AMERICAN DANES
Overall, I’m not pleased with the state of Great Danes in America. They’ve become either tiny and delicate, or disproportionately tall and scrawny. When I was young it was typical for even a fawn male, which tends to be smaller than say a mantle, to weigh in about 170 pounds.
This is a nice quality Dane here, but still very small and to my eye, insubstantial for an intact male. Back in the day, ya didn’t see the average Dane with long chicken legs, snipey heads, and narrow chests outside of poor quality puppy mills. It’s hard to find even a good male like the one in this pic these days.
I believe the rewarding of AKC show judges for “elegant” and “refined” has weakened the Great Dane overall. My opinion, for what it’s worth. And the explosion of uninformed pet owners that breed without a clue to what makes a truly beautiful, sound Dane has made the selection of Great Danes a frustrating experience for anyone who remembers what Danes used to look like, move like, and their former longevity.
It’s been 40 yrs since I met my first Dane, and the widespread weenie-ness of Great Danes I see these days sent me looking for European bloodlines a few years ago. The European breeders have generally maintained the working dog body: shorter, heavy boned, muscluar and athletic Dane.
This intact brindle is more like what I remember, and what I admire as the traditional standard. This dog could work for years and never wear out. If he could pull a cart, he could pull me up a steep slope once in awhile without developing arthritis at 5 yrs old.
My philosophy is a dog was created to work for and with humans. Once upon a time, they weren’t accessories, not intended for nothing more than to be well, decorative. Since I need a Dane that can work, can bear weight, can carry a pack, I cannot have a delicate decoration.
That being said, there are some American Breeders with strong, well built, substantial dogs to choose from. And I’ve stuck to the desire for ENS and rules of seven socializing that the breeder must do before an 8 wk old comes home with me. I will certainly clicker train, and use the “Control Unleashed Puppy” once I get them, but the breeder has as much or more to do with a pups future success than most people realize.
My American Breeder Choices
Saravilla Danes has American Danes, with the harl lines, which produce harlequins, mantles, and occasional blacks. They also work with ChromaDane, who won’t have pups available even next year. They are excellent breeders using ENS and other socializing techniques in their pre-7wk old puppies.
http://saravillagreatdanes.com/
There is nothing insubstantial about their dogs, and I like that. Unfortunately I don’t prefer the harl/mantle color for Danes, just as a matter of personal tastes. But if their dogs have the goods for a working dog, I gotta put on my big girl panties and care less about superficial stuff like coat color.
Saravilla requires a good kibble, and approves of neutering after sexual maturity even for companions. She also is a welcoming and visitor-friendly lady. So a trip to Ohio is in my near future! My only concern is working dogs tend to have higher energy levels, and having Chronic Fatigue…
I may ask for a show quality male, and have a go at conformation shows. It’s expensive and alot of work, but it is the best way to learn what really makes a dog’s body structually sound, what it takes to have smooth ergonomics so the joints last, and a tolerant disposition. All of which is essential for a working dog.
Being an experienced Dane owner, I got the basics of conformation: a straight topline, good angles in the stack, a nicely shaped head. But there’s a big difference between an experienced owner’s eye, and a breeder/shower’s eye. There’s much to learn there.
Green Bean, the big beautiful black Dane!
It’s a strange name for such a majestic, laid back fellow. But he’s no scrawny string bean. His owner strictly follows the GDCA code of ethics in breeding. I’ve known them from Facebook for awhile now, and they seriously know their Dane genetics!
Green Bean is not only gorgeous and well built. He is a (get this) a Dock Diving Dane, who watches the fireworks in the park, and never gets in a flap.
I’m aware of the “black dog syndrome”, and would expect perhaps more access challenges if one of Beanie Boy’s pups becomes my service dog. But heck, any Dane attracts serious attention in a grocery store or restaurant.
I have come to love Bean’s owner, and trust their judgement. They were “there” for me during the heartbreaking ordeal with Levi, and gladly volunteered to help me find a puppy that I would have a much better chance of success with. Kindness makes a world of difference to me.
LIBERTY DANES https://www.facebook.com/#!/libertydanes.lrs?sk=info
I’ve not had much contact with this lady yet, but I do now have a phone number. She not only trains, shows, and uses her harl lines for assistance dogs, she has a Dane SD herself. I am hoping like crazy she will agree to mentor me, teach me, and make a durn good owner trainer out of me. Her expertise in puppy aptitude testing would make a huge difference for me, reducing the chances of another wash out.
