HISTORY OF THE GREAT DANE
Our Dane
Where they came from and how they became what they are
Original Dogs
For the last half of the past century, science endeavoured to find information about the development of our domestic dogs. They found skeletons of the transitional forms from wolf to dog in huge refuse dumps of the Kjökkenmöddiger (mussel eaters). Findings of dog bones, which have been unearthed at excavations and which are estimated to be some 8,000 to 10,000 years old, revealed already the large variety of the subsequent forms of the dog. These original dogs have been given names that are easy to remember, such as Broncedog, Ashdog, Peatdog, “Pfahlhausspitz”, Warehousedog, Wolfhound. “Quot canes tot colores. So many dogs so many colors.” Or rather, so many colors and so many shapes which, in the course of different cultural epochs, derived from these original types. Natural and human breeding selections contributed to this development. We are only interested in the danelike dogs. We don’t want to make the mistake here to either determine the origin of our Great Dane in a direct line to either of the original forms of the dog, nor to put the pedigree of a now wolfish puppy down to prehistoric times.
Danelike Dogs
The kynologists generally count breeds with the following characteristics among danelike dogs: strong limb structure, broad forehead, very strongly built muzzle with hanging chops and a tendency to a wrinkled scalp. Nowadays they’re known as Tibetan Dane, Mastiff, Boxer, Bordeaux Dane, Great Dane, Newfundland, St. Bernard Dog, Hovavart and Leonberger.
Yet, these shapes can also be found among smaller breeds, e.g. British Pug and French Bulldog so that the meaning of danelike does not necessarily refer to the size.
Assyrian hunting and fighting dogs
The oldest illustration of a danelike dog is a relief plaque in a Babylonian temple that has been built in the 12th century b.c. and was renovated by Nebukadnezar in 380 b.c. The plaque shows a colossal danelike dog that is being held on a woven lead by an Assyrian. This Assyrian fighting dog is very similar to today’s Tibetan Dog and despite its short fur identical. Actually the Tibetan Highland seems to have been the source of all danelike dogs.
Again and again the ancient writers mentioned those Indian dogs which were at first kept by Assyrians and Persians and later on by Greeks and Romans. It is to be assumed that when speaking of this Indian dog, they were referring to the Tibetan Dog which were to be found at the foot of the Himalayas in India. Alexander the Great used to bring back danelike dogs as a present from his expedition to India, which founded the famous breed of the Molossians on Greek soil. Later on these dogs have been passed on from Greece to the Roman culture group. From the beginning of the calendar Molossian dogs reached the Central and Western European countries via the Alps. It is obvious that the cultural more sophisticated Romans already carried on kynological pure breeding and therefore also bred less heavy, danelike types of dogs for hunting, along with the heavy fighting dogs. Furthermore they imported the praised British dogs that have been brought into action as fighting dogs against the Northern Greek Molossian dogs in Roman arenas. The selection of these dog-gladiators was made by a so-called “procurator cynogie” – a position specially implemented by the Romans that was situated in Winchester. It is to be assumed that these dogs – by the way, later on they became very famous all over Europe – were the offspring of those dogs imported to England and Ireland by the Celts, where they have been interbreeded with the Irish Wolfhound.
It can be proved by findings of skulls of big dogs that at the same time, danelike dogs also lived in Central Russia, Poland and Central Germany. We know that the Teutons were accompanied by big, danelike dogs on their campaigns, in order to especially support them in defence of the barricades of wagons. In the Alemannic Laws of the 7th century a.d. we already come across numerous types of dogs that have been used for hunting. Killing these dogs was a punishable offense.
Hounds of the Middle Age
The history of the medieval dogs is connected with the hunting practices of those days. Princely hunters on horseback leading a pack of hounds and binding the inhabitants of whole villages to act as beaters. That used to be the way of hunting wild boar, bear and wolf which could be found in large quantity in the extensive forests of Central Europe. It was the time Riedinger and van Dyck made us aware of with their marvellous pictures. First accounts about these hounds can be found in the descriptions of the hunts of Landgrave Philipp the Magnanimous of Hesse, who was a very passionate hunter. The English dogs which are mentioned here, were tall and strong animals that have been bought from England by the princely courts of the continent at the beginning of the 16th century. They emerged from a cross-breed of a Mastiff and an Irish Greyhound. The kennel they were kept in was called the English Stable, whereas the dogs themselves were known as Male, Hounds, “Saufänger” or “Saupacker”. Johann Täntzer’s “Diana’s high and low secrets of hunting” (1699) provides a in-depth description of these big danelike dog breeds. In order to save these precious dogs from harm whilst the hunt, they were equipped with a special armour. According to Täntzer these ‘coats’ were made of brown parchen or some silk fabric, well padded and equipped with whalebone on the dog’s chest and stomach. Täntzer also reports that the ‘great masters’ chose only the most beautiful and biggest dogs of the pack to be the leader or his private dog. Those chosen ones wore silver and silver-golden collars that were upholstered with velvet and decorated with valuable fringes. The enormous distances during the hunts of Landgrave Philipp and William IV in the forests of ‘Habichtswald, Reinhardswald and Kaufunger Wald’ show the capability of these hounds of the Middle Age.
