jpy
09-17-2000, 07:58 PM
I admit to writing the other two guides I posted at this thread, but don't blast me for this one, guys.<G> I keep lots of stuff archived & in general like to preserve more than one view of an issue that cannot be answered by facts alone. Think this one was actually British in origin, but not sure. jpy
THE GREAT DANE is a VERY expensive breed to buy keep and probably the MOSTexpensive to breed (esp harls).To purchase a well bred non-harl pet pup costs from $500-1000 normally,
with harl pets costing $1000-2000, if they can be found. Show/breeding-quality animals run $1000-5000, with harls, again, costing more than the other colors. One dane will cost you about the same as two large shepherd sized (80 lb) dogs to keep. Heartworm alone will run over $100 a year & they eat 40-80 lbs of food a month, normaly food costing $20-40 a bag. Medical expenses can be more like a horse or even a human's bills, than your average dog. The standard for Danes ALL OVER THE WORLD is the same but for tiny details. The allowable interpretation is slight (esp. to a novice eye, so there is no such thing as "German Type" & "exotic" or rare colors are not a good thing. Danes are a "fragile" breed, esp. when young & very prone to injury.
They cannot live rough & need careful tending to avoid sickness & injury.
Danes can suffer from 'growing pains' and other growth problems in the first year & their food & exercise must be carefully controlled. Any vet trips are going to be very costly just due to their size & you must think of how you are going to transport a 150 lb. dog who is unable to walk or even unconscious. They are the #1 bloat breed & almost 1/2 of them will bloat--an agonizing condition for which the life-saving corrective surgery will run $2-4,000 (thousand!), & still 50% of those that bloat will die or bloat again. Cancers are also a common problem for the breed, this also due to their enormous size & usually spell death within months. Danes are not full grown until 2-3 & are aged at 5-7 and usually dead by 10 years, so you must accept this shortened lifespan (relative to a small spaniel), and you must carefully rear & keep them under somewhat protected circumstances, esp. when young (first 2-3 years) & old (last 2-3) which leaves you with a fit adult for maybe 2-4 years. This is not exactly most pet owners 'dream' of a dog. DANES are NOT good guards & cannot be trained for attack work as are normally too stranger friendly & submissive to humans in general. They are also a very mild & even timid breed which needs a lot of "face" time & positive training to be acceptable pets, and they are so "soft" as to be ruined by chains & rough techniques of training that are all too commonly seen. A dane is essentially an overgrown lapdog, not a bigger cousin of the Rottweiler.
Although kind & tolerant of children as a rule, they can knock down a toddler, are often too silly to be safe with kids the first year & then too laid back after that for kids to really enjoy (this is NOT a ball-chasing breed). Of couse NO child, even a young teen, can be expected to walk a dog who probably weighs as much or more than his parent. And no child (or group of children) should be left unsupervised with a Dane.
Danes also require expensive and careful thick bedding, must be housed inside, must spend a large amount of time in the company of people (otherwise they are commonly destructive and even self destructive). Outside a dane needs room to run & more than a yard is needed to keep them fit-they need regular walks to keep their health. They must have good springy footing & cannot be kept in concrete runs--pea gravel is best. But this is NOT an outdoor sort of breed, for all its size. They suffer terribly from the heat and cold. They mostly need to be kept indoors a good portion of the day & all of the night.
A house with spacious, large rooms on one level is best--stairs are potentially dangerous for a young dane & small rooms and/or narrow halls
make it awkward to house a dane. And they are NOT for the fastidious housekeeper as they not only shed, but are slobbery, esp. when eating.
You'll need a covered truck or a van to carry a dane--most cars are too small. And they CANNOT be allowed to jump in & out of SUV type vehicles alone as this can cause permanent spine damage.
Danes are an ancient and maybe even archaic breed, intended to be kept on a large estate & are not exactly well adapted to many modern lifestyles. In general if another breed will do, Danes won't do as well. Dane fanciers keep the breed for their equine like beauty & the remarkable gentleness of the breed, so unlike the typical large working dog. They put up with the mess, cost & inconvenience as they adore this breed about all else.
