Little Napoleon, the cutest Great Dane to ever walk the Earth, has been with us for a few months now, and in an attempt to see how to keep him happy and healthy, I have learned quite a bit that I wanted to share if you are considering a giant breed.
They are huge
I know, duh. He was so tiny as a puppy he fit in the motorcycle pannier to get home, but I think he will get almost as big as the entire motorcycle. The average height of a Great Dane is around 90cm, 180cm if they stand, and the average weight 120lb. That is a small adult! Think about it when it is time to go on a road trip or take the plane… Most hotels, restaurants, malls.. won’t have them, so they need a temporary home while you are away.
They drool. A lot.
Napoleon drools on the floor as he naps, which can be cleaned easily. But he also loves to show his affection by drooling all over me. All your clothes are stained in a matter of minutes, and if they lick your arms, you are good to go wash as well.
They think they are small.
Little Napoleon seems to think he is a lap dog. So now that I can’t even carry him for two steps, he will come and try to sit on my lap, as before. It will also happen with other dogs, as he tries to play with them, but they are scared away. Smaller but older dogs can get a bit aggressive when he goofily approaches them.
They will bite you just to play which doesn’t hurt but can ruin your outfit, and their big nails will scratch your skin.
They get separation anxiety.
I can’t go get a drink to the kitchen without him following me from the room and back. It is really cute, but if you need to work, they can’t really stay alone at home or they will destroy everything.
Guatemala is great for that as we have staff to take care of him. But if it’s just me and him, he has to go wherever I go or he cries.
They need space.
If you are going to be away, to avoid destruction, they need a safe place to stay. I would never cage him so we can put him in the old hens garden which is around 100sqm in case we go and there is no staff to look after him. At home, you would need to fence part of the garden for the Great Dane if you don’t want to see flower beds destroyed and other disaters.
They are couch potatoes
Aside from loving to follow me on walks, runs and beer runs, Napoleon spends most of his days laying at my feet. He goes play in the water for a while, or chases the ducks, but that’s about it. If you want an active dog, look for another race. That says, it is heaven when he sleeps for the full 8 hour ride to Guatemala City without asking for food or a bathroom break.
They eat a lot.
Great Danes eat a lot, so they can be really expensive to maintain. A 50lb bag of kibble will last about 3 weeks for adult dogs. I put Napoleon on a raw meat diet, with chicken legs being around $1 a pound here, I am looking at $2-3 per day roughly, to feed him. That’s $100/month. Some people have a lower grocery budget for themselves!
They get health problems.
Wikipedia says Great Danes live 6 to 8 years due to their rapid growth, as they generally develop joint problems, experience bone pain, and bloat. That means a higher vet bill for you, and probably a shorter lifespan than other dogs, although I have read about Danes living 10 years.
They are harder to handle
If you are patient, you can train them fairly well. But it is harder to bathe a bigger dog, and I have looked into nail trimming and teeth cleaning as well, for which you need a special brush and beef or chicken flavored dog toothpaste (with yours the dog will get sick), and putting your fingers in that big mouth is a challenge. I bathe him in the lake but can’t really imagine having to do it in a shower cubicle.
They are adorable.
At least Napoleon is. He is sweet, gentle, always up for a walk, rarely hyper, and in spite of his goofiness he behaves quite well with no training. I mean, do you know many dogs who will self-walk themselves with their leash in their mouth? 
Napoleon is the cutest 🙂 I got chosen by a pomeranian-chihuahua mix, he has lots of pros and some cons, as have all dogs, I guess. First of all, he’s tiny, 6kg, so you can pick him up and carry/ take him anywhere. He’s really clever, he comes from a shelter in Romania but stopped peeing in the house on day 2. On day 4 I took him to the airport to wave my boyfriend off, he keeps absolutely cool on the underground, suburban, train, bus, tram etc.
He barks occasionally and had problems with separation anxiety, too. He even tried to crawl on my lap when I was using the toilet (and then peed all over a new package of toilet paper when I shoved him down from my lap). I tired him out and tried to make him realise I would always come back for him. I got dressed, left the flat, waited for a minute and went back in. I did that ver and over again, slowly stretching the time I was out to about five minutes (as to dogs it doesn’t really matter if you stay away for two hours or two minutes). Took us about half an hour, an hour tops and we’ve never had any problems with anxiety since. Maybe this works on Napoleon, too 😉
Yes, thanks for the tip, I will try that. 6kg seems much better for travel! I am happy he doesn’t get sick in the car and can drive 8 hours with him sleeping for 7 hours but public transportation is a no go.
