So You Think You Want to Raise a Great Dane Puppy?

So you think you want to raise a Great Dane puppy? As a dog lover and a push over for large dogs, I would like to share my thoughts with you on taking on the responsibility of raising a Great Dane puppy. I have owned four Great Danes in the past 30 years and loved them all. One of them I lost due to cancer at an early age, one I had to give to another family because I did not have the time to devote to him due to work and raising my children, one that lived a wonderful life up until he was 9 years old and died of prostate problems two years ago, and finally my most recent baby, Lady Sassafras, a rambunctious 7 month old black female.

My husband surprised me last November with my latest Dane. We had been out visiting and returned home to meet my children and go out for dinner. I expected to walk in the house to lights, talking, etc, but when I walked in the house the lights were out and I heard no noise, no voices, no television, no stereo, nothing. I walked into the den and turned on the light calling my boys names when suddenly around the door walked the most gorgeous little black puppy I had ever seen with a big red bow tied around her neck! She stumbled across the floor (the bow was making her unsteady) and walked straight to me. I picked her up, she kissed me and I was in love. My husband told me, "She's just here for you to look at. We can take her back if you don't want her." To which my reply was, "Do you really think you're going to bring her into my house and I'm going to let her go?" So Lady Sassafras, or Sassy, is now a major member of our household.

Sassy was born on September 11, 2008. She was part of a litter of 15 puppies. I have been told she only weighed a few pounds at birth but by the time I adopted her at around 8 weeks of age, she had already blossomed to about 13 pounds on my home bath scales. When I took her to the veterinarian the next week she weighed 16 pounds on their scales. Since that time she has pretty much gained about 3 pounds a week consistently. She now is over 80 pounds ( it has been three or four weeks since I weighed her and she was 73 pounds at that time) So what I'm trying to say is be prepared for your small adorable puppy to become a large adorable puppy quite rapidly.

Sassy and all my Danes have been such loveable puppies. They love to be held, love to sit in your lap and love attention. It is so much fun to hold them in your arms and your lap, but this becomes quite a challenge as they grow and those long arms and legs are dangling everywhere. Unfortunately the Dane puppy doesn't realize it has outgrown your arms or your lap and still wants you to hold them as they grow to 20 pounds, 30 pounds, 40 pounds, 50 pounds, and on and on. I actually was still picking Sassy up as she got close to 50 pounds and her body had grown almost as long from tip of nose to tip of tail as my height of 5'4". After I pulled a muscle in my shoulder and neck, I finally decided I had to stop that. It was really hard because a Dane is the perfect beggar. Sassy would come up to me and roll those big beautiful brown eyes and literally beg me to pick her up. Solution is you must sit down and train the Dane to either sit on the floor beside your chair and lay their head or on your lap or as my Sassy seems to prefer, allow them to sit on the sofa with you leaning against you or with her head in my lap. Danes literally crave attention and rubbing their head will make them just as happy as sitting in your lap.

You must keep in mind that this is just the beginning of their growth. Your Dane puppy will continue to grow for the first 18 months of their life and you can expect them to weigh anywhere from 130 pounds up to 200 pounds. My own experience with Danes has been with adult weights of 140 to 160. This pretty much depends on the size of their parents. Sassy's Mom and Dad (Colonel and Rebel) are both over 150 pounds and Dad is still growing.

Another thing to keep in mind along with the growing Dane puppy is that you must have room for the puppy to live, play, and sleep. My previous Dane, Beauregard or Bo as he preferred to be called, lived in the house until he hit the 50 pound range. Being born in November, he became that size in the middle of spring so the weather outside was great. Great Danes don't have a lot of hair and they get cold really easily so you must be careful to not put them out in the cold too young or without proper heating. My Bo was lucky when he began to live outside because my husband had built him a Custom Made "Dane" dog house. The house is about 5 feet tall by 7 feet long by 4 feet wide with a custom made door large enough for a full grown Dane to walk inside with only having to duck his head. The house is insulated with electric wiring so that a heat lamp can be utilized in the cold months (which aren't very long here in Mississippi). The house is located next to my husband's shop thereby giving it extra protection from wind and rain. Oh, yeah, there is also an 8 x 1 0 deck in front of the dog house with a small overhang on the house for protection from the rain.

On this same line of thought, you must remember the growing Dane needs room to run and play or to walk regularly on a leash to get their exercise and release their "puppy energy". (Oh, yes, they will release that puppy energy in the house also; it is amazing to watch a 70 pound Great Dane with a body that is over 5 feet long from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose run round and round in circles inside your house. Amazingly this large animal normally doesn't knock anything over when making these loops.) Since we live in a neighborhood, we had installed a 6 foot wooden fence around our back yard several years earlier for a previous Great Dane who enjoyed jumping over our 4 foot cyclone metal fence and going roaming. A Great Dane roaming the neighborhood may look cute to the owner but I can tell you it is very intimidating and frightening to the neighbors to have a hundred plus pound dog come flying towards them. The dog is only wanting to play but not everyone loves large dogs and many people are afraid of large dogs. So be prepared to be responsible and provide a place for you dog to stay and to get his exercise. I know many people who keep their Danes indoors all their lives but I can say from experience they can live outdoors if you have the right temperature environment and if they have proper housing and fencing outdoors.

Sassy and I haven't decided yet when or if she will move outdoors completely. She loves to go outside and play with our other outdoor dog, Rocco, who is a 50 pound part lab, part hound dog. But Sassy still likes to come back indoors for her naps and to sleep at night. So time will tell who wins that debate!

Another thing to keep in mind with a growing Great Dane puppy is training. Training is very important for any dog and I will say that is not my strongest forte when dealing with my dogs. I tend to want to spoil them too much. But you must keep in mind that the better trained your dog is, the better you can enjoy him or her. I took my previous Dane, Bo, to obedience training and he really did good and passed with flying colors. He even got a diploma! I am sorry to say that I did not keep up his training at home; largely due to the fact that I was working full-time and raising two teenage boys and a husband. Bo was a good dog but I really wish in retrospect that I had forced myself to keep working with him routinely on his obedience training. Training really should be pursued; most towns have training classes either through local Kennel clubs, private trainers or local pet stores. There are also some really good books and Cd's available on line and in stores. I am not going to try to suggest one of these because as of now I have not tried any with Sassy. I am not working now and since I am staying at home full time with Sassy I have plans that I will train her myself.

The very first training goals I worked towards were walking on a leash, going outside to "potty" and crate training. I started this from the first night and she has done great. My crate training is really not so much training as providing her a "me" space where she sleeps at night or in the daytime when I have to leave the house. The "potty" training and crate training are very important, but I also feel one of the first things you should teach your young Dane puppy is to walk on a leash when he or she is young and still smaller than you are. I began walking Sassy the first week I got her and she has always been amenable to having the collar around her neck. Believe me, when your dog gets larger than you, you need to have your bluff on them at an early age. I'm still working on that as Sassy grows larger every week.

The next goals I began working on those first few weeks were "sit, stay, and come". She has done great with this training but you must keep up the training to remind the dog that you are in charge not them. Never forget that this young cute puppy will more than likely be larger than you are one day.

I hope these thoughts will help you if you are considering adopting and raising a Great Dane puppy. I can assure you that if you are willing and able to take the time and effort needed to train, love and care for a Dane it will be one of the most enjoyable experiences of your life. One of my favorite things about Great Danes is their ability to make me laugh. Whether it's the expressions on their faces or watching this huge dog trying to fit itself either on your lap or squeeze itself under a chair just to be closer to you, you're sure to find many reasons to smile just by observing this adorable giant baby.