Anyone here own a Great Dane?

[wambam]

katietornado - Am I crazy for thinking one of your dogs is a great dane?

[Rainyday]

Uhh they're really big??
Helpful I know.

[Deleted]

My BFF had a dane for a while. Not that this should stop you, but their tails are lethal. She could not keep anything on bookshelves/coffee tables/etc. because he ran around like a buffoon and his happy tail was knocking and breaking shit everywhere. He would bang his tail in one spot so much that it would get bloody and then she had blood stained walls. It was incredible. He was the sweetest thing in the world, though.

[katietornado]

wambam I have a greyhound, but he is enormous

Danes are great dogs. Lazy, generally easygoing. However. They have some horrific health problems. Their average lifespan is terribly short (like 6 years short). They are prone to some really nasty genetic conditions, like dilated cardimyopathy (sudden death), hip dysplasia, and issues associated with their rapid growth (like cervical stenosis, where the bones grow too quickly and can put pressure on the spinal cord, causing leg weakness and pain). A Pestie from the old board lost a Dane to DCM; it was heartbreaking.

I've always loved the idea of getting one, but I've never felt comfortable with the idea of a dog with that short a lifespan. My greyhound is 10 and it's killing me to think that we might only have 2 to 4 more years together (if he lives an average life).  Most Danes don't even see 10 at all.

What is it you're looking for in a dog? A lot of dogs have similar temperaments to Danes but live longer and are healthier (which is precisely why I got a greyhound; they're lazy and easygoing, they perk up for a good walk each day, and they are remarkably healthy since they are bred for racing ability and good nature).

[dirtyred]

They have shorter life spans. They can clear a coffee table or end table of all items with one swipe of their tail.  They think they are lap dogs and will climb all over you and make it hard for you to breathe.  They are generally very good with children.  They can drag you down the street on a walk.  And I double down on the food--they are insanely expensive to feed.  One of my friends has one.

[lexxasaurus]

They are gentle giants and though some think "I can't exercise a huge dog!" they really just want to lay around with you. They aren't overly active, and the ones I've met have been very sweet but they can do a lot of damage when they get excited and fling their big bodies around.

Their life span is short, usually only about 9 years and they are prone to a variety of illnesses (that PPs mentioned above). Hip dysplasia and spinal issues. Bloat and torsion are far more common in the breed but there are ways to decrease that and/or surgical options if it's a worry.

I love them, and I'm waiting for my mom to break down and get another so I can go love on it. She had them growing up and has nothing but good to say about her past pups!

[cookie510]

My mom has one - she is about a year old now and she is a sweetheart. Like PPs have said, they do have a way shorter life span; 6-8 years is not very long.

She's very chill, and kind of dopey. We took her swimming in the river yesterday and after about 15 minutes she was done and just wanted to lay on the beach. She's pretty well behaved, but not a great listener - I'm not sure if that's normal to the breed or just her personality.

And she is huge. Like I can't even describe how much bigger she seems than my mother's mastif/boxer mix. Her her head at the perfect level for stealing things off counters and tables!

She gets a lot of attention when we are out - people are coming up to us all the time to pet her and ask questions about her.

[Alyssa]

Aug 3, 2015 14:38:15 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

They have shorter life spans. They can clear a coffee table or end table of all items with one swipe of their tail.  They think they are lap dogs and will climb all over you and make it hard for you to breathe.  They are generally very good with children.  They can drag you down the street on a walk.  And I double down on the food--they are insanely expensive to feed.  One of my friends has one.

Yes!  I have witnessed this.  My friend's dog took out two drinks with one swipe.....drinks went flying.  Sweet dog though.  He didn't realize his size and would have loved to have been able to be a lap dog because all he wanted to do was lay up against you and snuggle all day.

[AHappierHour]

Aug 3, 2015 14:36:00 GMT -5 @drewly said:

My BFF had a dane for a while. Not that this should stop you, but their tails are lethal. She could not keep anything on bookshelves/coffee tables/etc. because he ran around like a buffoon and his happy tail was knocking and breaking shit everywhere. He would bang his tail in one spot so much that it would get bloody and then she had blood stained walls. It was incredible. He was the sweetest thing in the world, though.

My SIL has 2 and their tails hurt! I got smacked in the leg and it left a bruise. They are very sweet dogs and they love to be cuddled up next to someone on the couch.

[aprilludgate]

MIL and FIL have a Great Dane. He's like a huge teddy bear. He's very kind and playful. FIL takes him to the nursing home every now and then to visit with the residents, and they all love him.

However, I don't think they'll get another Great Dane in the future. I think they'll go with something just a little smaller. Great Danes are such big dogs. It hurts when he steps on your feet, which happens quite a bit because he's pretty clumsy. He slobbers everywhere. Seriously, everywhere.

