Great Dane

The Great Dane (18th Cent. French: Grand Danois), also known as Deutsche Dogge (German: Deutsche Dogge) or Danish Hound (German: Dänischer Hund), 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 109 cm (43 in) from paw to shoulder; 220 cm (7.2 ft) from head to tail, is George.

The Great Dane’s size attracts attention and offers instant protection -- no one will guess what a sweetheart he is on the inside. The Great Dane is a real family companion. He wants to share the couch and help you watch TV.

As puppies, Great Danes can knock over small tables and large children. As adults they can clear a coffee table with a swipe of a tail. Although he may sometimes seem like a bull in a china shop, the biggest thing about the Great Dane isn’t his formidable size (up to 175 pounds), but his heart. He may have been bred to hunt ferocious boars and guard estates, but these days, this tall and elegant dog is better suited to life as a lover, not a fighter. If you’re looking for a gentle giant, this may well be the dog for you.

His size may seem to require its own zip code, but the Dane’s calm nature makes him more suitable to apartment living than many a more anxious or active breed. While puppyhood may be a challenge in an apartment, a well-socialized and well-trained Dane will be perfectly content to have one good 10 or 20-minute walk a day for his exercise.

Because Great Danes have protective natures when their families are involved, it’s essential to teach young dogs not to jump up on people and that nipping or any act of aggression is not allowed. What tends to be laughed off in a tiny dog is no laughing matter in a full-grown dog of this size. Let the Dane’s size itself serve as a deterrent and never encourage aggressive behavior.

While most Great Danes aren't nuisance barkers, if allowed to develop barking as a habit, they’ll have what's probably the loudest, deepest, most far-carrying bark of any canine. (There’s a reason that a Great Dane led the Twilight Bark to get the news of missing puppies into the countryside in the classic movie “101 Dalmatians.”)

Many Great Danes have cropped ears, but that look seems to be on the wane, even in the show ring, where “natural ears” are now allowed. While there are still people who defend this cosmetic procedure, ear cropping has no benefit to the dog whatsoever, and it is a painful fashion that most of the civilized world has outlawed. As for grooming, Dane owners get off relatively easy. The short coat is easy to care for, although the Dane does shed and it can seem like a lot of hair since he’s a lot of dog.

What you'll save on grooming bills you'll more than spend on food, since these giant dogs need a lot of fuel, particularly when they're growing. Although overfeeding is not healthy for any dog, it’s especially important in a Great Dane puppy since rapid growth can contribute to skeletal problems including arthritis. Put aside extra time for clean-up, by the way, since much of what goes in must come out, in rather alarming quantities.

Other Fun Facts
The Great Dane’s height and weight place him among the largest breeds. Only the Irish Wolfhound is taller, and a few Mastiffs may outweigh him. Teach puppies never to jump on people.
This giant breed is apartment-friendly because of his quiet, inactive nature, but before you move him into a place with stairs, think about how you would get him in and out if he were injured or ill and couldn’t manage them on his own.
The Great Dane’s coat colors include brindle, fawn, blue, black, harlequin (white with black patches) and mantle (black and white with a solid black “blanket” over the body).
The Great Dane is easy to groom, but he does shed. He also drools, so get in the habit of carrying a hand towel to wipe up slobber.
Great Danes are flatulent, but they give you someone to blame your own emissions on.

The History of Great Danes
The Great Dane originated not in Denmark, as you might think, but in Germany, where he is known as the Deutsche Dogge. Breeds in his background are thought to include the Irish Wolfhound, from whom he gets his height, the Mastiff, who contributed heft, and the Greyhound, responsible for his sleek physique.

He was designed to hunt boar and at the time was as ferocious as his tusked adversary. Later, he was often found as an estate guardian.

In 1876 the Great Dane was named the national dog of Germany, but he came to be appreciated in other countries as well, including the United States. Today, the Great Dane ranks 17 th among the breeds registered by the American Kennel Club, up from 28 th in 2000. With his gentle nature and giant stature, it’s no wonder that many people love this interesting dog.

Great Dane Temperament and Personality
The Great Dane is often described as a gentle giant, but he is naturally protective when the situation calls for it. He is affectionate and loves people, and those qualities should never be perverted by encouraging aggressive behavior.

Great Danes love children, but they must learn how to be gentle around them. And one swipe of that wagging tail will knock a toddler over, so it’s important to supervise their interactions. These big dogs can also learn to get along with other pets, especially when they are raised with them.

A fenced yard is necessary to keep the Great Dane from going out for a stroll on his own. He’s not typically a jumper, so a six-foot fence should be enough to keep him contained. Be aware that while adult Great Danes are pretty laid back, puppies are highly active and enjoy digging and other “landscaping.”

You might think the Great Dane is best suited to life outdoors because of his enormous size, but just the opposite is true. He should be an indoor dog who is part of the family. When that is the case, the Great Dane is loving, learns well, and housetrains easily. Left to his own devices, the amount of destruction he can do to your home and yard is beyond imagination. Don’t let him enlighten you.

Any dog, no matter how nice, can develop obnoxious levels of barking, digging, countersurfing and other undesirable behaviors if he is bored, untrained, or unsupervised. And any dog can be a trial to live with during adolescence. In the case of the Great Dane, the “teen” years can start at six months and continue until the dog is about two years old.

