Breed Information

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=125 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="0737d752egerdp.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>Alamo Great Dane Club, Inc.</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" >     </FONT>|     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alamo Great Dane Club, Inc."><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mission Statement"><U>Mission Statement</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meeting Show Info"><U>Meeting & Show Info</U></A>   |   <B>Breed Information</B>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Membership"><U>Membership</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Show News Photos"><U>Show News & Photos</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Candid Photos"><U>Candid Photos</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Info"><U>Contact Info</U></A></div> <div> Breed Information</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Click for  <A HREF="#basic_history" TITLE="Breed Information"><U>Basic History</U></A>    |   <A HREF="#breed_standard_as_set_forth_by_the" TITLE="Breed Information"><U>Breed Standard</U></A>   |   <A HREF="#common_ailments" TITLE="Breed Information"><U>Common Ailments</U></A></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a7011800000000.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><A NAME="basic_history"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>Basic History<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><IMG SRC="07baffa0.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="250" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="2" VSPACE="2"></FONT></div> <div> Often called the Apollo of dogs, the Great Dane can trace its paw-prints as far back as time of the Egyptians. Drawings of dogs resembling Great Danes were found on Egyptian monuments dating from 3,000 B.C., and artifacts found in Babylonian temples built about 2,000 B.C. include a relief-plate showing Assyrian men walking huge, Dane like dogs on stout leashes. The dogs depicted have the same massive body and long, powerful legs as today's Great Dane. Some zoologists believe that all Dane-type dogs originated in the highlands of Tibet. There is great similarity between the Tibetan Mastiffs that lived at the base of the Himalayas and the Dane like dogs of the Assyrians. The zoologists' belief gains credibility in that the earliest written report of dogs strongly similar in type to the Great Dane appeared in Chinese literature in 1121 B.C.</div> <bR> <div> The highly cultured Assyrians traded their dogs to the Greeks and Romans along with other goods they manufactured. The Romans in turn bred the Assyrian dogs to British dogs they also acquired. Thus it appears both the Tibetan and English Mastiffs are forbears of the Great Dane. There was some debate as to whether the Irish Wolfhound or Irish Greyhound played a secondary role in the Dane's development. <IMG SRC="0929feb0.jpg" border=0 width="159" height="235" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The French naturalist Comte de Buffon, who lived during the 1700s, thought the Irish Wolfhound was the primary ancestor of the Dane because the Celts had taken some of the huge dogs from the Romans and English to Ireland where they were bred to the native Irish Wolfhounds. But Baron Georges Cuview, an anatomist who lived from the late 1700s thought it was the early result of an English Mastiff and Irish Wolfhound cross. The earliest Danelike dogs were called Boar Hounds, for the prey that hunted, but by the 16th century they were known as English Dogges. Around 1680, when German noblemen were breeding great numbers of the dogs, the biggest and most handsome dogs were kept inside their homes. These dogs were called Kammerhunde, meaning Chamber Dogs. These pampered pets wore gilded collars trimmed with fringe and padded with velvet. Buffon gave the breed the name it's known by today. While traveling in Denmark, he saw the slimmer variety of the Boar Hound, which shared more similarities with the Greyhound. Buffon remarked that the Danish climate had caused the Greyhound to become a Grand Danois. Thereafter, the dogs became known as the Great Danish Dog, with the heavier dogs sometimes called Danish Mastiffs. The Danish name stuck-despite the fact that Denmark had nothing whatsoever to do with the development of the breed.</div> <bR> <div> German Influence. <IMG SRC="083b09f0.jpg" border=0 width="176" height="159" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="2" VSPACE="2">Most fanciers today credit Germany with the well-balanced, elegant Great Dane as we know it. It is known that German nobility imported these English Boar Hounds until the 17th and 18th centuries, by which time they had developed their own breeding stock and no longer needed the imports. In 1880, a Dr. Bodinus held a meeting in Berlin where judges and breeders agreed that the breed as developed by the Germans was distinctly different from the stockier English Mastiffs and would henceforth be known solely as the Deutsche Dogge, or German Dog. The Deutsche Doggen Club of Germany was founded, and the name Deutsche Dogge took hold in parts of Europe. The Germans had a hard time convincing other countries to accept the breed name, however. The Italians to this day call the breed Alano, which means mastiff. In England, the United States and other English-speaking countries, the dogs are called Great Danes.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a7011800000000.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><A NAME="breed_standard_as_set_forth_by_the"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>Breed Standard as set forth by the American Kennel Club:</div> <bR> <div> <B>General Appearance</B></div> <div> The Great Dane combines, in its regal appearance, dignity, strength and elegance with great size and a powerful, well-formed, smoothly muscled body. It is one of the giant working breeds, but is unique in that its general conformation must be so well balanced that it never appears clumsy, and shall move with a long reach and powerful drive. It is always a unit-the Apollo of dogs. A Great Dane must be spirited, courageous, never timid; always friendly and dependable. This physical and mental combination is the characteristic which gives the Great Dane the majesty possessed by no other breed. It is particularly true of this breed that there is an impression of great masculinity in dogs, as compared to an impression of femininity in bitches. Lack of true Dane breed type, as defined in this standard, is a serious fault.