Great Dane dog breed

Your Great Dane’s short coat won’t need to be brushed very often as it won’t matt. However, they do shed fur and brushing at least once a week will help to minimise this, as well as keeping the coat and skin clean and healthy. 

You’ll need to bath your Great Dane every six to eight weeks. Their size makes them difficult to bath so it may be best to visit a dog groomer.

While Great Danes are low maintenance when it comes to grooming, they are known to drool a lot. Keep their face and mouth clean with regular wiping.

Great Danes are strong and energetic, so they need quite a bit of exercise to keep them in good shape. Young Great Danes will need 90 minutes of exercise per day, while older big Danes can enjoy up to two hours of exercise a day. 

Whether it’s a brisk walk or a run around the park, Great Danes will thrive outdoors. But be careful to not over-exercise your dog when they are a puppy, as this can affect their joints long term. 

Great Danes are easy to train but can have stubborn moments. They have big bodies and can stand their ground when they don’t want to do as they are told. But they are loyal dogs and will want to please you. Clicker training with food as a reward is an effective training method. 

Puppy toilet training is easy if you give your puppy lots of chances to go to the toilet. With repetition, your Great Dane will be house trained before you know it.

Entropion is an inherited condition where the eyelid rolls inwards towards the eye surface, causing the eyelashes to brush against the eye. This results in scratches, ulcers and very painful eyes. It can also lead to blindness if left untreated.

You should take your Great Dane to the vet if they are squinting, blinking excessively, pawing at their eyes or have discharge from their eyes. There will also be discolouration to the eye surface and their eyes may be watery.

To treat this condition surgery is needed to remove a small piece of skin from the eyelid; this makes the eyelid roll outwards. You Great Dane must be at least six months old to have the surgery because their face hasn’t fully matured until this age. For young dogs, temporary stitches can be used to prevent the eyelashes rubbing on the eye. Your dog will also need eye drops and pain medication.

CHF is when the heart has difficulty pumping blood around the body. The blood backs up and collects in the chest and abdomen, affecting the flow of oxygen around the body. This condition is a result of an underlying inherited heart disease, which means that it can’t be prevented. 

Signs of the condition are often not seen in Great Danes until later in life. They include shortness of breath, increased respiratory and heart rate, weight loss and coughing.

There is no cure for CHF, but you can improve the quality of your Great Dane’s life and hopefully extend it through diet and medication. A low sodium diet will be needed, and your dog’s weight will need to be monitored. Your Great Dane will also need regular vet check-ups to monitor their heart and respiratory rate.

In this condition, the spinal cord in the neck is compressed by defects in the backbone and tissue, causing causes pain and damage to the nerves. The defects range from the shape of the bones to the way they join the ligaments and the discs.

Affected Great Danes will suffer from stiffness and pain in the neck, lameness, weakness and wobbling whilst walking. It can also cause partial or complete paralysis. First signs of this condition include scuffing nails on the floor when walking, difficulty getting up and hindlimb weakness.

If untreated, the condition will get worse and can cause permanent paralysis. Surgery is needed to improve the dog’s quality of life. But it can be time consuming, difficult and expensive. It’s also not often an option for older dogs because of the associated risks.

GDV, or bloating, is a severe condition that often affects Great Danes. It occurs when the stomach bloats and twists around itself, filling with gas and cutting off blood supply.  

Great Danes with GDV will experience a bloating (a swollen belly), retching, excessive dropping, pale gums and stomach pain. Symptoms typically start very suddenly and rapidly get worse. Dogs that have eaten or drunk a lot are more at risk of GDV.
 
Treatment for GDV can involve a fluid drip or pain relief. In severe cases, your Great Dane will need an operation to untwist their stomach, and their spleen may need to be removed if it’s been badly damaged.

Great Danes have a shorter lifespan than smaller breeds, with a life expectancy of around eight to 10 years.

A fully-grown Great Dane can reach a height of around 81 cm and weigh up to 59 kg. By the time a Great Dane puppy is two months old, it will weigh 8 – 12 kg and be 33 – 45 cm tall. That’s the same size as some adult dog breeds.

Great Danes were bred in Germany to protect property and hunt wild boar. Their height and weight make them powerful dogs that can be dangerous. But they are gentle giants at heart. With training and socialisation, they’re very unlikely show signs of aggression to people or other animals.

Like all dogs, Great Dane training takes time and patience. Clicker training and food rewards will help, but repetition is key, and it’s important not to overfeed them. Practice commands every day for quick success.