Raising dogs, in particular taking care of the great dane, is a specialty of people across the globe. Experts postulate dogs were domesticated between 12,000 and twenty five thousand years ago—and that all canines evolved from wolves. Since those days, human beings have selectively bred more than 400 breeds, ranging in size from four-pound teacup poodles to Irish wolfhounds, who have earned the distinction of the tallest pooch. However, the most popular dogs are the non-pedigree dogs—the one-of-a-kind dogs known as mixed-breeds. The great dane is another favorite choice among canine owners. Many owners are oblivious, however, of many of the most crucial great dane care tips.
Health care cost for your great dane
The yearly cost of providing for the great dane—which includes everything from food, to vet bills, toys and license—could range between $420 and $780. This figure doesn’t include capital expenses for spay/neuter procedures, collar and leash, carrier and a crate. Note: Be positive you have all the necessary items before getting your great dane home for the 1st time.
General great dane Care
great dane Feeding Schedule
- great dane puppies between eight and twelve weeks need 4 meals a day.
- Feed great dane puppies 3 to 6 months old 3 meals in a 24 hour period.
- Feed pups 6 months to 1 year old two bowls of food daily.
- By the time the great dane hits his or her 1st birthday, 1 feeding in a twenty-four hour period is usually enough.
- Some great danes, however, prefer 2 smaller meals. It’s your job to learn your great dane’s eating schedule.
High-quality dry dog food ensures a well-rounded diet to grown great danes and may be mixed with water, broth, or canned food. Your great dane may love fruits and vegetables, cooked eggs, and cottage cheese, but these should not total more than 10 pct of his or her daily food allowance. great dane puppies need to be given high-quality, brand-name puppy food. You should cut down on “people food”, though, since it can result in mineral and vitamin imbalances, bone and teeth concerns, and might result in extremely finicky eating habits and obesity. Give fresh, clean water exclusively, and be sure to clean water and food bowls very regularly.
great dane Care Tips: Your great dane needs physical activity daily
great danes need some exercise so they can stay fit, recharge their minds, and stay healthy. Daily activity also really helps great danes avoid boredom, which often leads to difficult behavior. Getting out of the house would cure many of your great dane’s instinctual urges to chase, retrieve, chew, dig and herd. Exercise needs depend on your great dane’s age and his or her level of health—but ten minutes in back of the house and just a walk down the street every day probably will not cut it. If your great dane is a six to eighteen month adolescent, her requirements will be a little more.
great dane Grooming Tips
You can help reduce shedding and keep your great dane clean with regular brushing. Check for ticks and fleas every day during warm weather. Most great danes don’t need a bath more than a few times a year. Before bathing, comb or cut out all mats from the great dane’s hair. Carefully rinse all soap out of the coat, or dirt will stick to the soap.
Handling Your great dane
Puppies are obviously easier to handle. While carrying the great dane pup, take one hand and put it beneath your dog’s chest, with either your forearm or your other hand supporting his or her hind legs and rear. Never attempt to grab or lift your puppy by the forelegs, tail or back of the neck. When you need to lift a bigger, adult great dane, pick it up from the underside, bracing his or her chest with one arm and rump with your other.
How to House the great dane
great danes need a comfy quiet place to rest apart from all drafts and off the floor or ground. You may wish to purchase a dog bed, or make one from a wood box. Put a clean sheet or pillow inside the bed for cushion. Wash your great dane’s bed covering often. If your great dane will be spending a lot of time outdoors, be certain she has plenty of cool water and shade in hot weather, and a warm, covered, dry shelter in the cold.
great dane Licensing and Identification
There are licensing regulations to follow in your town. You should connect the license to your great dane’s collar. This, along with an ID tag or tattoo, can help you recover your great dane should she become lost.
great dane Temperament Information
Training great danes
A well-behaved, companion great dane can truly be a a joy. But when untrained, your great dane will most likely be troublesome. Teaching your great dane the standards—”Come”, “Down”, “Heel”, “Off”, “Sit”, “Stay”, and “Leave it”—strengthens your relationship both with your pooch as well as your neighbors. If you’re the owner of a pup, start teaching him the right responses asap! Use little bits of food as recognition and incentive. Pups should start obedience class when they have been adequately vaccinated. Contact your community humane society or SPCA for details about obedience courses. Invariably you should walk your great dane leashed in public, even while a puppy. Just be positive your doggie will come to you every time you tell him to. A disobedient or aggressive great dane can’t play with others.
great dane Health
great danes should visit the veterinarian for a full exam, shots and heartworm screening each year, and ASAP if she is ill or injured.
