The Great Dane

 

The Great Dane is one of the most beautiful and gentle dog breeds. However, it is blessed with a stately size and is therefore not necessarily suitable for every household. There should be a lot of space available and also children should already be bigger and stable.

However, the Great Dane is hardly to be surpassed in gentleness. Who really looks for a stately dog, who knows how to present himself, is well advised with a Great Dane.

Impressive is also the fact that the Great Dane is the official State Dog of the US State of Pennsylvania.

To find in different colors, the Great Dane is a dog, which presents itself at least in its optics very diverse and quite colorful.

However, if you get a Great Dane in your house, you should be aware that despite the affectionate character, you will have a dog that does not submit as easily as many other breeds do. Although she is very attached to her human, she should still be given a good education.

If you consider that with a male dog you have a good 80 centimeters height on the leash and a corresponding weight then it is clear that you could not hold the dog in case of a fall. Therefore, such large breeds should be educated especially well and consistently.

The nature of the Great Dane

The Great Dane is a very gentle dog. It presents itself to humans as well as to other animals as very peaceful and especially affectionate, but also shows a very high stimulus threshold.

With appropriate socialization, the Great Dane is basically also very good to keep together with all other animals. It is a very faithful dog, which would like to be always with its humans and therefore appreciates the togetherness especially. So it is of course also a dog who likes to cuddle on the couch in the evening.

Given the size of these dogs not always optimal but the close contact to humans is very important for the psychological balance of these dogs. Therefore this breed is also suitable as a family dog, its cozy nature and its high stimulus threshold make it an ideal companion for children as well. However, as already mentioned, the children should already be somewhat larger and above all stable.

Above all young mastiffs are not rarely very high-spirited and above all also clumsy. Here it comes again and again to "rear-end collisions" between child and dog. However, not exactly few children have learned to walk on the collar of a Great Dane and thus made their first own steps. Also here the Great Dane is very patient and likes to be used for different things.

The historical background of the Great Dane

The history of the Great Dane is impressively long and can be traced back almost completely to the early 16th century. At that time, at the beginning of the 16th century, strong, high-legged dogs were introduced from England. These had their origin in a crossing from the broad Mastiff with the Irish Wolfhound.

Even if it was not yet an own race with these introduced dogs here, the breeding origin of the Great Dane can be seen in these crossings already. They were also called English Mastiffs at that time and in the course of further breeding the characteristics were solidified.

Primarily, they were to be found at the courts of the princes at that time, where they were used as bear-stag or boar-dogs. Already at that time one was enthusiastic about the stately appearance and the noble appearance. So it came that the most beautiful and noblest of the Great Danes already got a preference at that time. They were called so-called chamber dogs and were allowed to share the sleeping chamber with the prince.

They got splendid camp-places, equipped with bear-fur and different cushions and were regarded not rarely also as status-symbol. While all other mastiffs were simply called English Mastiffs and took their quarters in the stable, the chamber dogs got especially splendid collars, that were not seldom also from gold.

With them a good socialization was paid attention to very much and the princes promised themselves from them or through them of course also special protection from assassins. When in the 19th century hunting as such changed fundamentally through the use of firearms, the Great Danes were of course no longer needed here. So these dogs became more and more rare and were to be found in the end only as so-called lover-dogs.

Only in the middle of the 19th century these dogs found again more attention in the course of the high interest in pedigree dogs. Here they were led however predominantly under the designation of the Ulmer Dogge or the Great Dane.

At the 1863 exhibition in Hamburg as well as at the 1869 exhibition in Altona, both Great Danes were presented under the name Great Dane and those under the name Ulmer Dogge. Although none of the dogs had a descent corresponding to the name, they were led accordingly.

Only in the year 1876 it was recommended to the breeders of the Great Dane as well as the Great Dane of Ulm to agree on the common name of the Great Dane, which was done.

 What demands does the Great Dane make

The Great Dane is a very people-oriented dog, who would love to be with his owner day and night and would like to accompany him everywhere. It would like to be regarded as a full-fledged member of the family and of course it needs an appropriate occupation.

Now the Great Dane is not necessarily one of those dogs that are exhausted at full throttle, but leisurely walks in nature are very much appreciated and a Great Dane also likes to go on longer walks.

It also feels comfortable as a riding companion dog, but will not be very enthusiastic about long gallops. In addition, the Great Dane is of course also happy if he is allowed to enjoy a certain degree of consistency in his upbringing, so it can be ensured that you also have a calm and balanced dog on the leash, which is available in all situations and always keeps his nerves. All in all the Great Dane is a quite uncomplicated dog.

However, the increased space requirements of these animals must be taken into account and the diet should also be carefully adapted to the somewhat sensitive metabolism of these dogs.

The Great Dane and its health

With the health of the Great Dane, not only but nevertheless partially due to wrong breeding, there is a lot in the bad.

So these dogs are very susceptible concerning their bones. Here different degenerative bone diseases occur again and again. The best way to counteract them is to feed them with high quality food, even in puppies and young dogs.

It is also important to always pay attention to the correct ratio of calcium and phosphorus. This ratio should be at least 1.2 to 1, or even better 1.6 to 1.

In addition, there are also many cancers, which unfortunately often lead to death before the age of five. According to studies, 83 percent of all Great Danes do not reach the age of ten and 59 percent of the animals die before the age of eight.

But also typical diseases like HD can be found here. In the area of breeding mistakes, for example, there is a too strong expression of the lips. This is accompanied by particularly strongly drooping eyelids and makes these animals particularly susceptible to conjunctivitis, which develops almost chronically.

When buying a dog, you should always make sure that it comes from a healthy stock of a responsible breeder. Another problem of the Great Dane is the particularly sensitive tail. The dogs hurt this tail very often.

Not only when they hit their tail for example on a door, but also with or through themselves, injuries occur again and again. Unfortunately there are always amputations on the agenda, because the injuries are so severe that the tail cannot be saved.

The perfect human for a Great Dane is....

Insensitive to the drooling of his dog, likes to take long walks in nature and is willing to dedicate a lot of time and love to his dog. He has accordingly much space in house and garden, whereby a Great Dane can also be kept in a correspondingly large apartment.

Besides the owner of a Great Dane should be very affectionate in any case and also want to share his couch with his gentle giant.

Also he must not miss the necessary consequence in the education and should always consider that one cannot force anything with the Great Dane. If you want something from her, you have to show her that this has certain advantages for her as a dog.

In addition, as a human being of a Great Dane, one should also be willing to take on the additional financial burden of correspondingly high quality food and thus be able to offer the dog a healthy and relatively long life.

Buy a Great Dane: Where can you get an animal?

If you decide to get a Great Dane in your family, it is advisable to go to a breeder. Great Dane puppies can be bought from the breeder. There you can get animals with papers and with a good state of health. Great Dane breeders have different breeds of subclasses in their offer, so you will find a great variety.

Conclusion

The Great Dane is a true treasure. He is a real gentle giant who loves to cuddle up and follow his human at every turn. If you want to keep a Great Dane, you have to make sure that there is enough space, not only in your house and garden but also in your car. Where some other dogs fit comfortably into the trunk, it becomes quite narrow for the Great Dane.

But if you pay attention to all the special features of these dogs, you have a great companion, who is not easily disturbed by anything or anybody and who knows how to protect his humans.