Different breeds of dogs.

GREAT DANE

by Dennis Fisher

This article is one of a great many articles written by Dennis Fisher about a very wide variety of subjects concerning different  dogs, such as obedience training, breeding, showing, health matters, training problems and other subjects.  All these articles appear on Dennis Fisher's websites.   Visit  http://www.allaboutgermanshepherddogs.com the site that has been set up specifically for German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts, or http://www.freedogadvice.com  if you interested in a breed   other than German Shepherd Dogs

I have owned a number of Great Danes.  In fact I  have a huge, harlequin Dane at the moment that  gets on very well indeed with all my Shepherds. There is no fighting, even among the males.

The Great Dane is certainly one of my favorite breeds – second only to the  German Shepherd.

Great Danes have been termed the “Apollo of Dogs” with complete  justification.   A good, well-bred Great Dane is truly a noble, magnificent creature.

A full sized, mature male can stand as high as 36” at the shoulder and weigh as much as 180 lbs.   A well-bred Great Dane has beautiful, harmonious, muscular symmetry.   Combined with a huge, impressive, bold head the Great Dane presents a very imposing picture.

But the most impressive feature of this giant of dogs is its gentle nature.  It is not surprising that the Great Dane is known as a “gentle giant”.    In spite of his size he is not clumsy.   It is possible to have the Dane live in the house without fear of any damage

The Great Dane is anxious to please and very easy to train. There are of course exceptions and I have had reports of aggressive Great Danes. But in  my experience they are not at all obstinate and respond to commands very quickly.  

I have found Great Danes to be   very responsive, and also very sensitive.  There is seldom any need to reprimand them harshly. Because of this training is a simple process. All that is required is firm but quietly spoken correction.

Because of his tremendous size The Great Dan  is also a very good guard dog with a fearsome bark.   In this regard however, it should be mentioned that the Great Dane matures very slowly.   As a youngster he needs gentle, careful handling to develop his confidence.   He is a sensitive animal and one can only expect his protective instinct to develop as he approaches maturity, sometimes as late as two years.

Another advantage about Great Danes is the fact that in spite of their size, they are they remarkably gentle with children.   They also play very gently with small puppies.

 The Great  Dane is an exceptionally affectionate animals. A common feature of the breed is for  a Dane  to place his head  on your lap, very gently  and display  such obvious delight in your patting he doesn’t want to leave your side.  Danes are also usually friendly to other dogs and even cats.