- The Great Dane is bred in three separate colour varieties: Variety 1: Fawn and brindle
- Variety 2: Harlequin: white and black spotted, Merle: grey and black spotted, and black
- Variety 3: Blue.
- Fawn: Light gold fawn to deep gold fawn, evenly shaded throughout the body.
- Preferred: Black mask
- Permissible: Small white markings on the chest
- Brindle: Basic colour, light golden fawn to rich golden fawn with black stripes running with the direction of the ribs, as even and clearly defined as possible.
- Preferred: Black mask
- Permissible: Small white markings on the chest
- Harlequin (white with black splashed patches): Basic colour pure white, preferably with no ticking.
- Pure black patches well distributed all over the body, having the appearance of being torn.
- Undesirable: Grey or brownish patches or nuances of those colours in the black as well as blue-grey ticking in the white
- Merle (grey-black splashed patches): Basic colour grey, preferably with no ticking, with well-distributed, irregular, torn, jet-black spots over the entire body.
- Permissible: White markings on the chest and paws
- Included here are “Mantel Great Danes”, where the grey-black spotting covers the body like a mantle and the muzzle, neck, chest, belly, legs, and tail tip are white.
- Permissible: Black: Jet black, white markings on chest and feet
- Included here are “Mantel Great Danes” in which the black covers the body like a coat (“mantel”) or blanket and muzzle, throat, chest, belly, legs and tip of tail are white.
- Dogs with basic white colour and large black patches so called “Plattenhunde”
- Permissible: Blue: Pure steel blue, white markings on chest and feet
About the Great Dane
Origin: Germany
- Typical life span
- 7-10 years
- Size
- Large — from its typical weight
- Weight
- Male
- 64-79 kg
- Female
- 50-64 kg
- Height
- Male
- 76-81 cm
- Female
- 71-76 cm
- FCI status
- Reconocida por la FCI
- FCI groupFCI divides this breed into varieties, and our sources don’t record which one a breeder works. Ask them which variety their line is.
- Pinscher and Schnauzer - Molossoid and Swiss Mountain and Cattledogs
- Origin
- Germany
- Also called
- Gran Danes
- Known hereditary risks
- 8 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Great Dane?
Giant, regal breed known as the 'Apollo of Dogs' with a powerful, well-muscled body, sleek coat, and dignified presence combined with noble bearing despite imposing size
Great Dane history and origins
Originally bred by German nobility from Mastiff-type dogs to hunt wild boar and deer, later refined as estate guardians and companions. Declared national dog of Germany in 1876 and standardized as 'Deutsche Dogge'
Great Dane appearance and size
Males typically weigh 64-79 kg and stand 76-81 cm at the shoulder; females 50-64 kg and 71-76 cm.
Lo que dice el estándar de la raza
- Criado para
- Companion, watch- and guard dog
- Comportamiento y temperamento
“Friendly, loving and devoted to his owners. Might be reserved towards strangers, but required is a confident, fearless, easily tractable, docile companion and family dog with high resistance to provocation and without aggression. Socially acceptable behaviour is of the utmost importance”
Quoted from FCI standard n°235. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Referencia de la raza de The Dog API.
Características
- Tamaño
- Large
- Necesidad de ejercicioLeída a partir de aquello para lo que se crió la raza, en las propias palabras del registro: “Companion, watch- and guard dog” Eso es una función de trabajo, no una necesidad de ejercicio medida — las necesidades de un perro concreto dependen de su edad, su salud y su hogar.
- 2 of 5
- Facilidad de adiestramiento
- —
- Caída de pelo
- 4 of 5
- Cuidados del pelo
- 2 of 5
- Convivencia con niños
- —
- Coste de mantenimiento
- —
- Tolera quedarse solo
- —
- Inteligencia
- —
- Salud de la raza
- 8 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros y contras de la raza Great Dane
Lo que obtienes con la raza Great Dane
- Función declarada en el estándar: «Companion, watch- and guard dog»
- El estándar describe la raza así: «Friendly, loving and devoted to his owners»
- Exige pocos cuidados del pelo, adecuado para quien tiene poco tiempo — el pelo es «Very short, dense, smooth and close lying, glossy.»
