<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Dane</strong> from the tips of its toes… HEAD AND NECK Head: long, straight, very expressive. Clear stop. Parallel upper skull and face lines. Wide, well developed jaws. From the front, the head must look straight, with the widest possible face. <strong>The</strong> distance from the end of the nose to the stop must correspond to the distance from the stop to the occipital protuberance, which is rather inconspicuous. Neck: long, clean & muscular. Well developed at the shoulders, a little thinner at the head. Nose: well developed, with open nostrils. Must be black, although the harlequin’s nose may be a little lighter or fleshy, while the blue’s nose is anthracite. Cheeks: dark pigmentation except in the harlequin, whose cheeks may be completely without pigmentation or fleshy in colour. Eyes: Almond shaped, as dark as possible. Lighter eyes are accepted in the blue. Clear eyes or different coloured eyes are accepted in the harlequin. Ears: set high, naturally pendant. Coming to a point, the anterior edge is alongside the cheek Large, deep-chested, powerful and slender, the line of the belly runs under a wide croup. <strong>The</strong> figure is harmoniously athletic. <strong>The</strong> very expressive head extends from a long neck, which is curved and muscular, giving an impression of being sculpted in marble. BODY Describes a square, especially the males. <strong>The</strong> length of the torso (from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttocks) must not exceed the height to the withers by more than 5% in males or more than 10% in females. Chest: pronounced, descending just to the level of the elbows. Well-arched ribs extending far towards the rear. Back: short and taut, almost straight, very slightly oblique towards the rear. Waist: wide, slightly vaulted, very muscular. Croup: wide, muscular, slightly sloping and smoothly attached to the tail. Belly: well tucked up towards rear. 6 TAIL Attaches high and wide, gradually tapering to the tip, which extends to the hocks. Curves slightly in action in the form of a sabre. © J.-M. Labat … to the tip of its nose FCI classification Group 2 - Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid breeds, and Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs. Section 2.1 - Mastiff type. Without working trial. Use: Companion, guard and protection dog. Original prevailing standard published: 13 March 2001 LIMBS Forelimbs Shoulders: strongly muscled, long and oblique, forming a 100°-110° angle with the upper arm. Upper arm: strong and muscled, close fitting, a little longer than the scapula. Elbows neither inward nor outward. Forearm: strong, Seen from front and side, completely straight. Pastern: robust, slightly oblique to the front of the profile. Feet: Rounded, well arched, well knit Cat like. Hindquarters <strong>The</strong> bone is fully covered with strong muscles which make the croup, hips and thighs appear wide, & rounded. From the back, the hind limbs are parallel to the forelimbs. Thighs: long, broad, very muscular. Stifle: strong, close to the vertical of the hip. Lower Thighs: long, almost as long as the thigh, muscular. Hocks: strong, firm, neither inward nor outward. Metatarsals: short, strong, almost at right angles to the ground. Feet: rounded, well arched, well knit & cat-like. COAT <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Dane</strong>’s coat must be very short, dense, smooth, shiny and flat. <strong>The</strong>re are three colour varieties: fawn and brindle; black and harlequin; and blue. Fawn: light to dark fawn to deep gold; a black mask is preferred. Brindle: Basic colours, light to deep gold fawn, always with clearly defined, black cross stripes; a black mask is preferred. Black: glossy black; white markings are permissible. Specimens whose torso is black (although muzzle, neck, chest, belly, limbs and the end of the tail may be white) are placed in this colour category, as are specimens whose coats are white with large black patches (Plattenhunde). Harlequin: (white with black) pure white background with glossy black torn patches of differing sizes well distributed over the entire body. Blue: pure steel blue; white markings on the chest and feet are acceptable. Another colour that is not yet officially recognised is the Boston, which is black with long white marks. 7 © J.-M. Labat SIZE AND WEIGHT <strong>The</strong> standard only gives a minimum measurement for the height to the withers: - 72 cm for females - 80 cm for males In practice, females can be 72-82 cm and the males 84-88 cm. Some individuals can even measure more than 90 cm to the withers. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Dane</strong> is a fairly slender dog, rather lightweight for its size, at between 50 kg and 80 kg depending on the sex.
1KEY POINTS OF THE GREAT DANE, AN EXCEPTIONAL DOG A big appetite but a fragile digestive system <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Dane</strong>s are known for their low digestive tolerance: no matter what type of food they consume (wet or dry), their faecal consistency tends to be wetter and less firm than that of smaller dogs. Faecal moisture content (%) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 Comparison of faecal moisture content in a <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Dane</strong> and dogs of different sizes and breeds 64.3 Miniature Poodle 69.7 Standard Schnauzer (From Weber et al, 2003) 71.2 Giant Schnauzer 74.5 a b b c <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Dane</strong> <strong>The</strong> letters (a, b and c) indicate significant differences between the groups (p
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