Knowing Your great dane’s Oral Health
While many of us might object to our great dane’s foul breath, we must pay attention to what it may be telling us. Foul-smelling breath is a sign that your great dane requires an oral exam. Plaque brought on by germs creates a foul stench that can only be cured with treatment by a professional. After a professional cleaning, her gums and teeth may be kept healthy by brushing regularly, feeding a special diet focused on dental health, and eliminating table food. Your vet can show you more guidance for reducing periodontal diseases as well as halitosis. You can easily brush the great dane’s teeth using a doggie paste or a simple baking soda and water paste twice weekly. Clean them with a nylon pantyhose wrapped around the finger, a gauze pad, or a child’s soft toothbrush. Some great danes have periodontal disease, another name for gum disease. Often, teeth loss occurs because of periodontal disease. Diseases will sometimes also spread to other areas of your great dane’s body. Veterinarians can sometimes brush his teeth as a regular part of your great dane’s health examination.
great danes with Bad Breath
While bad breath due to oral disease might not be that serious if found early enough, some bad breath may indicate more serious, long-term issues. Diseases of the intestines or liver can also cause stinky breath, and a pleasant, even sweet smell can frequently be a sign of diabetes. Kidney disease is a possibility if your great dane’s breath smells of ammonia or urine. Set an appointment with a veterinarian whenever your great dane has halitosis along with other signs of disease like excessive urinating or drinking, depression or lethargy, weight loss, nausea, or decreased appetite.
great dane Flea and Tick Issues
Daily, regular inspections of your great dane for fleas and ticks throughout the summer are vital. Use a flea comb to remove and find fleas. There are several new techniques of tick and flea elimination. Visit your great dane’s doctor about his or her recommendations.
Heartworm problems in great danes
Your great dane is at risk of heartworms if she is exposed to lots of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes transport heartworms from dog to dog. Heartworm infestations are deadly. Your great dane should have a blood test for heartworms each spring—this is crucial for detecting infections from the past year. A once-a-month pill taken in mosquito season will protect your great dane. Your great dane should be on heartworm medication throughout a winter trip to a warmer climate. There are some locations, usually the places with hotter temperatures, where the vets recommend parasite tablets be used continually.
Poisions and Medicines
If you’re considering giving your great dane tablets that was not prescribed for her by his vet, forget about it. One little ibuprofen tablet can possibly create stomach ulcers in great danes. Make sure your great dane is never exposed to rat poison and other rodenticides. Make sure you contact your dog’s veterinarian if you have cause to suspect your great dane has consumed a poison. You may also call the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for 24 hr. help.
great danes: Spaying and Neutering
It is recommended that female great danes be spayed—the removal of the uterus and ovaries—and males neutered—extraction of the testes—by 6 months old. Spaying before maturity significantly diminishes the risk of breast cancer, which is a frequently fatal and common disease of more mature females. Spaying also eradicates the risk of a diseased uterus, a very serious issue in older females that necessitates surgery and intensive medical care. Neutering males eliminates the risk of testicular and prostate diseases, some hernias and certain types of aggression.
Shots for your great dane
- great dane pups should be vaccinated with a combo innoculation (called a “5-in-one”) at two, 3 and four months of age, and then once yearly. This innoculation protects your puppy from hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, and distemper. Your great dane puppy’s immunization regimen cannot be finished prior to four months old.
- If you have an uninnoculized great dane older than 4 or 5 months, she must have a series of two innoculations two to three weeks apart, followed by an annual vaccination.
- Your great dane pup’s socialization should coincide with her immunization program. You may take your great dane puppy to socialization courses by eight or nine weeks of age, according to most doctors. At this point, they should have received at least their first vaccinations.
Rules are so varied between different areas, that it’s best to call your neighborhood veterinarian for rabies vaccination info. For instance, New York City laws declare that pets older than three months must be immunized for rabies. After the original shot, she must get another shot the next year, and then every 3 years after that. There are several immunizations that may or may not be effective for your great dane. Ask your great dane’s vet for his opinion. Please be aware, if your great dane happens to get sick because she is not properly innoculated, the shot can be taken once your companion animal fully recovers.
Intestinal Parasites in great danes
great danes are commonly exposed to worms—in all areas, both rural and urban. Tiny eggs made by intestinal worms are passed in an infected dog’s stool. Even the healthiest of great dane puppies carry hookworms or roundworms. An accurate, early diagnosis is the secret to treatment. Early, accurate diagnosis maximizes the possibility that prescribed treatment will be highly effective against your dog’s worms. A dewormer that eliminates hookworms, for example, cannot kill tapeworms. Your vet can best figure out the culprit—and prescribe the most effective medication.
Additional great dane Care Tips
great dane Supply Checklist
- Excellent-quality dog food and treats specifically for great danes and similarly-sized dogs
- Food dish
- Water dish
- As many safe toys as you can provide, especially chewable
- Brush and comb for grooming, including flea comb
- Collar with ID tag and license
- Quality leash
- Carrier (for pups)
- Training crate
- Dog bed or box with comforter or towel
- Doggie or child’s toothbrush
Warnings to be Heeded
The following items should never be fed to great danes:
- Alcohol, beer, wine or liquor
- Chocolate, coffee, or tea
- Raisins or grapes
- Moldy or spoiled food of any kind
- Onions, chives and garlic
- Bones of chicken, turkey, or any other animal (choking hazard)
- Salt or salty foods
- Tomato leaves, stems & unripe fruit
- Yeast dough
Final Thoughts
Keep your great dane on a leash whenever you are outdoors, unless you are in a secured, fenced-in location. And please, when your great dane defecates on your neighbor’s yard, dispose of it! Don’t forget to check out these other articles about great danes
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