Lo que asumes
- Están documentadas 6 enfermedades hereditarias graves, sobre todo en corazón y circulación y huesos y articulaciones. La pestaña de la guía de salud tiene la prueba que hay que pedir en cada una.
Extraído de fuentes y no escrito como opinión — investigación de salud citada, el estándar del propio registro, y estudios de longevidad revisados por pares. Estándar de la raza, FCI; OFA / CHIC Programs. Los animales de un criador pueden diferir de todo esto, y una columna vacía significa que no tenemos nada de ese lado, no que no haya nada que decir.
Characteristics
Estándar de la FCI · Great Dane
Pelo y color
Tal como lo establece el estándar de la FCI. Cada línea de abajo está en las palabras del propio estándar, etiquetada con preferred, permissible y undesirable.
Coat
Must never be coarse, dull or a double coat
- Very short
- Dense
- Smooth and close lying
- Glossy
Color
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
«Preferred», «permissible», «undesirable» y «disqualifying» — preferido, admisible, indeseable y descalificante — son las palabras de la propia FCI sobre la raza, y quedan en inglés porque así constan en el estándar. Describen lo que el estándar pide — no son una valoración de ningún perro concreto, ni nuestra.
Resumido de FCI standard n°235 — cada etiqueta está en las palabras del propio estándar, con el veredicto pasado a la etiqueta de al lado. Lee la cláusula completa en la fuente.
Lo que el estándar penaliza
Aquello por lo que un juez resta puntos a la raza Great Dane, y lo que la deja fuera del ring, en las palabras del propio registro. Esto describe el estándar de la raza — no es una lista de comprobación para el animal que tienes delante, y un animal de compañía con un defecto descalificante es un perro que no puede ir a exposición, no un perro enfermo.
Defectos descalificantes
Dejan al animal fuera del ring por completo.
- Temperament: Fear-biting, easily provoked.
- Blind or deaf Danes.
- Nose: Liver coloured.
- Nose: Split nose.
- Eyes: Ectropion, entropion, macroblepharia. Differently coloured eyes in all solid-colours.
- Muzzle: Permanent presence of a rolled in lip (covering of the lower jaw incisors by the lower lip) or rolled in lip with signs of injury, swelling or inflammation of the oral mucosa.
- Jaw/Teeth: Bite that is overshot, undershot or a wry mouth, pincer bite. Missing teeth apart from up to two P1 in the upper and lower jaw.
- Tail with kink.
- Colour: Fawn and brindle Great Danes: Silver blue or isabella- colored, with a white blaze, white neck collar, white paws or "stockings," and white tail tip. Harlequin Great Danes: White without any black (albinos), known as porcelain Danes (they exhibit mainly blue, fawn, brindle, or grey spots on a white base color). Blue Great Danes: White forehead stripe, white neck collar, white stockings, or white tail tip.
- Size: Below minimum height
FCI varieties
FCI divides the Great Dane into these varieties, listed in the registry's own words. Depending on the breed they separate colour, coat, size or line — they are not a full list of colours, which no registry we hold publishes. Ask a breeder which variety their line is.
- Fawn
- Brindle
- Black
- Harlequin
- Merle
- Blue
Información a nivel de raza, de The Dog API. Describe la raza Great Dane en general; cualquier animal concreto puede ser distinto.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Great Dane
Riesgos hereditarios conocidos en la raza Great Dane, y la documentación concreta que hay que pedir a cualquier criador antes de pagar una señal. Un criador responsable tiene esta documentación a mano; esquivar la pregunta es mala señal.
