great dane insights please?
28 May 2012
if any of you have owned great danes before, i would love to hear your opinions on their temperment and training
are they good w/ smaller dogs and cats?
are they easy/hard to train
are they good house pets? (i know their big i meant personality wise)
and are they good with walkin off leash beside me? (i dnt mean in public, like in my backyard and on hikes and stuff.)
how much food do they eat weekly? and about how much does it cost? (this is the most important question, if you dont answer anything else please answer this one!!!!!)
I had a rescue Great Dane for years. Female 140 lbs. Lovely dog. Great pet. Only bad thing I could say about the dog, was she was a digger. And boy could she dig some huge holes!
Wonderful temperament. Very friendly. Loved everybody, adults, kids & even toddlers. Very careful with little kids. Great with all dogs, including our small dogs, cats & livestock too.
Average dog to train. Learned basic pet Obedience easily. We lived out in the country so she spent very little time ever on leash. But when she was on leash, she was very well behaved & never pulled.
We lived in a tiny house. She was a good house pet. Active outside. Relaxed & settled in the house.
Walked & hiked with us off-leash all the time & accompanied us when we rode our horses on the trails. Never had to worry about her running off. Always stayed with us. Might chase a jackrabbit, but would come immediately back when called.
She was not a big eater. Always lean & well muscled. She was free fed. Ate about 4 cups of good food per day. About the same as the male Chesapeake Bay Retriever we had at the same time. Amount & cost of food of course would depend on what food you are feeding.
4 Responses
2012 May 28
They can be good with small animals, but can step on them easily! Yes they love to please their owners, very eaisy to train. But remember every dog is different. Yes great house pets! Love to snuggle! Yes do great job on leash. They do okay on hikes but if they are trained well they will do just fine. They eat about 6-9 cups of food a day.( females) Eat 8-14 daily (males) They are such amazing dogs. They are gentle giants! But try Great Dane Rescues that where I got mine
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2012 May 28
I spent my toddler years with a Great Dane. We had a cat so they are good with cats and they can be good with little dogs. Every dog is different, some dogs are good with cats/small dogs, others aren’t. It’s not the breed in general..you should know that, your a pit lover
By the way..love the name ‘pitlove’!! They are generally good trainers and if you train them very well then they have potential to be good by your side walkers. Ask your vet about how much food is right for your specific dog. Good luck if you get one! 
Hope I helped. Oh, and I absolutely love pits too!
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2012 May 28
You should check out Gentle Giants Rescue in Norco CA They have a fun site to see if you like Great Danes. In my experience the cost of food is about $60-$70 a month for high quality dog food…A Dane will eat 50-70 lbs. of food a month. There are Danes that are quiet small at 65 lbs. and they will eat less than a large Dane that will top the scales at 180 lbs.Danes are not high energy and easy to deal with…they might step on your foot every now and again:) They are mostly a couch potato in the house, do great with kids if they are properly socialized. If leash trained they learn quite easily to heal at your side both on and off leash. If he is raised with other dogs and other pets then he will be good with them(we had a small ranch and our Dane was great with the farm animals…didn’t even bother 200 chickens!!) They are Very nice dogs…I have owned one and known hundreds:) You will not be disappointed with a Great Dane! They don’t fetch and don’t care for water(swimming) but they love long leisurely walks and romps on the beach:)
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50 yrs. experience with dogs, volunteer at shelters and rescues and am a groomer
2012 May 28
I had a rescue Great Dane for years. Female 140 lbs. Lovely dog. Great pet. Only bad thing I could say about the dog, was she was a digger. And boy could she dig some huge holes!
Wonderful temperament. Very friendly. Loved everybody, adults, kids & even toddlers. Very careful with little kids. Great with all dogs, including our small dogs, cats & livestock too.
Average dog to train. Learned basic pet Obedience easily. We lived out in the country so she spent very little time ever on leash. But when she was on leash, she was very well behaved & never pulled.
We lived in a tiny house. She was a good house pet. Active outside. Relaxed & settled in the house.
Walked & hiked with us off-leash all the time & accompanied us when we rode our horses on the trails. Never had to worry about her running off. Always stayed with us. Might chase a jackrabbit, but would come immediately back when called.
She was not a big eater. Always lean & well muscled. She was free fed. Ate about 4 cups of good food per day. About the same as the male Chesapeake Bay Retriever we had at the same time. Amount & cost of food of course would depend on what food you are feeding.
References :