Start training your puppy the day you bring him home. Even at eight weeks old, he is capable of soaking up everything you can teach him. Don’t wait until he is 6 months old to begin training or you will have a more headstrong dog to deal with. If possible, get him into puppy kindergarten class by the time he is 10 to 12 weeks old, and socialize, socialize, socialize. However, be aware that many puppy training classes require certain vaccines (like kennel cough) to be up to date, and many veterinarians recommend limited exposure to other dogs and public places until puppy vaccines (including rabies, distemper and parvovirus) have been completed. In lieu of formal training, you can begin training your puppy at home and socializing him among family and friends until puppy vaccines are completed.

Talk to the breeder, describe exactly what you’re looking for in a dog, and ask for assistance in selecting a puppy. Breeders see the puppies daily and can make uncannily accurate recommendations once they know something about your lifestyle and personality.

The perfect Great Dane doesn’t spring fully formed from the whelping box. He’s a product of his background and breeding. Look for one whose parents have nice personalities and who has been well socialized from early puppyhood.

What You Need to Know About Great Dane Health
All dogs have the potential to develop genetic health problems, just as all people have the potential to inherit a particular disease. Run, don’t walk, from any breeder who does not offer a health guarantee on puppies, who tells you that the breed is 100 percent healthy and has no known problems, or who tells you that her puppies are isolated from the main part of the household for health reasons. A reputable breeder will be honest and open about health problems in the breed and the incidence with which they occur in her lines. The Great Dane is prone to a host of health problems. Here’s a brief rundown of what you should know.

Among the conditions that can affect the Great Dane is bloat, a condition in which the stomach expands with air. This can become the more serious condition, gastric torsion, if the stomach twists on itself, cutting off the blood supply. This is as grave an emergency as you'll ever face with your dog, and immediate surgery is the only thing that can save his life. The Internet is full of home remedies and suggestions for how to avoid that expensive trip to the emergency hospital. Ignore them and head for the veterinarian if you want to save your dog.

Before surgery, ask about having your dog's stomach tacked, a procedure that will prevent it from twisting again in the future. Nearly all dogs that bloat once will do so again, and that surgery can save your dog's life. In fact, many Great Dane owners have it done routinely on all their dogs as a preventive measure.

Also known as gastric dilation-volvulus, gastric torsion is the number one killer of Danes, and they bloat more often than any other breed. According to a Journal of the AVMA study reported in 2000, 5.3 percent of Great Danes exhibited GDV every year of the study. This condition may be at least partly genetic, but there is no screening test for bloat at this time. Your puppy's breeder should be able to give you an idea of how many close relatives of his parents have bloated in the past; the fewer such animals in your puppy's ancestry, the better.

Great Danes also suffer from a high incidence of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle resulting in an enlarged heart. This is very common in many giant dogs, and when it occurs late in life, it is often manageable with medication. Have your dog's heart checked at least once a year, and have any murmurs or unusual symptoms investigated by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist. This condition may be genetic as well, but the testing currently available can only clear the dog for the time being; a dog could test clear one day and develop heart disease the next.

Great Danes can also suffer from hip dysplasia, a crippling malformation of the hip socket that may require costly surgery to repair and that can result in painful arthritis later in life. Another genetic problem with an imperfect screening test, the best prevention for hip dysplasia at this time is to only buy a puppy whose parents both tested with normal hips who have very few close relatives with the disease. Keeping your dog lean, particularly when he's young, can also help.

Another painful bone condition is hypertrophic osteodystrophy, occurring during the rapid growth phase of puppyhood. Ask your veterinarian about puppy foods for large breed dogs. These diets are formulated to help the puppies grow slowly, which can help prevent developmental orthopedic problems.

Cancer is another leading cause of death in Great Danes, particularly bone cancer. They are also prone to a number of other skeletal, vision and neurological problems, both major and minor. Great Dane vet bills, like the dogs themselves, tend to be very, very large.

Not all of these conditions are detectable in a growing puppy, and it is impossible to predict whether an animal will be free of these maladies, which is why you must find a reputable breeder who is committed to breeding the healthiest animals possible. They should be able to produce independent certification that the parents of the dog (and grandparents, etc.) have been screened for common defects and deemed healthy for breeding. That’s where health registries come in.

Before individual Great Danes can be included in the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) database, the Great Dane Club of America requires them to have a hip evaluation from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) or PennHIP; a clearance from the Canine Eye Registry Foundation; an OFA thyroid evaluation from an approved laboratory; and a cardiac evaluation from OFA or the ACVIM Registry of Cardiac Health (ARCH).

Breeders must agree to have all test results, positive or negative, published in the CHIC database. A dog need not receive good or even passing scores on the evaluations to obtain a CHIC number, so CHIC registration alone is not proof of soundness or absence of disease, but all test results are posted on the CHIC website and can be accessed by anyone who wants to check the health of a puppy’s parents. If the breeder tells you she doesn't need to do those tests because she's never had problems in her lines and her dogs have been "vet checked," then you should go find a breeder who is more rigorous about genetic testing.

Careful breeders screen their breeding dogs for genetic disease and breed only the healthiest and best-looking specimens, but sometimes Mother Nature has other ideas and a puppy develops one of these diseases despite good breeding practices. Advances in veterinary medicine mean that in most cases the dogs can still live a good life. If you’re getting a puppy, ask the breeder about the ages of the dogs in her lines and what they died of.

Remember that after you’ve taken a new puppy into your home, you have the power to protect him from one of the most common health problems: obesity. Keeping a Great Dane at an appropriate weight is one of the easiest ways to extend his life. Make the most of your preventive abilities to help ensure a healthier dog for life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dane