I have a smaller grocery budget than Napoleon! That’s cute about his separation anxiety. And my parents have always had golden retrievers. They’re ALWAYS happy and very gentle. I think it works out well because my family I think is stress-prone (I think we almost all have some sort of anxiety issues). The dog sort of melts that stress away.
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They are much cheaper than relaxing drugs! Actually I found some cheaper cuts the butcher discards for human consumption, plus lungs, liver, heart… so I am more around $1 a day now, but still quite a lot.
Napolean is beyond cute! I love big breeds, they are so much calmer and sweeter (usually) than the smaller, more hyper breeds. Frugal Hound is nowhere near as big as a Dane (she’s only 59 lbs), but, she’s a pretty tall dog. I love that Napolean thinks he’s a lap dog! Too adorable.
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What a sweet baby! My sister has four-very large breed dogs. She would love to see his picture!
Thank you so much for the on spot advice about Great Danes. They are a majestic breed and have all they special needs you have mentioned !
In addition, you definitely want to socialize them when they’re young! Same goes for training. They’re definitely gentle giants though. My baby boy turned a year in April. (:
I have been blessed with five Great Danes in my life. A 140 lb. Blue Dane
named Cleo that liked 16 days of being 11 when she passed. A 156 lb Blue Merle named Ellie Mae that lived to 10 and a half. A 158 lb. Harlequin named Jasper Jazz who passed at 10. A 185 lb, Black mask Fawn named Winston B. Coltrane who was the love of my life and who gave me 6 and a half years of the greatest love of all time. (my baby), And now a new little face, Shadow. He is 9 mts old and solid black with four white socks. He is sitting on top on me right now and very puastkm,,,whoops, likw I was saying before he knocked the laptop off the bed, he is very put out with me giving all my time to something besides him. dkjfkla;;flkj ,, there he goes again. I suppose I will go. They get their feelings hurt easy. One more thing. The Great Dane is the greatest dog of all time for this family. The are precious giants! So much love, The article was dead on! Thanks for the smile I got while reading it.
Pam,
I am a new Great Dane mother. I would love to hear about the diet plans and routines you have for your babies. We’ve recently read about wobblers and knuckling, which terrified us. Do you have any advice?
I have a male and a female Great Dane both black. The female is twelve, the male is eleven and they still enjoy going on long walks.
I have a 2 months old Merle, his name is Sax and I am crazy about him, however when I think his life is going to be short compared to other breeds, I panic and kind of cry, when I picture my dogs passing, I am so scared thinking how I’m going to get over it!!! And then I come up with these thoughts of what’s the point of having a furry love if they are going to go relatively fast, Am I going to get over it??? .. Crazy I know! But any thoughts are welcome 🙂 thanks for the article!!
I get comfort reading about Danes that live for 10+ years. It is an average, if yours is well fed and happy changes are he’ll have a long life.
I have had Danes for more than 30 years now. I have never lost a Dane in the “average range” life span. Mine, for the most part, have lived into ripe old age. (If you think that puppies are sweet — wait until you have lived with an old soul!). 11, 12, 15, and 1 just turned 16!
But my experience shows that if your Dane lives to 3, then he or she is already well on the way to old age.
Many old timers are made before they are born — responsible breeders – breed responsibly. Too simple to say… The great breeder knows every thing possible to know about the lineages health history. They they know that the standard should support god health and interpret it that way. The know the history of the breed and and recognize the pitfalls – and try not to fall into those pits. The breeder waits until their bitch or dog are adults (please at least 2 years) so that they know what this animal looks like and how her (his) temperament fairs against the Great Danes of the world. (didn’t mean to sound all ‘high-falutin’. Breeders today have a wealth of resources available to them prior to breeding, they used to only have conformation (dog shows) to prove their animals worth to the breed; now they can certify the breeding pair as being fit for breeding (at that time), with medical testing, (skeletal and eyes for instance) and temperament testing. Even when the stud dog is all the way across the continent — the breeder will have evidence of testing if it is done.
The last thing that I can think of is that the breeder should “be there” — Be there at the other end of the phone when you have questions, concerns or just funny Dane stories. And ‘be there’ to help if, god forbid, something happens in your family that makes it impossible for you to keep your pup.
