GREAT DANE Background

The Great Dane is a breed of domestic dog. It is renowned for being a giant size with a gentle personality.  The Great Dane is known as the "gentle giant" and the "Apollo of all breeds". This breed is also called a German Mastiff. Great Danes are considered to be the tallest breed of dog together with the Irish Wolfhound. In the year 1965, the Great Dane was also named the state dog of Pennsylvania.

It was stated by certain sources that dogs similar to Great Danes were known in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Other sources stated that the Great Dane was developed from the medieval boarhound, and of the Mastiff and Irish Wolfhound lines. This breed may be approximately 400 years old. The Bullenbeisser may be its direct ancestor that composes of approximately 40% of its make-up.

Great Danes should have an approximate weight of 46 to 54 kg, and their height should be between 28 and 32 inches at the withers. It is possible for Great Danes to weigh up to 91 kg. The Guinness Book of Records recognized a Great Dane by the name of "Gibson" from Grass Valley, California, in August 2004 as being the worlds tallest dog, measuring 42.2 inches at the withers.

There are six show-acceptable colors for the coat of Great Danes. These colors include black, blue, brindle, fawn, harlequin, and mantle.

Other colors can occasionally occur, however they are not acceptable in the show ring. These colors include fawnequin, farm mantle, merle, merlequin, amd white.

Cropping the ears of Great Danes is common in the United States; however it is much less common in Europe. This practice is of course, banned in some European countries such as the UK, Denmark, Germany and parts of Australia and New Zealand. Ear cropping was never undertaken in England. The original purposes of ear cropping was to cut the ears to prevent wolves and wild boar from grabbing hold of them.

Great Danes are generally kind towards other dogs, other non-canine pets, wild animals, and humans, including strangers and children. Dominance is something that some Great Danes have a problem with, and they can also be aggressive with other dogs of the same sex. It may also be possible for them to chase small animals, even though this is very rare.

As with most giant dogs, Great Danes have a fairly slow metabolism and like to lay on their cool dog beds. This results in less energy and less food consumption per pound of dog than in small breeds so keep the food in dog food storage containers. Great Danes do experience some health problems that are common in large dogs. Bloat, which is a painful distending and twisting of the stomach formally known as Gastric volvulus, is a critical condition that can lead to death if it is not quickly addressed.

It is recommended Great Danes have their stomachs tacked to the right abdominal wall during routine surgery such as spaying or neutering. However, many veterinarians refuse to do this unless the actual sickness is present in the dog. Elevated food dishes are said to help to prevent bloat by regulating the amount of air that is taken in by the dog whilst it is feeding. The risk of bloat can also be reduced by not undertaking exercise or activity immediately before or after meals. Great Danes rarely live past 10 years of age.