In 1559 Landgrave Philipp sent the following message to Duke Christoph of Württemberg:
“It is with great pleasure that we managed to hunt down more than 1,120 pigs with the help of our own dogs that we have raised ourselves.”
The perils the hunters were exposed to every now and then during the hunts can be gathered from a letter from Landgrave Philipp IV. There he mourns the death of his most upright squire, Claus Rantzau, who went in search of the pigs with a spike and was then killed by a wild boar that tear open the main vein of his left thigh. Naturally there was also a great loss of the hounds. “He who wants pig heads must give up dog heads.” as said a proverb in the old days. In the course of the 18th century the import of English dogs gradually stopped due to the fact that indigenously bred dogs were preferred. Another possible reason might be the lesser game population and the use of firearms which made a pack of dogs no longer necessary.
Only small numbers of hounds were still kept at the hunting courts in the princely provinces. At the beginning of the 19th century these dogs were continually passed into private ownership. In terms of the outward appearance of these medieval hounds, you can find the same coloration as our Great Danes have nowadays; according to written reports of ancient hunting authors. The original type, a yellow coloring, maintained in Hesse for the longest period. “Game Master Otto-Kassel, who belonged to the Hessian hunting court as a princely hunter from 1860 until 1870, was kind enough to give me some more details about the last of their phylum. According to him they have been vigorous dogs of a yellow, reddish-yellow, cloudy color, a black muzzle and for the most part they have been big and fast animals that have been used exclusively for hunting pigs.” (Göschel)
19th Century – A name becomes a meaning
There is hardly any other dog race that caused such a confusion: “Saupacker”, “Hatzrüden”, “Fanghunde”, Danish Dane, Ulmer Dane, Tiger Dane and Bismarck Dane were the names known for Danes in the middle of the 19th century. What we have here is, ancient names meet those of local breeding regions. Southern Germany, mainly Württemberg was famous for breeding black and white Harlequin Danes, which were called Ulmer Dane. Breeders of the Northern part of Germany preferred blue and fawn colors. The lay public still calls them Danish Danes even nowadays.
It is not totally clear yet why our Harlequins were called Tiger Dane. Maybe this name derives from those big Danes of this color that, as it is reported, were kept among tigers in zoological gardens or appeared in circus rings. It is also possible that the name derives from the dappled horses of the Indians, the Apaloosa. (tiger horse). In the middle of the 19th century Germany has been caught by the surge of dog sports from the UK. The first German dog show took place in Hamburg-Altona in 1863. Danes were also present; eight of them were registered as Danish Danes and seven as Ulmer Danes.
They judged likewise according to this differentiation at the subsequent shows in Hamburg (1869 and 1876) and Hanover (1879), even though a group of judges already explained in 1876 that it is impossible to keep up this differentiation, since they both belong to the same breed. Their suggestion was to unite all colors under one term: “Deutsche Dogge” (German Dane). The final decision for this however, was not until 1880 when during a convention of judges in Berlin, under the chairmanship of Dr Bodenius, the name “Deutsche Dogge” was established.
We can be proud that this name became a kynological ‘trademark’ and that Germany, of all member countries of the worldwide Fédération Cynologique International (FCI), is acknowledged to be the country of origin of this breed. But no rose without its thorns. In France and other Anglo-Saxon countries our Dane is still being called “Grand Danois” or “Great Dane”. It will probably remain a mystery forever why especially this name found its way. By the way, this name has literary been used for the first time by the French naturalist Buffon (1707-1788). There is, however, no hint for Denmark taking a big part in the creation or formation of this breed. I presume that political resentments led to a deviate naming. Possibly a reaction of our Western neighbours to the displayed German national consciousness of those days.
In 1870/ 71 the German-French war was won by Prussia and King William I of Prussia had been proclaimed German Emperor in the castle of Versailles. The founder of the first German Empire was the Imperial Chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck, a man whose love was devoted to Danes since his early youth. So what was more reasonable than choosing the name “Deutsch” (German) for a big majestic breed and to declare the “Deutsche Dogge” national dog.
Anecdotes: Bismarck and his Danes
Prince Otto von Bismarck was known for his admiration of this breed and he also owned severeal dogs (Great Danes). One of them nearly caused an international incident when it showed its dislike towards a Russian diplomate. A brisk conversation was going on between the German Chancellor and the Russian Prime Minister Gortschakoff. The latter gesticulated more lively than usual, which led the dog Tyras, that was lying on its blanket, to assume an attack on its master. It jumped on the proud Russian and threw him onto the floor. Many excuses were necessary, but accepted. Gortschakoff was not bitten but only scared so that the peace in Europe remained untouched. If another Great Dane of Prince Bismarck, Sultan, did not approve of anyone, the Chancellor used to consider this assessment for his decisions.
