page_title: Great Dane
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Great Dane / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: my Great Dane Lucy
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: The Great Dane is a large German domestic dog known for its giant size.
  As described by the American Kennel Club:
  The Great Dane combines, in its regal appearance, strength, and elegance with great size and a powerful, well-formed, smoothly muscled body. It is one of the giant working breeds, but is unique in that its general conformation must be so well balanced that it never appears clumsy, and shall move with a long reach and powerful drive. The Great Dane is a short-haired breed with a strong, galloping figure.
   In the ratio between length and height, the Great Dane should be square. The male dog should not be less than 30 in (76 cm) at the shoulders, a female 28 in (71 cm). Danes under minimum height are disqualified. From year to year, the tallest living dog is typically a Great Dane. Previous record holders include Gibson, Titan, and George; however, the current record holder is a black Great Dane named Zeus that stood 111.8 cm (44.0 in) at the shoulder before his death in September 2014. He was also the tallest dog on record (according to Guinness World Records), beating the previous holder, the aforementioned George that stood 109.2 cm (43.0 in) at the shoulder.
  The minimum weight for a Great Dane over 18 months is 120 lb (54 kg) for males, 100 lb (45 kg) for females. Unusually, the American Kennel Club dropped the minimum weight requirement from its standard. The male should appear more massive throughout than the female, with a larger frame and heavier bone.
  Great Danes have naturally floppy, triangular ears. In the past, when Great Danes were commonly used to hunt boars, cropping of the ears was performed to make injuries to the dogs' ears less likely during hunts. Now that Danes are primarily companion animals, cropping is sometimes still done for traditional and cosmetic reasons. In the 1930s when Great Danes had their ears cropped, after the surgery, two devices called Easter bonnets were fitted to their ears to make them stand up. Today, the practice is common in the United States, but much less common in Europe. In some European countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Germany, and parts of Australia and New Zealand, the practice is banned or controlled to only be performed by veterinary surgeons.
caption: Fawn Great Dane (female)
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix JV100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Live Photo Gallery14.0.8117.416", "Image DateTime": "2013:11:23 03:31:33", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "2442", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "Image ImageUniqueID": "D77675C735134389B74C5A3BA5697AEC", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Image OffsetSchema": "4156", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5186", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4247", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/180", "EXIF FNumber": "43/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:07:04 18:28:36", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:07:04 18:28:36", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "15/2", "EXIF ApertureValue": "421/100", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "67/10", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "84/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "33/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "625", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "7091", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "7091", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "0331C6C8AAD04EC785E19608209CA901", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}