Now that I sound too preachy — please love your dog, if this is your first Dane — meet other Dane people — read everything you can about the breed….if your breeder is not close by, find a mentor who loves talking about Great Danes
I have had 3 danes in my life. Clydro Bodean was a Harlequin and lived to be 11. Cash was a Harlequin and lived to be 10. My current is a Blue Dane named Belle. She is 6 and my sweet baby girl. None of my Danes have had separation issues. All 3 were rescues and all 3 have been kennel trained. That is their second home and because of small children, a safe haven. Belle gets in her kennel every night at 9:30. That is her bedtime. My other 2 danes were the same way. They are amazing dogs. I heard and have kept the following in my heart when saying goodbye. Danes live a shorter life because they already know the true meaning of life and love unconditionally with their whole heart.
That is beautiful and very true
My Great Dane bitch is 14 years old!!! We love her to bits and so far the only health issues we have had is arthritis in her front legs which is manageable.
Wow that’s amazing I really hope I get 14 years too.
My husband and I had to put down our 5 year old harlequin Dane, Boomer, last year due to bloat and it still hurts even a year later. A precious breed and I will always hold him in my heart. It was too sad for me to get another Dane, as we felt like none could match up to him, so we have recently gotten a Goldendoodle that has been a fun addition to the family. ?
I have a 3 month old Great Dane. I came looking for an article to give me some tips! I found yours. Thanks for sharing your experience. My Great Dane is not drooly. But my goodness, he gets me with those nails! And he insists on putting a paw on you at all times. If anyone is laying on the floor, look out because my Great Dane will sit right on your back.
He sleeps most of the day; following me around room to room and plopping down for a nap.
He enjoys other dogs but they tend to be rough with him. He mostly enjoys meeting new people.
We bought a big crate for him and put it in the kitchen but we never shut the door unless we are mopping. He insists that the mop is moving around to play with him. He repeatedly slips on the wet tile and really hurts himself. So, in the crate he goes.
He sleeps with my daughter.
He wasn’t potty trained until 12 weeks. But he caught on quickly. He mouths us when he gets excited and it can hurt. So we usually find a stuffed animal and put it in his mouth to chew on.
He steps on our feet because he wants to make sure he is sitting as close as possible.
He ‘barks’ and runs in his sleep. Twitching all over the place.
He is not a vocal dog but will grumble and moo like a cow if messed with while he’s napping.
He’s pretty much slept through the night every night since we brought him home.
He doesn’t like water. We have a swimming pool and he avoids it at all costs. We take him in the shower with us once or twice a week to give him a warm water rinse.
He likes to dig in the garden, but since we don’t have anything growing in this barren California desert, it’s not a problem.
He enjoys a short 15 minute walk in the morning or evening and a few romps at the dog park a week.
He gets hot quickly in our 90/100 degree summer days as he is all black so we avoid midday sun and seek the shade.
Some days he’ll eat 4 cups of kibble and a cup of raw meat, and some days he hardly eats at all. We just let him free feed so the urgency isn’t there.
Inside his ears get gross fast and sometimes when he poops, he accidentally steps on it. He doesn’t life his leg too pee, he squats and sometimes pees on his own front feet.
Overall, I love him.
I am currently on my number 4 The last Girl lived until 10 1/2 My newest one is a 8 wk old Harlequin. These are the most loving intelligent dogs that I have ever owned. Chewing can be easily deterred by making sure as with any Pup or young dog they have things to chew besides your house.. yes bloat can occur but can also be prevented in many ways when a female is spaide you can have her stomach sutured u also need to keep trash cans and food that can be gulped out of temptation elevate food bowls and definitely educate yourself on the signs and symptoms of bloat ur Danes life may depend on it My Brindle developed it and Thank God I caught it early and her life saved.. I have never had a Dane that slobbers all the time.. And Danes do need exercise everyday and yes they do get BIG but if you have a couch you have enough room for a Great Danes.. I swore after I lost my girl a year and a half ago I would never have anymore But my home was empty without one They love everybody and everything that comes through ur door My baby ducks got out one day and I found them sleeping in the living room with Her. Gentle Giants… I don’t agree with the raw meat ur inviting parasites into ur dogs system and you should realize if your going to have a big dog they will require more food if you can’t afford them don’t think about getting them as Far as their health problems You take that chance with any Dog just because they r prone to the issues doesn’t mean they r going to end up with them