Have you got a Great Dane????????

[louee]

Hi,other thread i had wasnt attractive enough so thought i'd put ful title!!!!! Dh and i have agreed that we will get a Great dane at the mo we have a GSD and Both Dh and i are both very experienced in looking after and training big dogs!! anything i need to know about great danes that i should be looking for ?? also any funny experiences of owning one will be good!!! (by the way have been browsing through Great dane book but all is same as owning any big dog..... any help???

[louee]

bump!!!!!

[PrettyCandles]

No personal experience (we had a Boxer and a cat), but a curious pair of stories:

Friend of my parents' had 3 Great Danes when he got married. Wife wasn't keen on them at all (story, or rather memory, gets a bit confused at this point, because I'm not sure whether she already had a child from a previous relationship, or whether the stories are about the same child). One day, family walking along a river, toddler falls in, dogs leap in after him and bring him safely back to the side. Wife subsequently falls in love with the dogs and all live happily ever after.

When the next baby was born, they didn't need a playpen because the dogs would lie around the baby and be a mobile playpen for it.

Hope you enjoy your GD. I'd love to have a dog again, but dh grew up without any pets and isn't so keen. We'll see...

[PrettyCandles]

Or alternatively, toddler uses them as a walking frame .

[louee]

my Ds already tries to sit on our GSD without much success as the dog just gets up midway!!!!I've always wanted a Great Dane and finally i can have one!!!!!!!

[posyhairdresser]

You need a big house as it is more like having a pony indoors. My friend had one - he was good natured but very clumsy around children. She also had huge vets bills with him - they seem extra prone to various things due to their size.

[swiperfox]

We had a Great Dane crossed with a Bull Mastiff. Basically like the head of the dog from Turner and Hooch (shoelaces and all!!!) on the body of a great dane and he was HUGE!! At 11 months old he could rest his chin on the kitchen worktop lol. Unfortunately he used to knock my 3 year old sister flying everytime he turned lol
Would love to have him again tho

[suedonim]

Dd1's boyfriend's family have two GD's - one harlequin and one brindle. Apart from the fact they take up a lot of room, do giant poos and like to get on your lap, they dribble by the bucketload!

[JanH]

DD1 is visiting us this weekend, with one of her uni housemates (well they're both ex-uni now but still sharing); DD1 stayed at her friend's home last weekend and took some dirty crocks down to the kitchen, not knowing there were any animals in the house at all - opened the door and was met almost face-to-face by an outsize GD nearly as tall as her!!!

She screamed of course but the dog took it very well apparently - says a lot for the temperament! (The youngest in their house is 10 so less likely to be knocked over by flying tail.)

[charleypops]

They're lovely, but don't live very long do they? I think they get circulatory problems because their hearts have to work really hard to keep their huge bodies going

[magnolia1]

I think the average life span is only about 8 years My nans GD had to be put down when she was 7 because of heart problems.
They are really lovely dogs and so loving
I would love one but we only live in a flat so have a cross springer/Staffie instead

[swiperfox]

What does a cross springer/staffie look like?? we used to have a staff a long time ago - they're gorgeous!

[magnolia1]

Her is a link to a pic of her :-)

jesse

[swiperfox]

she's wicked!! Send me her puppies lol

[huppa]

My MIL has one and she (the GD not MIL) is really gentle and calm and I´ve had no worries when I´ve taken the kids to visit. Have to say that there always seems to be something wrong with her, so the vet bills have been pretty horrific. Lovely dog, but I can´t stand the slobber especially when she shakes her head and everyone/thing within a few metres radius gets sprayed.

[TinyGang]

Many years ago I had a boyfriend with a Great Dane called Odin. Slobber? Yes, in huge bucketfulls! Also a very impressive set of tackle which was lovingly licked in front of anyone at anytime (the dog that is, not my boyfriend!)

I wouldn't call myself a big fan of dogs, but he was ok (big compliment, coming from me!). I remember holding his lead and he saw something to chase and my legs didn't touch the ground - why I held on, I don't know!!

[TinyGang]

Oh yes, I remember he didn't live to a very old age (about 6 I think). Boyfriend was gutted. I think despite their size, they're quite delicate dogs really.

[Blackduck]

The slobber is true...friends had a GD - Juno - she could drown you in slob....she was very gentle, and lived til 13 (8 is more usual...) They tend to get quite spindly on the old legs as they get on....Juno used to be able to go upstairs, but would balk at coming down as she got older - took 4 of us to carry her.

[suedonim]

Dd1 says I'm maligning her boyfriend's dogs!! Only one of them slobbers - the one that is blind and has no teeth despite only being 2yo. Dd says it's deranged, completely idiotic!!

[louee]

hey these comments still haven't put me off i'd love a fawn one!!! the dribblier the better!!! shouldn't say that really i've got to clean it up........LMAO!!!!!!

[Mothernature]

louee please read this hope it helps your choice.

[Gizmo]

Oh yeah Louee, just get used to cleaning the ceiling!

I was raised along with a pack of bloodhounds (not quite the same size, but could probably outdribble a Dane). Slobber everywhere: on the ceiling, on the worksurfaces, on our clothes, on the walls. They have a drink, get a wet nose, and then shake themselves in that doggy way, disappearing in a cloud of dust and hair, with slobber shrapnel flying out of the cloud from time to time and hitting everything within a 10 foot range.

I loved it, as I could get as grubby as I liked and no-one cared. Mum didn't seem to mind as cleaning was never her thing - in fact if she got the hoover out the dogs would go and ogle out of the window to see who was coming