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Size, Proportion, Substance</B></div> <div> The male should appear more massive throughout than the bitch, with larger frame and heavier bone. In the ratio between length and height, the Great Dane should be square. In bitches, a somewhat longer body is permissible, providing she is well proportioned to her height. Coarseness or lack of substance are equally undesirable. The male shall not be less than 30 inches at the shoulders, but it is preferable that he be 32 inches or more, providing he is well proportioned to his height. The female shall not be less than 28 inches at the shoulders, but it is preferable that she be 30 inches or more, providing she is well proportioned to her height. Danes under minimum height must be disqualified.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Head</B></div> <div> The head shall be rectangular, long, distinguished, expressive, finely chiseled, especially below the eyes. Seen from the side, the Dane’s forehead must be sharply set off from the bridge of the nose, (a strongly pronounced stop). The plane of the skull and the plane of the muzzle must be straight and parallel to one another. The skull plane under and to the inner point of the eye must slope without any bony protuberance in a smooth line to a full square jaw with a deep muzzle (fluttering lips are undesirable). The masculinity of the male is very pronounced in structural appearance of the head. The bitch’s head is more delicately formed. Seen from the top, the skull should have parallel sides and the bridge of the nose should be as broad as possible. The cheek muscles should not be prominent. The length from the tip of the nose to the center of the stop should be equal to the length from the center of the stop to the rear of the slightly developed occiput. The head should be angular from all sides and should have flat planes with dimensions in proportion to the size of the Dane. Whiskers may be trimmed or left natural. <I><B>Eyes</B></I> shall be medium size, deep set, and dark, with a lively intelligent expression. The eyelids are almond-shaped and relatively tight, with well developed brows. Haws and mongolian eyes are serious faults. In harlequins, the eyes should be dark; light colored eyes, eyes of different colors and walleyes are permitted but not desirable. <I><B>Ears</B></I> shall be high set, medium in size and of moderate thickness, folded forward close to the cheek. The top line of the folded ear should be level with the skull. If cropped, the ear length is in proportion to the size of the head and the ears are carried uniformly erect. <I><B>Nose</B></I> shall be black, except in the blue Dane, where it is a dark blue-black. A black spotted nose is permitted on the harlequin; a pink colored nose is not desirable. A split nose is a disqualification. <I><B>Teeth</B></I> shall be strong, well developed, clean and with full dentition. The incisors of the lower jaw touch very lightly the bottoms of the inner surface of the upper incisors (scissors bite). An undershot jaw is a very serious fault. Overshot or wry bites are serious faults. Even bites, misaligned or crowded incisors are minor faults.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Neck, Topline, Body</B> </div> <div> The neck shall be firm, high set, well arched, long and muscular. From the nape, it should gradually broaden and flow smoothly into the withers. The neck underline should be clean. Withers shall slope smoothly into a short level back with a broad loin. The chest shall be broad, deep and well muscled. The forechest should be well developed without a pronounced sternum. The brisket extends to the elbow, with well sprung ribs. The body underline should be tightly muscled with a well-defined tuck-up.</div> <div> The croup should be broad and very slightly sloping. The tail should be set high and smoothly into the croup, but not quite level with the back, a continuation of the spine. The tail should be broad at the base, tapering uniformly down to the hock joint. At rest, the tail should fall straight. When excited or running, it may curve slightly, but never above the level of the back. A ring or hooked tail is a serious fault. A docked tail is a disqualification.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Forequarters</B></div> <div> The forequarters, viewed from the side, shall be strong and muscular. The shoulder blade must be strong and sloping, forming, as near as possible, a right angle in its articulation with the upper arm. A line from the upper tip of the shoulder to the back of the elbow joint should be perpendicular. The ligaments and muscles holding the shoulder blade to the rib cage must be well developed, firm and securely attached to prevent loose shoulders. The shoulder blade and the upper arm should be the same length. The elbow should be one-half the distance from the withers to the ground. The strong pasterns should slope slightly. The feet should be round and compact with well-arched toes, neither toeing in, toeing out, nor rolling to the inside or outside. The nails should be short, strong and as dark as possible, except that they may be lighter in harlequins. Dewclaws may or may not be removed.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Hindquarters</B></div> <div> The hindquarters shall be strong, broad, muscular and well angulated, with well let down hocks. Seen from the rear, the hock joints appear to be perfectly straight, turned neither toward the inside nor toward the outside. The rear feet should be round and compact, with well-arched toes, neither toeing in nor out. The nails should be short, strong and as dark as possible, except they may be lighter in harlequins. Wolf claws are a serious fault.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Coat</B></div> <div> The coat shall be short, thick and clean with a smooth glossy appearance.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Color, Markings and Patterns </B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Brindle</B></I>--The base color shall be yellow gold and always brindled with strong black cross stripes in a chevron pattern. A black mask is preferred. Black should appear on the eye rims and eyebrows, and may appear on the ears and tail tip. The more intensive the base color and the more distinct and even the brindling, the more preferred will be the color. Too much or too little brindling are equally undesirable. White markings at the chest and toes, black-fronted, dirty colored brindles are not desirable.