History

German Hunting Party

Many scientists believe that the highland of Tibet was the original country of all Dane-like dogs.  Assyrians were an extremely cultured people, and marched or sailed along great trade routes where they sold their manufactured goods of silver, gold and other metals, ivory and carpets.  It is certainly not unlikely, that with them went some of the great dogs which had already been known and bred for centuries before in their kingdoms. Evidence of this is the fact that these very large dogs, next seemed to spring up in those trade routes first used by Assyrian businessmen. 

On the other hand, dogs with Dane-like figures, independently of others, existed in the middle of Russia, Poland, and middle Germany.  This has been proven by excavations of big, heavy dog skulls.  Dogs with heavily built bodies lived in those regions where the natural conditions and the necessity of fighting wild animals made life hard to bear. 

            It is also probable that the cultured Romans with their high standards of living were interested in raising purebred dogs for fighting, and also the more slimly built hunting dogs.  For these purposes they imported British dogs who were very famous in that day.  It is reported that these imported dogs were able to break the neck of an ox.  Their ancestry went back to the Mollasian dogs which the Phoenicians had taken to Britain in the 6^th century AD, and, as a result, of their descendants being crossed with the native dogs, the breed became very famous.  They were taken by the Romans to fight in the circus, and in order to procure the best specimens the Roman emperor had a special official called the “Procurator Cynogie” who lived at Winchester.  It was his duty to select both the heavy and more slightly built dogs which were to be exported to Rome.  The broad-jawed dogs who became victors in the Roman circus against the Molossers are mentioned for the 1^st time in AD200 by Gratius Faliscus. 

During the Middle Ages they were crossed with the Great Dogs of Ireland, sometimes called Irish Greyhounds, and this cross brought about hunting dogs whose fame spread the world over in short order.  Immensely favored at Court, these animals were often offered as gifts to visiting Kings and Queens, so great was their worth because they had such beautiful figures.  To kill one meant immediate death for the peasant who would dare to be so foolish.  About AD100 the Cimbern also had broad-jawed dogs for use in war and hunting, and to kill one of them would bring about severe punishment as well. 

            Enormous packs of boars lived in mid-European forests, and not infrequently bears and wolves were included in the princely booty.  The hunters rode on noble horses, and running before them packs of personal and chamber hounds led the hunt.  People from all the surrounding villages were required to serve as drivers for the hunters.  Courage and strength, agility and endurance were demanded of the hounds in those days, and these qualifications made them very valuable. 

Boar hunting was “the” sport of the time in many countries and all who could afford to keep many of these sporting hounds, took great pride in their hunting abilities.  In some countries, there were actually appointed court officials who spent their entire lives traveling the world in hopes of adding the very best dogs available to their master’s kennel at home.  The English hounds were high-legged, strong animals, which had been bred in kingly courts at the beginning of the 15^th and 16^th centuries.  The greatest number of male boar-hounds worked together in the attack to divide the masses of boars so that eventually a group of hounds would drive a single boar toward the hunters who were concealed behind screens.  The most powerful and strongest hounds were chosen for the real attack, being suddenly loosed from behind the screen and sent against the boar.  The dogs would get a firm hold on the beast, and then it was killed by one of the hunters, wither on foot or from horseback, with a so-called boar-spear. 

The training of young boar-hounds began when they were still in the company of old dogs, who taught them how to catch wounded young bears by the ears.  Later on they were exposed to the strong, wild boars, but 1^st they put on protective jackets.  These were sort of bombazine harnesses lined with linen and filled with hair, rags, or fishbones. 

There is a record that Landgrafen (Earl) Philipp in the Habichswald, Reinhardswald and Kaufunger Forest, caught no less than 726 wild boar, an achievement only possible because of the incredible abilities of his Great Hounds. And this didn’t go unnoticed elsewhere in the world since our Philipp, not beyond a little self puffering, wrote to many friends and fellow huntsmen the world over, that in 1559 he bagged 1,120 boars in a season.  He outdid himself in 1563 bagging 2,572 boars in that season.

At the big boar-hunts there were very often more dogs needed than the hunters had available.  This accounts for the fact that all shepherds, in addition to maintaining their own dogs, had to keep a strong male for boar-hunting to be available to the ruling prince upon demand.  Otherwise, their flocks of sheep were taken from them. 

In the 16^th century the Great Danes were most frequently called “English Dogges.”  About the year 1680 when these dogs were bred in great numbers at the German princely courts, the largest and best Danes were called “Chamber Dogs” (Kammerhunde), and they wore gilded collars.  The 2^nd best dogs were called “Life Dogs” (Leibhunde), and wore collars with a silver finish.  All collars were richly trimmed with fringe and padded with velvet.  At a later date all other dogs were known as “English Dogs,” and still later the name Hatzrude replaced the old German word Fanghund.  Fanghund, of course, referred to the work of the Dane, just as did the names Boarhund and Saupacker. 

For thousands of years now, these large, sturdy, strong jawed dogs, had been widely known and were renowned for their courage, stamina and hunting prowess. However, they had out-lived their usefulness in many areas as war dogs and were now being bred to serve other purposes.  For example, we now see their strength and stamina becoming useful as draft animals and put to harness in small carts and yet again, working for their living.  Most notably in many Mediterranean countries where still today, large dogs are used to pull milk wagons and other small carts for their owners.

Many names were continually being used for the Dane until the dog show at Hanover in 1879.  Many breeders met there and decided to call the heavier Danes “Danish Dogs” and the lighter weight Danes “Ulmer Doggen.”  In spite of this decision brindle Danes were often referred to as “Hatzruden” or “Wolf Dogs,” while the fawn-colored and sometimes the blue Great Danes were called “Danish Dogs” regardless of weight.  The year 1880 finally brought the new official name for the Great Dane, and since that date until today in Germany they have been officially known as the “Deutsche Dogge.”  Fanciers also like to call the Great Dane the “Apollo of the Dog World” which is a charming but unofficial title.  In France the Great Dane is known as “Grand Danois,” while in 1892 the English called him the “German Mastiff.” 

The breed became very popular , but during WWI it all but died out.  After the war, Great Danes were again imported, and in 1938 it was stated that the Great Dane was “the most popular large breed in England because if its short coat, protective strength, obedient disposition, and its fondness for children.”  Apart from the exhibitor and breeder owners of Danes in England, there are countless numbers of people who love the breed purely as pets and companions, for true the world over is the old saying that if you once had a Dane, you never want any other kind of dog. 

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