Dogs Worldwide

A “gentle giant,” the Great Dane is nothing short of majestic. Sometimes referred to as the “king of dogs,” this extremely large dog breed is known for being strong yet elegant, with a friendly, energetic personality. Striking in the show ring, this breed is also popular as a family pet. Coat colors can be brindle, fawn, blue, black, harlequin and mantle.

The Great Dane has a good disposition and is often refered to as a ‘gentle giant.’ Even though they are one of the largest breeds in the world they are still charming and effectionate, and really do need to be around people. Great Danes have gentle and loving dispositions, making them excellent family companions, but as with all dogs, they should be supervised around young children. Daily exercise is necessary, but their short coats require minimal grooming.

Historians claim that there are drawings of dogs that resemble the Great Dane on Egyptian monuments from roughly 3000 B.C. The earliest written description of a dog resembling the breed can be found in Chinese literature of 1121 B.C. The origins of the Great Dane as we know it today can be traced to the Irish Wolfhound with mixture of old English Mastiff. The breed was originally developed by the Germans to hunt boar, a ferocious animal. When no longer used for hunting, the breed changed to one of a companion and estate guard dog.

Weight: Dogs 120-200 pounds (54-90 kg.) Bitches 100-130 pounds (45-59 kg.) Dogs of even larger size are more prized.

Great Danes have a life expentancy of about ten years although many see their twelth and thirteenth birthday.

Tags: dog breeds, great dane

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 00:16 and is filed under Breeds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.