Bismarck was always accompanied by one or several of his preferred dogs when he was a law student and civil servant in Berlin, during his travels to many countries, during his diplomatic career in Frankfurt, St. Petersburg, Paris and elsewhere, even in Varzin and Friedrichsruh. Sultan, who died in Varzin in 1877, was most likely his favorite Dane.
Of all dogs that have a place in history, Tyras is the most famous Ulmer Dane of the German Chancellor. The only dog whose death was considered so important that the news of the incident not only spread through Europe but throughout the whole world. In fact, Tyras’ reputation not even ended with life. News have been brought to the world that the first visitor after the death, on the Prince’s birthday, brought a new dog of the same type as Tyras as a present. Almost for 60 years Prince Bismarck kept Great Danes, among which usually were one or even several of an extraordinary size. The first dog he got when he lived with his parents in Kniephof was one of the biggest and feared by the farmers of the surrounding area. Later on this dog accompanied its young master to the university of Göttingen where it soon made a name for itself. One time Bismarck was called to see the principal for he threw an empty bottle out of the window. So he took his huge dog along to scare the honorable master off, who promptly found refuge behind an easy chair. There he remained until the dog was removed from the room.
Supplementary to the punishment Bismarck received for his original misdemeanour, he was fined for five Thaler because he brought this terrible beast to the principal’s sanctum.
The Great Dane of our days
The different colorings
Nowadays the Great Dane is being bred in five accepted colors: Harlequin (black and white), black, blue, fawn and brindle. These colors, however, cannot be interbred arbitrarily. They are combined in three groups or color varieties: Harlequin and black, blue, fawn and brindle. Of all colors the Harlequin is without a doubt the most difficult one for breeding. Quite often this breed is jokingly called the breed for millionaires. To a certain extent, breeding this color is a lottery for the breeders. The interbreeding of well-dabbled parent dogs may quite possibly produce an offspring of only black puppies or even so-called faulty colors, which we call grey tigers, porcelain tigers and albinos. We kindly ask the reader to look up the details in the characteristics of the breed. We do not intend to examine as to why this is possible. The hereditary of colors and, what is more important for this color, the Merle-factor, are a matter for specialists.
The fawn/ brindle color is “relatively” easy to breed. The outcome of a litter in this respect can be pre-determined. Pairing two fawns will always produce a fawn offspring which simply show different shades of fawn. This is called recessive genetic traits since both parent animals only have genes of this color. According to the experiences of breeders, the color will start to fade when only breeding with dogs of the same color over and over again.
Therefore you are supposed to cross-breed regularly fawn and brindle dogs in order to achieve a freshening up of the pigments. The litter can be expected to have fawn and brindle puppies. Usually, if you mate two brindles, there will be fawn and brindle puppies. Breeders who only pair brindle Danes should be aware of the fact that the black streams will be more and more dense and the leftover ground color will be pale or ash-grey. Both are unsightly, therefore it is recommended to also mate fawn and brindle on a regular basis. If you, as a buyer, are going to have a look at newly born brindle puppies don’t be scared off. The little ones have a muddy-ash-grey color at first and mostly a black line on their backs; but as they get older the color and markings become clearer.
Likewise as the fawn Danes, the blue ones also have only one pigment. A pair of blue will therefore always produce blue puppies. In the past, with only a small stock of breed, this caused problems of inbreeding. Therefore it was a common practice to cross-breed the fawn color from time to time. Through this method – although in a well-dispensed manner – faults have been eliminated and the result was an improvement for this type of coloring. In the past, you would have only come across blue Danes with a very slender body and a dainty, almost Doberman-like head. But nowadays you will find many Danes with an elegant body and a prominent head like usually predominate among the fawn/ brindle colors. A so-called fawn cross-breed produces a black offspring in the first generation. These black animals are specially marked on the genealogy and must only be used for blue color breeding. In terms of breeding they must not be confused with the black Danes of a brindle breed.
Standard and Studbook
Until the middle of the 19th century the choice of breed of the Danes was controlled by intuition to a large extent. In a guide for hunters (1820 Winkel) the demands of the hounds of the 18th century are listed, for example. “A good hound – no matter of which color – has to have a prominent but not too short a head, which ends with a long, pointed muzzle with four good fangs; and a sturdy chest which may also be short and prominent. The legs must not lack the necessary strength. But a major fault would be if they waddled, i.e. if their ankles are not strong enough.” If you asked today since when one can talk of a planned breed of the Great Dane, it is to be assumed that it started in 1879, the year of the first breeder convention during which they discussed a common standard. A standard includes a more or less detailed description of a breed, such as of the head, neck, body, size, color, etc. and the faults that are to be eliminated. The standard is based on a certain type of breed, i.e. the ‘ideal animal’ which can hardly ever be achieved. The standard we refer to today can be followed as far back as the year 1891. It was edited by the “Deutschen Doggenclub” which has been founded in 1888 in order to support this breed. In 1897 the first volume of the genealogy of the Great Dane was published and contained 538 entries. Its editor was the “Deutsche Doggenclub.