8 enfermedades documentadasEsto es literatura a nivel de raza, no asesoramiento veterinario sobre un animal concreto — tu veterinario conoce al animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Heart & circulation
Dilated cardiomyopathy
Serious
A thin-walled, enlarged heart that fails progressively; Great Danes have one of the highest death rates from heart disease of any breed studied, and often die within weeks of the first signs of heart failure. The mode of inheritance is only suspected (possibly X-linked), not confirmed, and there is no gene test.
Qué pedir
No genetic test exists. Echocardiogram and 24-hour Holter ECG by a cardiologist, repeated every 2 years, is the only way to check — early disease has no outward signs.
Shortened lifespan and orthopaedic/cardiac strain tied to giant body size
SeriousInherente a la raza
Great Danes are among the heaviest breeds in a 2026 study of UK veterinary records; giant breeds as a group had a median age at death under nine years, well below smaller breeds, alongside elevated rates of joint and heart disease — a pattern tied to the size the standard itself calls for.
Qué pedir
No document changes this. Ask how the breeder manages growth rate in puppyhood and what age dogs in their own lines have actually lived to.
Bones & joints
Hip dysplasia
Serious
Malformation of the hip joint causing pain, lameness and early arthritis.
Qué pedir
OFA hip evaluation, on both parents, from around 24 months old, under the Great Dane Club of America's CHIC programme
Cervical spondylomyelopathy ("wobbler syndrome")
Serious
Compression of the spinal cord in the neck, causing an unsteady, wobbling gait that can progress to weakness or paralysis; unlike in most other affected breeds, it typically appears young, between one and three years old.
Qué pedir
No screening test exists for breeding stock. Ask whether the sire, dam or their close relatives have shown an unsteady gait, neck pain or hind-limb weakness — the diagnosis itself is made by radiograph or MRI in an affected dog, not by a pre-breeding test.
Eyes
Loose eyelids
MonitorInherente a la raza
The FCI's own judging guidance names loose eyelids as a specific area of risk for this breed, which can let in irritants or roll inward and rub the cornea.
Qué pedir
No test; ask whether a vet has checked both parents' eyelids.
Immune system
Autoimmune thyroiditis
Monitor
The immune system attacks the thyroid gland, usually leading to hypothyroidism; manageable with lifelong medication once caught.
Qué pedir
OFA thyroid panel (including TgAA) from an approved laboratory, on both parents
1 source
Digestion & liver
Gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat)
Serious
A gas-filled, twisted stomach that is fatal within hours without emergency surgery. Great Dane had the highest risk of any breed in a major prospective study — about ten times that of the average breed studied, and the highest raw incidence of all breeds followed.
Qué pedir
No test exists. Ask whether the breeder discusses prophylactic gastropexy and feeding management rather than expecting a document.
Cancer
Osteosarcoma
Serious
An aggressive bone cancer usually treated with amputation and chemotherapy. A UK case-control study found Great Danes had more than 30 times the odds of osteosarcoma compared with crossbred dogs — among the highest of any breed studied.
Qué pedir
No test exists. Ask about bone cancer in the line, particularly in dogs that died before ten years old.
Cuánto vive la raza Great Dane, en los registros
Supervivencia mediana de 10,6 años
Intervalo de confianza al 95% de 10,4–11,0 años, a partir de 864 muertes registradas entre 1981 perros
Riesgo de mortalidad de 1.2 (1.13, 1.29) respecto a perros mestizos, cuya mediana es de 12,0 años.
Medido en el Reino Unido a partir de 584.734 perros. La supervivencia mediana no es una predicción para un perro concreto.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
Gallery
Todavía sin fotografías
Aquí es donde irán las fotografías de los propios dueños de Great Dane, desde los perfiles de sus animales que mantienen aquí. Nadie ha añadido ninguna a una página pública todavía.
Una fotografía en un perfil de animal queda privada de su dueño. No pondremos ninguna aquí a menos que nos lo pidan.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
No Great Dane breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.