The Great Dane is a tall dog with a moderately deep chest and a square appearance. The dog is well balanced and evenly proportioned.
The Great Dane comes in a range of colours including fawn, black, blue, brindle, mantle and harlequin (white with black torn patches). It is possible to have white or merle dogs however these are not permitted in the show ring so are pet only colours.
A Great Danes ears naturally fold over adn droop along the cheek. Some Danes have cropped ears, where the ears are cut and shaped, the original purpose of cropping was to stop the dogs from having their ears ripped off when chasing wild boars in Germany. Now it is purely cosmetic and outlawed in some countries. Cropping is not done in Australia.
The breed as a rule is gentle and loving with people however like all dogs there are exceptions. Like all dogs they should never be left unsupervised with young children, this is mainly due to their size, a 50kg dog can easily and accidentally knock down and hurt a small child.
Obedience training should be undertaken with this breed as with any. One can easily imagine the problems a large uncontrolled Great Dane could cause.
Most importantly the Great Dane is a people dog and is happiest when spending time with his human family. They can get destructive if left alone for long periods of time due to getting lonely and bored.
The Great Dane must be fed adequately for its size. It is a large dog and needs a healthy diet to enable it to live a healthy life. They must not be allowed to get overweight though. Exercise should be limited for the first 12 months of the puppies life as they are doing so much growing in this period that they can be easily injured. Once your dog reaches 12 months you can slowly increase your exercise routine till it is at a level to maintain a healthy active dog.
Large dogs similar in appearance to Great Danes have been recorded in artwork from many regions including Egypt, China, Rome and Greece. Some dating back possibly as far as 3000BC. However the origin of the Great Dane as we see him today comes from Germany from at least 400 years ago.
It is thought that the Great Dane was probably derived mainly from a cross between the Irish Wolfhound and the English Mastiff. He was developed in Germany to hunt wild boar and other large game.
Canine Control Council Queensland
Great Dane Breed Standard
greatdane.com.au
Great Dane Club of Victoria
Danes Online
Eastern and Coastal Region of NSW Great Dane Club
The Great Dane Society of Qld.
