A  Look Back

The Great Dane has existed for at least 400 years; its origins can be traced to the Irish Wolfhound with mixture of old English Mastiff. The breed was originally used as a Boar Hound in Germany, which was a ferocious animal.   Now it is one of the most graceful and distinguished of the giant breeds.

The Great Dane Club of Germany adopted a standard of the breed in 1891. In Chicago in 1889, the German Mastiff or Great Dane Club of America was founded with G. Muss-Arnoldt as its first delegate. Two years later the club reorganized as the Great Dane Club of America.

Ancient History

Historians claim that there are drawings of dogs that resemble the Great Dane on Egyptian monuments from roughly 3000 B.C.  The earliest written description of a dog resembling the Great Dane can be found in Chinese literature of 1121 B.C., according to an article by Dr. G. Ciaburri in a Great Dane Club of Italy publication of 1929.

wThe Great Dane’s name is the English translation of the breed name in French, Grand Danois, which means “big Danish.”

wGreat Danes were ranked 24th in the nation according to 2006 AKC Registration Statistics.