle and White but these colors should not be used in breeding.
Great Danes are one of the largest breeds in the world. Males typically stand 30 to 38 inches tall or taller..Females 28 to 35 inches tall or taller. Males weigh 130 to 180lbs..females 120 to 150lbs.

THE GREAT DANE TODAY
The Great Dane's personality is the quality that most find so appealing. The Dane is a "people dog" - a sensitive and affectionate companion. They can be elegant and dignified one moment, and then playful and silly the next." (Georgia Alyse Thomas)
Danes are people dogs, they want to be around their fmilies a Dane left outside and un-noticed they will soon become depressed and destructave. The Great Dane is a gentle giant. Dignified, kind, sweet and affectionate, it is playful and patient with children. It loves everyone and needs to be around people. The Great Dane does not bark much and only becomes aggressive when the circumstances require it. A steady dog, responsible and dependable. Brave and loyal, it is a good watchdog.

[Blaze]

Great info! Thanks!
I love Great Danes!

[rutylr]

Often called the Apollo of dogs, the Great Dane can trace its paw prints as far back as time of the Egyptians. Drawings of dogs resembling Great Danes were found on Egyptian monuments dating from 3,000 B.C., and artifacts found in Babylonian temples built about 2,000 B.C. include a relief-plate showing Assyrian men walking huge, Dane like dogs on stout leashes. The dogs depicted have the same massive body and long, powerful legs as today's Great Dane.

Some zoologists believe that all Dane-type dogs originated in the highlands of Tibet. There is great similarity between the Tibetan Mastiffs that lived at the base of the Himalayas and the Dane like dogs of the Assyrians. The zoologists' belief gains credibility in that the earliest written report of dogs strongly similar in type to the Great Dane appeared in Chinese literature in 1121 B.C.

The highly cultured Assyrians traded their dogs to the Greeks and Romans along with other goods they manufactured. The Romans in turn bred the Assyrian dogs to British dogs they also acquired. Thus it appears both the Tibetan and English Mastiffs are forbears of the Great Dane.

There was some debate as to whether the Irish Wolfhound or Irish Greyhound played a secondary role in the Dane's development. The French naturalist Comte de Buffon, who lived during the 1700s, thought the Irish Wolfhound was the primary ancestor of the Dane because the Celts had taken some of the huge dogs from the Romans and English to Ireland where they were bred to the native Irish Wolfhounds. But Baron Georges Cuview, an anatomist who lived from the late 1700s thought it was the early result of an English Mastiff and Irish Wolfhound cross.

The earliest Danelike dogs were called Boar Hounds, for the prey that hunted, but by the 16th century they were known as English Dogges. Around 1680, when German noblemen were breeding great numbers of the dogs, the biggest and most handsome dogs were kept inside their homes. These dogs were called Kammerhunde, meaning Chamber Dogs. These pampered pets wore gilded collars trimmed with fringe and padded with velvet.

Buffon gave the breed the name it's known by today. While traveling in Denmark, he saw the slimmer variety of the Boar Hound, which shared more similarities with the Greyhound. Buffon remarked that the Danish climate had caused the Greyhound to become a Grand Danois. Thereafter, the dogs became known as the Great Danish Dog, with the heavier dogs sometimes called Danish Mastiffs. The Danish name stuck-despite the fact that Denmark had nothing whatsoever to do with the development of the breed.

Most fanciers today credit Germany with the well-balanced, elegant Great Dane as we know it. It is known that German nobility imported these English Boar Hounds until the 17th and 18th centuries, by which time they had developed their own breeding stock and no longer needed the imports.

In 1880, a Dr. Bodinus held a meeting in Berlin where judges and breeders agreed that the breed as developed by the Germans was distinctly different from the stockier English Mastiffs and would henceforth be known solely as the Deutsche Dogge, or German Dog. The Deutsche Doggen Club of German was founded, and the name Deutsche Dogge took hold in parts of Europe.

The Germans had a hard time convincing other countries to accept the breed name, however. The Italians to this day call the breed Alano, which means mastiff. In England, the United States and other English-speaking countries, the dogs are called Great Danes.

[Dobified]

Great info !! Thanks !


I love Dane's I want one but hubby says 2 medium sized dogs and 3 cats in the house are enough... I can't imgaine why.

[Dobester]

i like danes but the only thing is they have to many health problens like bone tumors

[DaneGirl2208]

Originally Posted by Americanmastiff

i like danes but the only thing is they have to many health problens like bone tumors

yeah they can have a lot of issues like that mostly wobblers, hip dysplasia and bloat

[DaneGirl2208]

Originally Posted by Dobified

Great info !! Thanks !


I love Dane's I want one but hubby says 2 medium sized dogs and 3 cats in the house are enough... I can't imgaine why.

aww every house should have a Dane

[Dobester]

hey are they really prone to bone tumors has every dog u had have one or there is a chance they can get them what i mean is if every dane or the majority get those tumors oh yea whats there life span

[Danelover]

I love the pic of the fawn dane! If my Libby has a fawn color pup I might be temting to keep it for myself! LOL!!

[pomlover80]

I love Great Danes and loved reading about them...thanks for posting that