As far as medical issues, their dog has had a lot of problems with his hips. This probably isn't Great Dane-related, but he also got really depressed when BIL moved out, and they had to put him on antidepressants for awhile.

[Ohhmm(bligo)]

BFFs have one, and we love him.

Keep everything at shoulder reach.

[redheadk]

My ILs have a great dane that they rescued from a neighbor that was going to shoot the dog because he was tired of her. She is the sweetest dog and fantastic with DD. She is incredibly gentle and very cuddly. Cons are that she's a leaner (and heavy), her tail hurts if you get whacked, and she is already looking quite aged at the age of 6 but she had several litters of puppies back to back which I believe is quite hard on them. She minds well, doesn't try to steal things off the counter which is pretty-much nose height for her, and is just generally very, very well-behaved without much effort put into training her. It's just her personality.

[wesleycrusher4ever]

My niece (she's 11) has had a Great Dane for the past 3 years. He is very sweet to her. She's always getting in trouble for letting him sleep in her bed! She walks him, makes rainbow loom bracelets etc. he's really quiet but he does eat a lot and I don't see how you could take him somewhere without an SUV.

[dancingnancy]

Ours will be 2 in a few weeks and we have had her since she was 4 months old. She has no idea how big she is - knocks over things, steps on feet (OUCH). And she gets these burst of energy - zoomies - where she will SPRINT around the house and knock over things and kick up the area rugs. We go through a bag of food about every 3 weeks. We had her get a gastropexy to avoid bloat, and we know of about half a dozen Dane/former Dane owners who had their's live until 11. She is a sweetie and loves affection and the drool is pretty minimal. We were thinking of pugs but they shed so much - our girl sheds, but it is manageable.

[MixedBerryJam]

Aug 3, 2015 14:29:06 GMT -5 AutumnRose25 said:

Boarding and grooming are more expensive, and it is much harder to find friends to just dogsit for you if are going away.

Also, drool.

I don't know anything about great danes, but your  reminded me of how much I resent when the car wash charges me more for a minivan than a sedan (I mean, c'mon. "Mini" is right there in the name!). But I can sort of see the extra charge for a great dane. I bet they eat a ton of food every day. And just think of the wear and tear on the floor!

[egeiger]

cmeon

[2boys2danes]

Well as you can see from my SN I've got two danes We had our last dane who was very small female (85 pounds) and she lived to be 11 years old until we had to put her to sleep. She never had any medical trouble -- seriously ever -- until she just got so old and gray you could tell her quality of life was not good so we sadly had to let her go. She was the best dog. Patient and sweet and definitely thought she was a lap dog.

When she passed our boys were in 4th grade and we decided to go get a new dane and of course they each came back in love with a different puppy so we ended up getting both puppies so now we have two 160 pound great danes. None of ours have ever slobbered much at all (nothing noticeable).

Pros: Sweet, gentle giants, love to be with their people, sleep a lot, sweet disposition, loyal, good with kids, don't bark a lot, did I mention sweet and THE BEST dogs ever?

Cons: everything is more expensive for a large dog, hard to handle on leash sometimes, counter surfers, tails are lethal, serious leaners and can knock you over if not prepared,

Ours currently have a queen size futon mattress as their "dog bed" in our great room. I just buy queen sheets that have a pattern in them and put the fitted sheets on it as a dog bed cover LOL.

I'm almost 50 and we bet that our current danes probably have another 4 or so years left in them (we hope more but its not likely) H and I agreed that our next dog will be on the way smaller side

[dancingnancy]

Aug 3, 2015 19:19:18 GMT -5 al dente said:

Aug 3, 2015 16:00:53 GMT -5 dancingnancy said:

And she gets these burst of energy - zoomies - where she will SPRINT around the house and knock over things and kick up the area rugs.

The visual of this is making me laugh. My little 7lb cat gets the zoomies, I can't imagine a huge Dane doing the same movements lol.

Not my dog, but this YouTube video pretty much sums it up: 
m.youtube.com/watch?v=k3oNc-E6FKM

[mcmel]

A friend has one and although she's the sweetest thing in the world, her tail about brought me to tears several times. It's basically like being whipped with a belt every time the dog is happy.

[elletr13]

My coworker got one through a rescue and he is the sweetest thing. He was so shy and timid when she got got him. He has opened up so much! We're a dog friendly office, so he's there everyday...it is funny to walk down the hall and see this giant head sticking out of a cube. He also goes to the yoga classes we have at lunch. He loves them--he goes around and greats everyone and then lays down on "his" mat (he's a pro at savasana).

