With it's giant size and extremely gentle temperment, Great Danes are commonly known as "Gentle Giants". Second in height only to the Irish Wolfhound, the Great Dane is one of the largest dogs known. Amazingly, even with their size and power they are gentle and reserved. Tall, muscular, and surprisingly graceful, the Great Dane is a real attention-getter. A walk at the park, or down the street will garner attention from many strangers. My Dane likes to hold onto her leash as we take our walks -- which is usually met with responses such as "Who's walking who?" Some other common questions are: "Is that a horse?", "Where's the saddle?", "How much does she eat?". To the last question I typically reply, "as much as she wants!" Most Danes enjoy all the attention they can get and usually lean against his or her visiting admirers. To me, if a Dane leans on you -- he/she likes you!
The Dane Home
Great Danes thrive as a family member, always up and alert participating in the families day-to-day routine. Their needs are few: love, food, a soft spot to lie, exercise, another soft spot to lie. Great Dane bonds closely with its human companions, is energetic outdoors and requires minimal exercise. They like some time outdoors (usually with human companions nearby) a few times a day and then back inside to watch TV or lay in a sunny window. It seems surprising to most, but Danes can be some of the best apartment dogs because of their mellow nature.
Being such a tall dog, a Great Dane can easily clear counter tops of any food or morsels if left unattended. Young Danes have a hard time controlling their tail which can easily clear coffee tables of their contents. But with some guidance and love, your Dane will soon learn house rules and be very mellow, lazy when in the house.
It is said that Great Danes seldom bark, usually they emit a low rumble when spooked or alerted. My Dane, probably due to a mistake in my training, is fiercely protective of me and will bark at any passerby she notices. Though the bark is intimidating, Danes will accept strangers in the home by sensing if a visitor is okay with its owner. Sensitive to moods, Danes have been known to scurry off to another room during a quarrel or will show great remorse when it knows it broke a house rule. The Great Dane breed dog is very attentive and aware of every situation.
When living amongst a family, the Great Dane will quickly learn the day to day life and what is normal. If something is threatening, odd, or out of the ordinary, they will become alert, focused and protective. It is said that a Great Dane is capable of ferociously protecting its loved ones as a powerful, fierce defender that will give its life in a fight should it come to that.
The origin of the Great Dane is not entirely clear. Some people believe Great Danes originated from the German Bullenbeisser dogs which were used for hunting wild boar. However, other people believe that they came from breeding a Greyhound with an English Mastiff. The Dane is often called the "Apollo of Dogs".
The Great Dane is a very large, muscular dog. The average height of these dogs is 30 to 34 inches for males and 28 to 32 inches for females. Most of the dogs weigh between 120 to 200 pounds for males and 100 to 130 pounds for females. People tend to like the larger dogs of this species. The Great Dane comes in several different colors, including fawn, brindle, blue, black, mantle harlequin and merle. Merle is not a recognized color though. The largest recorded Dane is in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest dog. "Gibson" measured 42.2 inches at the shoulders!
The ears of the Great Dane are usually cropped in the United States. This is not as common in Europe and is even banned in some other countries. If the ears are not cropped they will hang down.
This dog is extremely kind, sweet, dignified, spirited, brave, friendly, affectionate and is great with children. They are very intelligent, strong dogs who are loyal and protective of their owners. The Dane doesn't bark that much and is not aggressive. However, this dog needs to have obedience training when young so that you can manage it when it gets big. The Dane tends to like to lean on people and needs to be taught not to do that because it could knock people over, especially children. This breed can be fairly difficult to train.
Most large dogs have slow metabolism problems and the Great Dane is no exception. Another problem that this dog shares with large breeds is bloat. This is a very painful twisting of the stomach. It is not that common but does affect Great Danes. If it is not taken care of quickly, the dog will die. Some people have the dog's stomach tacked to prevent bloat. Great Danes also have problems with hip dysplasia, dilated cardiomyopathy and congenital heart diseases. This dog usually does not live very long; most only live to be 10 years old.
This dog does the best if it has a large yard to exercise. While it is inside it is not very active, so it could be kept in an apartment if it was brought out regularly for exercise. It needs to be walked daily.
The Great Dane doesn't require much brushing but you should use dry shampoo when needed so that you won't have to give the dog a bath. Bathing this dog can be very difficult because of their size.
Although this dog is very sweet and loving, it does need lots of training when young so that it doesn't become difficult when it gets larger. It also needs exercise every day. Make sure you can give this dog all it needs before purchasing one.
Both Stacey S & Michael Russell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Stacey S has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dogs, Football and About Branding. Written by Anne L. at . Stacey S's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.
Michael Russell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Celebrities, Dieting and Diabetes Treatment. Michael RussellYour Independent guide to . Michael Russell's top article generates over 2240000 views. to your Favourites.