Again, the harl lines I don’t prefer, but even if I purchase a black Bean boy, I hope very much she will become a world of help to me. She has experience in both the conformation ring and the service dog training arena. And the center she works and trains at is only 3 hours drive time from my home.
ssgt leslie
/ July 24, 2012good story and good luck if you on your decision, may you be blessed with the strength and focus to find the right gd for you…
Kathy Bright
/ July 24, 2012Hi Lisa, I know Mimi from Saraville Danes personally and her Dane Dublin, he is an awesome Dane and he throws awesome pups. But my warning to you from experience is that Harlequin Danes are the crazies of the Dane world. They tend to be harder to train and want to be a bit more dominant in my own opinion. Duke has been a great Service Dog, but I think he was a bit higher strung then other Danes, black colors were more laid back.
I agree with you allot of the stature of european lines. Duke is 3/4 Euro, and love it! He is nice looking and nice conformation. People love how he looks and always say how handsome he is.
greatdaneservicedog
/ July 24, 2012that’s one of my worries about harls in particular: high maintainance. And the white hair seems to shed more, at least in my experience.
How the Duke doin?
Kathy Bright
/ July 26, 2012He is doing good, lazy, sleeps most of the day..living up the life of a retired SD LOL! noticing more of a lighter face, which I would have thought would be hard being merle, but it’s getting noticeable. So I am dreading the day he won’t be here anymore. I am hoping that I can get a pup before he leaves this world to help me train, But until the time I get a puppy, I am not holding my breath.
Finances is a big part but my breeder works with me on payments. Am lucky she is here in Ohio.
And with no house payment anymore! yay! I can start sending payment to her.
em
/ July 28, 2012Hi Lisa,
As the owner of a black dane, I’m a teeeensy bit biased in favor of black and beautiful, but I will try to put on my ‘objective’ hat to assess the difference that color has made in my experience:
Mostly color doesn’t matter in terms of people’s reactions- people go bananas when they see a dane, period. They cross the street to rush up to me, approach me everywhere I go (and I’ve brought Otis EVERYWHERE, from college classrooms – brings a new meaning to ‘big man on campus’- to the wine trail (this is his FAVORITE- lots of happy, relaxed people at wineries), and people generally just gush over him. I’ve even had people pull over their CARS (more than once!) as we walked around our old neighborhood in the city, jump out and come running up to tell me how beautiful he is and how he reminds them of beloved dogs in their own lives. Scared people generally keep their distance, and once in a while someone will flinch away on the sidewalk, but here in the dog-friendly northeast, at least, I’ve never had anyone make a negative comment to me about his presence.
There is a slight possibility that people who feel negatively about him don’t DARE get in my face (and thus his) about it, but generally he gets a very warm reception. Dane trumps color, in my experience. It helps tremendously that his ears are natural- it gives him a much, much softer look. The black color really emphasizes his physique, especially in the sun, and when a dog has a physique as imposing as a fit, active dane’s, softer is better. The boy is a brick house, what can I say. He’s also very calm, with a lot of “presence”- the alert, commanding stance he often assumes when he meets people looks dignified on floppy eared Otis, but might well look intimidating on a dog with standing ears. (Little do people know what an utter GOON he is in real life.
)
The down side: Prepare to repeat yourself (yes, even more than dane owners already do).
“He’s a great dane,” (this is totally the ears..without them people can’t place the silhouette- add in an unexpected color and ….many people won’t be able to identify his breed, no matter how standard-perfect his conformation is. Cropped ears also create the illusion of greater height- Otis has a female dane friend who is exactly his height and color, but with cropped ears. Between the ears and her slimmer, girlish frame, if she stands more than three feet away from him, she LOOKS four inches taller).
“No, not a mix. Yes, we’re sure. Yes, that is what danes look like.” (Why do people argue? Most don’t, but when they do it can be tiresome. I’ve even gotten to the stage where I held his ears over his head once or twice. “ohhh, now I see it!”)
“He’s five.” (or two or three or however old he is …I think people are really hoping you’ll tell them that he is still a puppy and not done growing, even now that Otis is starting to go a little gray. I know I’ve never asked a person how old their adult dog is, so that’s the best I can figure).
So that’s the trade off, in my experience. Generally having a natural-eared black dane has been very positive, and if I were looking for another dane, I’d choose the same again without a moment’s hesitation.