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Fawn</B></I>--The color shall be yellow gold with a black mask. Black should appear on the eye rims and eyebrows, and may appear on the ears and tail tip. The deep yellow gold must always be given the preference. White markings at the chest and toes, black-fronted dirty colored fawns are not desirable.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Blue</B></I>--The color shall be a pure steel blue. White markings at the chest and toes are not desirable.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Black</B></I>--The color shall be a glossy black. White markings at the chest and toes are not desirable.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Harlequin</B></I>--Base color shall be pure white with black torn patches irregularly and well distributed over the entire body; a pure white neck is preferred. The black patches should never be large enough to give the appearance of a blanket, nor so small as to give a stippled or dappled effect. Eligible, but less desirable, are a few small gray patches, or a white base with single black hairs showing through, which tend to give a salt and pepper or dirty effect.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Mantle</B></I>--The color shall be black and white with a solid black blanket extending over the body; black skull with white muzzle; white blaze is optional; whole white collar is preferred; a white chest; white on part or whole of forelegs and hind legs; white tipped black tail. A small white marking in the blanket is acceptable, as is a break in the white collar.</div> <div> <B>Any variance in color or markings as described above shall be faulted to the extent of the deviation. Any Great Dane which does not fall within the above color classifications must be disqualified.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Gait</B></div> <div> The gait denotes strength and power with long, easy strides resulting in no tossing, rolling or bouncing of the topline or body. The backline shall appear level and parallel to the ground. The long reach should strike the ground below the nose while the head is carried forward. The powerful rear drive should be balanced to the reach. As speed increases, there is a natural tendency for the legs to converge toward the centerline of balance beneath the body. There should be no twisting in or out at the elbow or hock joints.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Temperament</B></div> <div> The Great Dane must be spirited, courageous, always friendly and dependable, and never timid or aggressive.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Disqualifications</B></div> <div> <I>Danes under minimum height.</I></div> <div> <I>Split nose. Docked Tail.</I></div> <div> <I>Any color</I><I> other than those described under "Color, Markings and Patterns." </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a7011800000000.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><A NAME="common_ailments"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>Common Ailments</div> <bR> <div> <B>Bloat</B> - The technical name for bloat is "<B>Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus</B>" ("GDV"). Bloating of the stomach is often related to swallowed air (although food and fluid can also be present). It usually happens when there's an abnormal accumulation of air, fluid, and/or foam in the stomach ("gastric dilatation"). Stress can be a significant contributing factor also. Bloat can occur with or without "volvulus" (twisting). As the stomach swells, it may rotate 90° to 360°, twisting between its fixed attachments at the esophagus (food tube) and at the duodenum (the upper intestine). The twisting stomach traps air, food, and water in the stomach. The bloated stomach obstructs veins in the abdomen, leading to low blood pressure, shock, and damage to internal organs.<B> The combined effect can quickly kill a dog.  </B><I><B>Be prepared! Know in advance what you would do if your dog bloated.</B></I><I> </I> {more info: <A HREF="http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm"><U>http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm</U></A>}</div> <bR> <div> <B>Cancer</B> - Cancer is on the rise not only in humans but our companion animals as well.  The most common form of cancer in the Great Dane is osteosarcoma (bone cancer) which typically happens in the long bones.  {more info: <A HREF="http://www.caninecancer.com/typesofcancr.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.caninecancer.com/typesofcancr"><U>http://www.caninecancer.com/typesofcancr.html</U></A>}</div> <bR> <div> <B>Cardiomyopathy - </B>Heart disease does affect many breeds of dogs, including the Great Dane. {more info: <A HREF="http://www.2ndchance.info/dogdilcardiomyopathy.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.2ndchance.info/dogdilcardiomy"><U>http://www.2ndchance.info/dogdilcardiomyopathy.htm</U></A>}</div> <bR> <div> <B>Hip Dysplasia </B>- Two of the best resources for hip information are <A HREF="http://www.offa.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.offa.org"><U>The Orthopedic Foundation of America</U></A> (OFA) and <A HREF="http://research.vet.upenn.edu/pennhip/HipDysplasia/Introduction/tabid/3337/Default.aspx" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://research.vet.upenn.edu/pennhip/Hi"><U>PennHip</U></A>. Both have diagnostic testing measures for hip and elbow dysplasia.  Please visit their websites for more information. </div> <bR> <div> <B>HOD (Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy</B><B>) </B>-  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" >Once thought to be strictly a problem in giant breeds, HOD is also seen in large and medium size breeds, including Setters, Labrador Retrievers, Doberman Pinschers, Weimaraners, Pointers, German Shepherd Dogs, Collies, Boxers, Basset Hounds, Great Danes, and Borzoi. For article in it's entirety <A HREF="http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0018.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0018.htm"><U>http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0018.htm</U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>