Breed of the Month--Great Dane

Great Dane

Color:  Black, blue, brindle, fawn, mantle, harlequin

Height:  Males:  30 inches/  Females:  28 inches

Weight:  Males:  119 lbs/ Females:  101.5 lbs

Life Span:  7-10 years

Breed Health Concerns:  Hip dysplasia, cardiomyopathy, bloat, cervical vertebral instability, osteosarcoma, and lymphoma.

Coat:  Thick, short, and glossy

Country of Origin:  Germany

Visit the American Kennel Club for breed standards and more information.

The origins of this breed are not exactly known, but believed to have been descended from a type of mastiff and possibly Irish Wolfhound.  Danes originally served as boar hunters, war dogs, and bull baiters.  The Germans refined the breed and declared it the national dog of Germany in 1876.

Today the Great Dane is more of a lover than a fighter.  The Dane retains a powerful protective instance for his family, but is very playful, affectionate, and patient.  The Dane enjoys children, but sometimes his size can be dangerous when leaning affectionately towards small children.  Great Dane's are very people oriented.

Exercise:  

Although the Great Dane is quite large, he does not require a lot of exercise.  The Dane is happy with the normal walk twice per day.  The Great Dane is happy indoors and enjoys just hanging out with his family.  Although the Dane does not require a lot of physical exercise, it is important to keep him mentally stimulated.  Without regular mental and physical stimulation, the Dane can become quite destructive.

Grooming:  

The Great Dane is an average shedder, and will require regular brushing, but the short coat is easy to care for.

Training:  

The Great Dane can be somewhat of a challenge to train.  The Dane is intelligent, but was bred to be an independent thinker.  Holding the Dane's attention requires creativity and high rewards in training.  Socialization is very important to start as a young puppy with Great Danes.

One of our dog pack, Caravaggio, is part Great Dane.

You can definitely see this breed in his size, but also his temperament.

Although Caravaggio is well trained (as all my pack is),

he does have an independent mind and can become easily distracted.

With the proper training however, this is easily managed.

Great Dane's are amazingly gentle, loving dogs,

and we very much enjoy having one in our pack.

Our Great Dane/ German Shepherd/ Lab mix Caravaggio (right)

helping puppy Dora learn some leash skills.

Trainer Tips--VIDEO: Proper Dog Socialization

For this month's Trainer Tips, I would like to retouch on one of the most important things you can do for your dog...to properly socialize them.

Properly socializing your dog is very important, but many people do not understand what that actually means.  Proper socialization is not only exposing your dog to as many situations, people, and other dogs as possible, but more importantly, making all of these experiences positive ones so that your dog becomes comfortable no matter what happens.  

In order to do this, it is important for you to allow your dog to take his time exploring something new.  Never quickly force a dog or puppy that is not comfortable into a new situation.  The dog should appear mostly relaxed, not tense or afraid.  This is why it is so important to begin this process as soon as possible!  This means the day you get your dog, or as soon as your new puppy has all his shots and is vet approved to meet others. 

Although we do not want to force our dogs into the situation, we must also ensure that they do not shut down from fear.  Dogs that do this become trapped in that fearful state. This is obviously not healthy for your dog or something we want to have happen.  To prevent this, ensure that when your dog socializes, they are not allowed to hide behind or under you (their owner) or other people or objects.  If they hide under a person, the person should move away.  If they hide under an object, move the other dogs away from the area, then slowly encourage/ lead the dog out of his hiding spot.  Try and block the hiding spot once they are out.

To help take the pressure off a fearful dog, you can also turn the fearful dog around and allow the new dog to sniff their rear end.  It is best to allow one dog to sniff a very fearful dog at a time.  Then turn the new dog around and allow the fearful dog to sniff the new dog's rear end.  Greeting a dog this way helps takes pressure off dogs who are fearful, anxious, or nervous.

Below is a video on Proper Dog Socialization.

This video features Khloe, a 6-month-old Boxer in training with SGDs.

Also in this video are two of our own pack, Caravaggio (our Great Dane mix), and Devo (our Miniature Pinscher/ Chihuahua mix...currently 7 months).

Other helpful and interesting Blogs related to this Topic...

Trainer Tips--Dog Parks, Friend or Foe

Proper Leadership

Trainer Tips--Island Dog Socialization

Trainer Tips--Dog Friends

Trainer Tips--The Game of Chase

Breed of the Month--Boxer

Caravaggio loves cats

Many people ask me if my dogs get along with other animals.  Now most of the time I get this question because their dog does not get along with others very well.  Dogs in generally are very capable of getting along with other species, many other species.  Its all about training and socialization.

For example, when Nekita was a puppy, I had pet snakes.  I had a Ball Python snake named Nia.  She was a fabulous pet in her own right, but she (the snake) helped teach Nekita at a very young age how to deal with other species.  Basically its about respect and boundaries.  Nekita was taught from day one to keep a certain distance from the snakes, as well as the cats in the house.  Since then, Nekita has always approached other animals with respect and has given proper distance.  I am very thankful for that.