THE GREAT DANE is a VERY expensive breed to buy keep and probably the MOSTexpensive to breed (esp harls).To purchase a well bred non-harl pet pup costs from $500-1000 normally,
with harl pets costing $1000-2000, if they can be found. Show/breeding-quality animals run $1000-5000, with harls, again, costing more than the other colors. One dane will cost you about the same as two large shepherd sized (80 lb) dogs to keep. Heartworm alone will run over $100 a year & they eat 40-80 lbs of food a month, normaly food costing $20-40 a bag. Medical expenses can be more like a horse or even a human's bills, than your average dog. The standard for Danes ALL OVER THE WORLD is the same but for tiny details. The allowable interpretation is slight (esp. to a novice eye, so there is no such thing as "German Type" & "exotic" or rare colors are not a good thing. Danes are a "fragile" breed, esp. when young & very prone to injury.
They cannot live rough & need careful tending to avoid sickness & injury.
Danes can suffer from 'growing pains' and other growth problems in the first year & their food & exercise must be carefully controlled. Any vet trips are going to be very costly just due to their size & you must think of how you are going to transport a 150 lb. dog who is unable to walk or even unconscious. They are the #1 bloat breed & almost 1/2 of them will bloat--an agonizing condition for which the life-saving corrective surgery will run $2-4,000 (thousand!), & still 50% of those that bloat will die or bloat again. Cancers are also a common problem for the breed, this also due to their enormous size & usually spell death within months. Danes are not full grown until 2-3 & are aged at 5-7 and usually dead by 10 years, so you must accept this shortened lifespan (relative to a small spaniel), and you must carefully rear & keep them under somewhat protected circumstances, esp. when young (first 2-3 years) & old (last 2-3) which leaves you with a fit adult for maybe 2-4 years. This is not exactly most pet owners 'dream' of a dog. DANES are NOT good guards & cannot be trained for attack work as are normally too stranger friendly & submissive to humans in general. They are also a very mild & even timid breed which needs a lot of "face" time & positive training to be acceptable pets, and they are so "soft" as to be ruined by chains & rough techniques of training that are all too commonly seen. A dane is essentially an overgrown lapdog, not a bigger cousin of the Rottweiler.
Although kind & tolerant of children as a rule, they can knock down a toddler, are often too silly to be safe with kids the first year & then too laid back after that for kids to really enjoy (this is NOT a ball-chasing breed). Of couse NO child, even a young teen, can be expected to walk a dog who probably weighs as much or more than his parent. And no child (or group of children) should be left unsupervised with a Dane.
Danes also require expensive and careful thick bedding, must be housed inside, must spend a large amount of time in the company of people (otherwise they are commonly destructive and even self destructive). Outside a dane needs room to run & more than a yard is needed to keep them fit-they need regular walks to keep their health. They must have good springy footing & cannot be kept in concrete runs--pea gravel is best. But this is NOT an outdoor sort of breed, for all its size. They suffer terribly from the heat and cold. They mostly need to be kept indoors a good portion of the day & all of the night.
A house with spacious, large rooms on one level is best--stairs are potentially dangerous for a young dane & small rooms and/or narrow halls
make it awkward to house a dane. And they are NOT for the fastidious housekeeper as they not only shed, but are slobbery, esp. when eating.
You'll need a covered truck or a van to carry a dane--most cars are too small. And they CANNOT be allowed to jump in & out of SUV type vehicles alone as this can cause permanent spine damage.
Danes are an ancient and maybe even archaic breed, intended to be kept on a large estate & are not exactly well adapted to many modern lifestyles. In general if another breed will do, Danes won't do as well. Dane fanciers keep the breed for their equine like beauty & the remarkable gentleness of the breed, so unlike the typical large working dog. They put up with the mess, cost & inconvenience as they adore this breed about all else.