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The Great Dane breed is thought to be around 400 years old but dogs resembling the Great Dane were depicted in drawings in Egyptian tombs dating back to 2200BC. These were Mastiff type dogs and shorter of leg than the modern day Great Danes. It was the Germans who further developed the breed into the dog we recognize today. Sources suggest that the breed was made up of the Mastiff, boarhound, Irish wolfhound and the Greyhound. At first they were used as bull baiters, and then they became popular with nobility and were used for hunting wild boar and deer. By the 1800’s these were commonly used for large game hunting. The UK Great Dane club was started in 1885 and the American version in 1889.

The Great Dane has a short, thick, glossy coat which doesn’t require much maintenance. It is a relatively clean dog which is handy because bathing one can prove difficult. There are six acceptable show colours for the breed which are:

* Fawn – Yellow gold with a black mask
* Brindle – Fawn and black chevron stripes
* Blue – Pure steel blue without any white markings
* Black – Pure glossy black
* Harlequin – White base with irregular black patches
* Mantle – Black and white with a solid black blanket and head and white muzzle, chest and collar

Others colours do exist but are not allowed in the show ring and therefore not encouraged by breeders.

Despite the Great Dane’s imposing appearance the breed has a friendly nature; they mix well with other dogs and household pets as well as children. They become very close and loyal to there owners, family members and frequent visitors. They are active dogs and need to be exercised regularly. These dogs are quick to alert the family of any approaching strangers which make them excellent guard dogs although they don’t bark much. It is important to start training and socialising at an early age as they grow very quickly into large dogs and can become dominant and aggressive to others animals if not trained.

As with all deep chested dogs the Great Dane is prone to gastric torsion or bloat, this can be prevented by taking precautions with feeding regimes. Some suggest an elevated feeding bowl reduces the risk of bloat but other studies claim that this increases the chances of the disease. Refraining from exercise immediately before of after eating will reduce the risk. The breed can also have problems with hip dysplasia which can be controlled with exercise and nutrition. X-rays of the parents can usually certify whether the hips of their offspring are healthy. Like all large dogs these have a slow metabolism and therefore have less energy and eat less per pound of dog than smaller breeds. As with all pure white dogs, many white ones are deaf. The breed’s average lifespan is between 8 and 12 years.

Great Danes have appeared in several movies including The Patriot, Batman Beyond, Swiss family Robinson, Good Boy. Other famous Great Danes include:

# The Hanna-Barbera character Scooby Do

# Comic strip character Marmaduke

# Captain Kirk’s dog in Star Trek

# Astro in the Jetsons

# Schmiechel in the British TV soap Coronation Street

# World’s tallest dog ‘Gibson’ who measured 42.2 inches at the withers

Steve Batchelor is a dog lover and the webmaster at http://www.dogbreedguides.com [http://www.dogbreedguides.com] where you can find some great information on many different dog breeds. He also recommends petinfogoldmine for more info on dog training, obedience, health care and many other subjects.

The Simon’s Town Museum may house many artifacts of life in Simon’s Town throughout the ages, but the building has more than enough history of its own. In the past it has been used as a school, post office, jail and magistrates court amongst others. On your Cape Town holiday make sure that you take a photograph of the oil painting in the Old Residency which when photographed always fails to develop. If the very idea of this frightens you then you may not want to visit the basement of the museum during your tailor made holiday to Cape Town. The basement used to be the old punishment cell where slaves and prisoners were dealt with. Even today whiplash marks can still be spotted on the ceiling and it is said that if you walk the museum at night then you can hear the echoes of their cries.

If you want a break from the horrors and the hauntings of Simon’s Town then there are a number of different activities that you can enjoy in this region. Whale watching trips are especially popular with tourists on their Cape Town holidays and the nearby Boulder’s Beach is also the best place to spot penguins, with over 2500 birds.

As a seaside resort, Simon’s Town offers some of the best luxury accommodation in the Cape Town area. But one house that you probably won’t want to spend the night at is the Admiralty House which has been standing since 1740. The house was famously visited by Rudyard Kipling who noted that the then Admiral kept turtles tied up to the jetty, so that they could swim around in the sea until the soup ingredients were ready for them. The Royal family have since visited the house and various members of aristocracy reported the strange instances that had happened to them whilst visiting the house on their Cape Town holidays. Lady Campbell spotted men in naval uniform on the stairs, whilst the wife of a Vice-admiral reported an invisible man opening a door for her. The same woman in grey is regularly seen at Admiralty House, Ibeka and The Residency and these three buildings are said to be linked together by a network of tunnels.

With a prominent naval history Simon’s Town is home to a number of maritime heroes, but the best known of these was Able Seaman, Just Nuisance, RN, the only dog to serve in the Royal Navy. A commemorative statue of the Great Dane stands in Jubilee Square and has become the symbol of the town, with vendors selling Just Nuisance key-chains and fridge-magnets for you to purchase as souvenirs on your Cape Town holidays.