Caravaggio happens to love cats.  When Vaggy was a puppy, he was raised with an older, de-clawed cat.  So Caravaggio thought that being batted in the face by the cat was some sort of fun face massage.  Obviously this is not always true.  Caravaggio unfortunately learned early on that its best to get right up in the face of other animal, not what we were going for.  Since then, we have had to do some extra training with him to teach him to respect other animals.

Now for Caravaggio, it is not that he wants to ever harm another species, he just gets overly excited to meet and make friends with others.  He forgets his boundaries.

Below are some pictures I caught the other day of Caravaggio practicing how to calmly greet some of our neighborhood cats.  He now has a few new friends.

Caravaggio saying HI.

You can see by his body that he's still a little too excited.

Calmly sniffing orange kitty.

Orange kitty then got up to say hi and rubbed up on Caravaggio's face...

then pawed him in the face (just to remind him the cat's in charge here).

Trainer Tips--Island Dogs & Socialization

Properly socializing your dog is very important, but many people don't understand what that actually means.  Proper socialization is not only exposing your dog to as many situations, people, and other dogs as possible, but more importantly, making all of these positive experiences so that your dog becomes easily comfortable no matter what happens.  In order to do this, it is important for you to allow your dog to take his time exploring something new.  Never quickly force a dog that is not comfortable into a new situation.  The dog should appear mostly relaxed, not tense or afraid.  This is why it is so important to begin this process as soon as possible!  This means the day you get your dog, or as soon as your new puppy has all his shots and is vet approved to meet others.

Beyond a properly socialized dog, I believe it is important to keep an "Island Dog" mentality.  If your dog is a true "Island Dog" he should be able to enjoy your favorite island spots WITH YOU.  Some of the places we enjoy with our dogs include the beach, various hikes (we have even worked our dogs up to hiking out on some cliffs), and accompanying me to work.  Lucky for me my job is working with dogs, or in dog environments, so taking my dogs to work is easy for me, whereas it may not be as easy for you.  It never hurts to ask your supervisor, even if its for an hour, it will help socialize your dog.

Below are some various pictures I found of our dogs accompanying us around the island
(and elsewhere).

Athena & Nekita at Camp Olowalu.

Athena & Adam at Napili Bay.

See the pups in the background, behaving well.

Caravaggio & Nekita hanging out in our car full of stuff.

Look how relaxed Caravaggio is!

Caravaggio & my mom back home in Minnesota.

Caravaggio & my aunt's horse, back in Wisconsin.

The pups at our friends house.

Caravaggio & Nekita swimming at Napili Bay.

Caravaggio sandy face at Napili Bay.

Nekita playing in the water while I look for sea glass.

Caravaggio laying in the sand while I look for sea glass.

Athena & pups at Kapalua Coastal Trail.

Caravaggio drinking out of a cooler for the first time.

My pups leading the pack on a hike in the pineapple fields.

Nekita is hiding in the background grass :)

Caravaggio met a new friend on the surfer road off Honolua Bay.

Nekita & our neighbor dog, Jack, in our apartment courtyard.

The whole family at Honolua Bay.

Wilma cat

Before leaving for our new life in Maui, Hawaii, I stayed with my dogs and my mom at my mother-in-law's house for about a week.  In the last week I finalized many things with such a big move happening.  I enjoyed spending my last days among family.

My mother-in-law has a cat, Wilma.  Although she had met our dogs briefly before, she had never spent such a long time with them.  This visit she was unable to just hide for the day.  My mother-in-law swore I would never be able to get the cat and dog together.  I love a challenge!!!

Nekita was raised as a puppy with cats and learned from an early age that you just don't mess with the cat.  They have claws, you leave them alone.  Nekita has since left every cat alone, given them their space, and always been very respectful of them.

Caravaggio, on the other hand, was raised as a puppy with an older cat, Brandy, that was fully declawed.  Brandy would paw Caravaggio in the face rapidly and repeatedly and he thought it was like some sort of face massage.  Although Caravaggio is okay around cats, he has the compelling urge to chase them.  He did apparently corner a stray in our fenced yard once.  My husband said he just ran back and forth, not knowing what to do next.  Caravaggio may like to chase cats, but he does not want to hurt or kill them...he wants to play with them.

So I accepted my mother-in-law's challenge to get her cat, Wilma, and Caravaggio to be friends.

This took me only a few days...

Caravaggio & Wilma relaxing together.

When we started the..."let's be friends," process, Wilma wasn't so excited about the idea.  The following pictures show the progress of Wilma's comfort level.  Training the cat to be comfortable with the dog was really just showing the cat that I controlled the dog, and that I would not allow the dog to harm her in any way.

If you look at Caravaggio's body position in this picture, you can see he is submitting to relaxing near the cat.  This lets the cat know that he means her no harm.

As Wilma gets a little more comfortable and playful with her catnip, 

Caravaggio can get a little closer.

Wilma made amazingly fast progress in her comfortability with that big pony/ dog.

Wilma got so comfortable she was able to get nose to nose.

Wilma was able to play next to the dogs.  

This is a HUGE step for a cat who was formerly terrified of dogs!

We're totally friends now!