hey there everybody, I've been reading the abundance of "threads" with great interest for a while now...it's great to have such a giant brain at your fingertips. this place is like one big family.

sorry if im making no sense ...but it's late here...

I was wondering if anyone has ever owned a great dane? i had one a few years back...but it was not a purebred... are these animals alright to keep with other smaller critters like chickens and goats? could they learn to protect the smaller animals rather than to maul them?

thanks

-- LM of CA (aveenorub@aol.com), July 20, 2001

Answers

"Could they learn to protect the smaller animals ..."

If you want a livestock guardian, the best thing to do is get a dog bred for that purpose.

Nothing against Danes as pets. But they're not LGDs.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 20, 2001.

I agree with Sojourner. The LGD's have been bred for thousands of years to guard stock. Regarding Danes as pets, IMHO the're not great. We've had a couple - the last is now 10 yrs old. They are STUBBORN. By the time you get trained like you want they are several yrs old. This has also been the experience of a relative of ours who has had several.

-- Paula (chipp89@bellsouth.net), July 20, 2001.

Great Danes can be great dogs, but they are not really guard dogs. They will serve the purpose because most people are afraid just from their size alone. They can be real couch potatoes! You also have to bear in mind, that the larger the dog, the larger everything else is that you need for him. I happen to have had a Dane that we showed, and have a preference for the giant breeds...but you have to be ready for the expense and the fact that their lifespan is short. I love the kick-back temperament of most giant breeds, which is why most are not suited for real guard work....the exceptions are the ones bred for it, such as the livestock guardians. My preference for that is the Great Pyrenees...but the coat can be daunting. Just do lots of research and you will find the right pupper for you!

-- Kathy (VaUSMCwf@home.com), July 20, 2001.

As my e-mail hints at, we are intimately familiar with great danes. We have owned and shown them for about 20 years and have bred them for ten. We currently own eight of them all of which live comfortably in our house with us. As you might guess, we think they are wonderful dogs and I will never live without one. They are naturally protective of you but will willingly admit your friends into your house if you say it is okay. Having said that. As with all breeds, you need to find a reputable breeder who breeds with temperament as their number one requirement as their can be ones with bad temperaments in the line and they don't need to be mistreated to display bad behaviour. Well bred danes are the most loveable, people- oriented dogs you can have and ours have brought us great joy through the years. They are absolutely unbelievable in their behaviours and most of them are very smart almost to the point of reading your mind.

To answer your question though, guarding livestock is not one of the things they were bred for. And I would suspect that they would not be particularly good at it and would probably be more inclined to go after the livestock, particularly small ones. Remember, the breed was originally developed to hunt and kill wild boar. Those traits do not translate well to being a good livestock protector. While a lot of those traits have been bred out, there can be remnants. This is one of the problems with the bad temperament ones because they have a tendency to want to go after running prey which unfortunately can be a child or an animal. Would I recommend them as a pet even with households with children? Absolutely. Just be sure to check out your breeder and go visit the owners of dogs they have produced to make sure there are no temperament problems. They are absolutely awesome. Would I recommend them as a livestock protector? Nope. They would most likely be a real problem in that area. We have horses on the other side of the fence from our guys and they continuously run up and down the fence line when the horses are close to the fence and they can get practically apoplectic when the horses are grazing right up against the fence. But they can't reach the horses (the horses would make short work of them anyway) and the horses are not even phased about the dane going berserk on the other side of the fence. Take the advice of others and go for a dog bred for livestock. The Great Pyranese is definitely a good choice for that but they do need to be livestock dogs not house pets if that is what you want them for. Let me know if anyone has any more questions about great danes as they are my favorite subject to talk about. LOL

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), July 20, 2001.

Golly, Colleen, you must have a really big house . . . LOL!

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@imcnet.net), July 20, 2001.

We have a 4 year old harlaquen Great Dane named Zeus (150 lbs).Below is a webpage about him. http://home.mpinet.net/ourfarm/zeus.html http://home.mpinet.net/ourfarm/ My E-mail is on my main page if you are intersted in more info. Mike and Tammy

-- ourfarm (ourfarm@nospam.com), July 20, 2001.

i dont think great danes are meant for livestock gaurding. i have a black dane called rocky..he 's just 11 months old . yet his size is very large ,,even for a great dane . he is very unmanagable now and people in my household get scared to go near him.. danes are just dogs for social status ..they are sheer waste if u'd like to have one for gaurding.

-- vamsi krishna (vamsikrishna5151@yahoo.com), December 15, 2001.

Colleen, you forgot to say you have 2 king size beds bolted together for your dogs to sleep on, he he he, you're so cute. Spoil your dogs about as bad as I do! I love dogs, all breeds of dogs, they are so neat. Danes are awesome I agree, and beautiful to look at.

LM, we're awful far away from CA, but if you have any friends driving that way, there are some GP's here for 100, pups, full stock and living with the goats now, about 7 weeks old.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 15, 2001.

I adopted a Great Dane from the pound as a puppy when I was in my twenties. Great dog, lousy at protecting livestock, but great in the people area (everyone was terrified to come in my yard...actually the dog was a real sweetie and would lick anyone to death!).

I could not keep the dog in the city at that time, so found an elderly couple in the county with a chain link fence around two acres and gave them the dog. They absolutely loved him! I now have a GP which is the absolute best livestock guardian dog I personally have ever owned - but be prepared for brushing, brushing, did I say brushing? their coats! I usually just clip my dog short (not shaved) and he and I are happier. Great Danes are beautiful dogs - and I am sure that they are like any other breed - some are good and some not so good.

Cindy

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), December 15, 2001.