[winecat]

I dog sat a pug and Great Dane pair. It was awesome.

[cmeon]

Our girl is just a baby right now- 15wo yesterday. A 3.5mo puppy that is full of bounce, still working on her manners, and happens to weigh ~40lbs (which is on the small end for a Dane pup at her age). As you can imagine, she's a handful.

They're called the heartbreak breed. They are so sweet, they love their people so much- but, they just don't have the longest lifespans (though you can expect to do a little better than 6y with most- plenty make it past 10y).

You will want one that's been socialized with smaller dogs, for sure- our last mini dachsie is 13yo and spends the vast majority of his days on a couch- so he'd not underfoot much. Which is an actual concern when a foot supports >100lbs! Our big dogs love to try to get our little old guy to play, and they're very gentle about it- it's cute.

Check with your insurance company- GDs were actually blackballed by one of the companies we were considering recently, which surprised us a bit.

Weight maintenance is a big deal with the breed- you simply have to keep them lean. Nutrition is really a huge issue with giant breed puppies (under 18m or so), do some extra research there if you end up going that route (I'm always happy to blather on about it). Obedience training is so much more crucial than with the little breeds (which I also consider important).

You will never be able to go anywhere with your dog without attracting a crowd. This really can't be emphasized enough- you will never have a peaceful walk through the neighborhood again.

They have really long, really waggy, really poorly padded tails- if they break them open (which is apparently, not uncommon), they won't stop wagging. Blood bath. Sometimes they require amputation.

Drool is only a problem at meal times for us- it differs dog to dog. But, yeah- it's a fountain, it's gross.

Sorry for such an all over the place post- I have had to get up to attend to an enormous puppy several times. Adult rescues are loads easier in that regard.

[midnightmare81]

We have a lab/Dane mix. He's a 90lb lap dog and spends 99% of his day sleeping on the couch. He loves to swim, but that's the lab part coming out. He doesn't know how big he is but he would have a great temperament with kids once he got over his "OMG I love you and must be on your face all the time" moment of excitement, which could be dangerous. This is something we are working on but he was 7 months when we got him and he had had no training. Very important to start early with them since most of our issues have been trying to teach him his size and how to use his body when he was already large.

The drool is kinda insane with him. It's a freaking water fountain when he (or h or I) eats or drinks. The rest of the time it's just a long string of drool. Lol. We keep a napkin or towel around and have taught him to stay still so we can wipe his mouth.

I know a lot of people mention feeding being expensive and I know it can depend on the dog but ours only eats 1 1/2- 2 cups a day. So not terrible, but we feed a higher quality food and he apparently has a slow metabolism.

He's been healthy so far, nothing that would be special to being a Dane. We do have him insured in the event that something big does happen.

[PeonyParty]

I'll of course just echo what most others have said but I'll add that we were told by a rescue that we needed a minimum 6 ft fenced yard. And as someone else pointed out, they're leaners, so a built in fence would be good. Apparently they will lean against the fence until it eventually falls!
What area are you from? I have a good friend who helps run a Great Dane Rescue in Louisville, KY. Most of their Danes are fostered and therefore good with people and other pets. They also have a few deafies (my friend currently has 2 deafies so that is where his passion is) if you didn't mind having special needs.

[cmeon]

tillie

This one is currently in my sig, taken this weekend- as was the next zoomie one- so just shy of 15wo.


And "tiny" puppy pictures, ~6-7w ago:


 
She's almost 10" taller now than then, and almost 30lbs heavier- in 7 weeks (and seriously, we keep her slim and ribby)!

[jess]

My girl is 4. She is the best dog ever. We have 2 kids under 6 and she is so gentle.

No drooling for her.

Mega shedding

Lots of poop

Lots of food

Totally worth it

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[cmeon]

jess Another floppy eared harlequin girl- she's so pretty! Are both her eyes blue? I love that one giant eyebrow looking marking over her left eye- so funny!

[scottyderp]

I know people with a Great Dane who don't really do anything special, other than have a yard, a bed, bigger bowls, that sort of a thing.

[jess]

Aug 4, 2015 20:54:28 GMT -5 cmeon said:

jess Another floppy eared harlequin girl- she's so pretty! Are both her eyes blue? I love that one giant eyebrow looking marking over her left eye- so funny!

Yeah both blue

Here she is as a baby

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[cville]

My friend's great dane sat on my lap every.single.time I took a seat at her house. Always. Unless the dog was put up, I stood. Apparently she only did it to me. Let me tell you, that flipping dog could crush you! When I'd stand around she'd lean against me and knock me over. But she would let me use her head or back for an armrest, so our relationship was somewhat symbiotic. Sweet, sweet dog. She lived 9 years.