Great Dane owners - tell me what your dogs are like (bonus points for pictures)?

[RubaiyatOfAnyone]

I am still mulling over a future dog, once smallest dd is no longer on a par with one with house training and dashing away into traffic.

Growing up we had a Jack Russell, English Mastiff, and Boxer (at different times). The terrier was always bad tempered, but I have very loving memories of the Mastiff and wonder if a great big shambling friendly family dog wins out over the enthusiastic-and-boundless-energy Boxer. I was wondering about Great Danes as they are related and I’ve heard good things about their temperament.

Can all you Great Daners tell me what you like (or don’t) about the breed? Alternatively, if anyone can recommend a friendly, reasonably bright, good with kids breed i should look into instead?

Ha! This was an old Dane, but the talk of chickens reminded me of this Great Dane and how I loved watching it, he was funny and goofy.

Funny and goofy has it right. Ans completely unaware of their size. A bouncy lap dog trapped in the body of an adult male

I only looked at the thread for the pics… where are they 😝

Am really enjoying this thread. And was also hoping for more pictures

Doing that "back on and sit on your lap on the sofa thing" ... "totally blocking my view of the tv" ... "and just looking cute".

God they are gorgeous.

Thank you everyone. You’re all right of course, the short life span is the biggest concern. I’d sort of been discounting it because our mastiff lived to 11 and the boxer to 12 but i know they were outliers and we just got lucky. I do love this whole family, they are such nice natured dogs.

Probably right to go with pp’s suggestion of waiting until the youngest is above tail height as well - i had a strong memory of being wacked in the face by an enthusiastically wagging tail as i read that.

Hmmm. Needs mulling some more i think. Probably best if you all just post more pictures whilst i go down a google rabbit hole.

Many, many years ago, I worked in a (thankfully large) library. We had a customer who would fall over. She would bring her two Great Danes in with her as they had been trained to stand so she could lever herself up. Never saw it in action but two Danes at heel was pretty awesome.

I've given in to the pleas for pictures and dug out this one from when my little guy (well...quite large for a dachshund) was staying with his large lady friend. It was nearly 4 years ago when he was 12.5 and she was only a bit younger



Sorry...forgot I need to use the paperclip not c&p
Try that again...

Totally outing but oh well - me and my two best girls. They would have been about 8 & 10 in this photo - the older (brindle) was completely blind for the last year or so of her life but managed remarkably well.

Gorgeous photos all of them x

So gorgeous :)

Beautiful dogs, I absolutely love them and how owners are instantly celebrities with them.

I remember a story where an owner had to carry one over a deer style!

whats bigger; dane or irish wolfhound?!

which is "better" to own? (temprament mostly?)

I knew someone who loved the breed so much she had 7!
Beautiful dogs-so regal,dopey,scared of everything and so gentle and loving
We used to babysit for her kids and I remember doing this over winter-snow thick on the ground-coats and gloves on in the house,while sat under blankets kind of weather
Mum would come home from work to find us sitting on the sofa-blue with the cold as we’d had to open all the windows and doors to let the smell of the dogs farts out
You learnt fast to watch them-you wouldn’t hear it but if you watched carefully you’d see an arse cheek wobble just a tiny bit
We’d then dive for the windows…

Dane or wolf or can be bigger - a lot of natural variation within each but similar overall although different shapes. Ime

Danes very bouncy and dippy, usually affectionate but also good guard dogs. Wolfhounds more aloof, thoughtful although not as extrovert - awful guard dogs. Wolfies brighter and more independent - they live their pack and the kids of their pack above all else. Amazing with children.

I agree Danes fartier with more delicate bowels

My friends GD was very drooly. He also weighed 16 stone so it was bad if he stepped on your foot, which happened a lot. He also tried to sit on some people on the sofa and I for one didn't want a 16 stone dog on my knee! When we were at hers for parties it was like having a drunk 16 stone man there too.

She had a standard 4 bed semi and it just didn't seem big enough for the dog. He developed ankylising spondylitis and died at 6.

I'd say definitely spend some time hanging out with this breed to see if it will fit with your family before taking the plunge. Big is beautiful but there is a flip side to it.

The GD shown upthread who lived into her teens was small for the breed, I believe - maybe that was a good thing? I don't know how much she weighted but I'm sure nowhere near 16st.

Surely 16stone was well overweight? No wonder the dog developed musculoskeletal problems.
My Ridgeback was big for the breed, people often asked if he was a Dane, and he weighed about 7-8 stone. He was very fit and athletic.

Maybe I remember the weight wrong? He didn't seem fat! But it did really hurt when he stood on my foot!!!