page_title: Great Dane
section_title: Coat
hierarchical_section_title: Great Dane / Description / Coat
caption_attribution_description: vala in grass
context_page_description: The Great Dane is a German breed of domestic dog known for its large size.
  The record holder for the tallest dog ever is a Great Dane called Zeus, who measured 111.8 cm from paw to shoulder. The tallest living dog is another Dane named Freddy, measuring 103.5 cm.
context_section_description: According to the breed-standard, varieties have five to six (depending on the standard) show-acceptable coat colors:
  Fawn and brindle
  Fawn: The colour is yellow gold with a black mask. Black should appear on the eye rims and eyebrows, and may appear on the ears.
  Brindle: The colour is fawn and black in a chevron stripe pattern. Often, also, they are referred to as having a stripe pattern.
  Harlequin and black
  Black: The colour is a glossy black. White markings on the chest and toes are not desirable and considered faults.
  Harlequin: The base colour is pure white with black torn patches irregularly and well distributed over the entire body; a pure white neck is preferred. The black patches should never be large enough to give the appearance of a blanket, nor so small as to give a stippled or dappled effect. Eligible, but less desirable, are a few small grey patches (this grey is consistent with a merle marking) or a white base with single black hairs showing through, which tend to give a salt and pepper or dirty effect.
  Grey merle (Grautiger) dogs are acceptable in conformation shows under the FCI as the grey merle dogs can produce correctly marked black/white harlequin dogs, depending on the combinations. The aim for deleting the colour grey merle as a disqualifying fault is to provide a wider gene pool. Their status is that they are "neither desirable nor to be disqualified". Consequently, this colour must never obtain the highest grading at dog shows.
  Mantle (in some countries referred to as Bostons due to the similar coloration and pattern as a Boston Terrier): The colour is black and white with a solid black blanket extending over the body; black skull with white muzzle; white blaze is optional; whole white collar preferred; a white chest; white on part or whole of forelegs and hind legs; white tipped black tail. A small white marking in the black blanket is acceptable, as is a break in the white collar.
  Blue: The colour is a pure steel blue. White markings at the chest and feet permitted. Never with fawn nuance or blackish blue colour.
  Other colours occur occasionally, but are not acceptable for conformation showing, and they are not pursued by breeders who intend to breed show dogs. These colours include white, fawnequin, brindlequin, merle, merlequin, blue merle, chocolate and fawn mantle. The white Great Dane coloring is typically associated with vision and hearing impairment.
caption: Merle Great Dane
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