Simon’s Town is also an important pilgrimage site for Muslim visitors. During the 18th Century a Muslim grave was uncovered under trees and whilst it is unknown exactly who was buried there, the site is said to have a strange physical aura surrounding it.

Simon’s Town is the perfect place to spend a few days whilst on your tailor-made holiday to Cape Town and, like many of the former residents, who still haunt the city, you’ll be so taken with the destination that you won’t want to leave.

Rachel Hill is a Southern Africa Travel specialist, a company specialising in tailor-made holiday to Cape Town as well as holidays to other destinations in Southern Africa. Our experienced consultants will help you design your very own luxury holiday, and will be happy to provide you with a free quote.

Some of us may not notice but a lot of Great Danes are included in various films and television shows. Do you know that the famous cartoon character Scooby-Doo is a Great Dane? This animal character of the popular television series was created based on a Great Dane. But, Scooby-Doo is not the only popular Dane. In fact, Great Danes have been in various films and television series even during the 19th century. So what makes this breed so popular to be sought after by various film makers?

This domestic dog is known for its giant size and gentle personality and is often referred to as the “Gentle Giant and the “Apollo of all breed”. Along with the Irish Wolfhound, Great Danes are considered the tallest dog breed with the height ranges from 30-40 inches (76-100 cm.). The males typically weigh 54-90 kg. (120-200 lbs.) and 45-68 kg. (100-150 lbs.) for females. This breed’s giant and powerful body is covered with short, soft, thick and shiny close fitting hair in six show-acceptable colors. The colors are fawn, brindle, blue, black, harlequin and mantle. Other colors such as white, fawnequin, merle, merlequin and fawn mantle may occur occasionally but are not acceptable in the show ring.

The head is long and narrow with an accentuated frontal stop and a rather large nasal canal. The neck is strong and muscular, a pure white neck is preferred in a harlequin. The usually dark and deep set eyes with lively intelligent expression are medium in size. The ears are either cropped rather long, pointed and carried erect or left natural. Cropping of the ears is more common in the United States but is prohibited in some European countries such as UK, Denmark, Germany and in some parts of Australia and New Zealand. The tail reaching to the point of the hock is medium-length.

Referred to as the “Gentle Giant”, this large and powerful appearance conceals a kind, sweet and affectionate temperament. They are good towards humans, even children, also towards other dogs and other animals. Dominance issues and aggression may occur rarely but can be addressed with thorough obedience training starting from an early age.

The average life span of Great Danes is ten years but can live for 12- 13 years as long as they are kept in good shape. Since large breed with fairly slow metabolism, they are more prone to a deadly disease called bloat. This may result to immediate death if not addressed quickly. Hip dysplasia is another problem common to this breed as well as to other large breeds. Breeding stocks or parents should be tested to make sure that they do not carry faulty genes and are likely to have healthy pups. Other health problems include dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and other congenital heart diseases, yeast infection and deafness especially among pure white Danes.

To make sure none of these diseases will affect your dog, check your dog’s ancestral history. Making sure that your dog’s ancestors aren’t carrying any of these diseases will guarantee you of a sweet, kind and giant dog with less or no health problem.

By: Richard Cussons

The Great Dane is known as a gentle giant. It is a huge dog, but very sweet, affectionate and kind. Great Danes absolutely love to be around people and make great pets. This dog is a low maintenance dog compared to other breeds.

The origin of the Great Dane is not entirely clear. Some people believe Great Danes originated from the German Bullenbeisser dogs which were used for hunting wild boar. However, other people believe that they came from breeding a Greyhound with an English Mastiff. The Dane is often called the “Apollo of Dogs”.

The Great Dane is a very large, muscular dog. The average height of these dogs is 30 to 34 inches for males and 28 to 32 inches for females. Most of the dogs weigh between 120 to 200 pounds for males and 100 to 130 pounds for females. People tend to like the larger dogs of this species. The Great Dane comes in several different colors, including fawn, brindle, blue, black, mantle harlequin and merle. Merle is not a recognized color though. The largest recorded Dane is in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s tallest dog. “Gibson” measured 42.2 inches at the shoulders!

The ears of the Great Dane are usually cropped in the United States. This is not as common in Europe and is even banned in some other countries. If the ears are not cropped they will hang down.

This dog is extremely kind, sweet, dignified, spirited, brave, friendly, affectionate and is great with children. They are very intelligent, strong dogs who are loyal and protective of their owners. The Dane doesn’t bark that much and is not aggressive. However, this dog needs to have obedience training when young so that you can manage it when it gets big. The Dane tends to like to lean on people and needs to be taught not to do that because it could knock people over, especially children. This breed can be fairly difficult to train.

Most large dogs have slow metabolism problems and the Great Dane is no exception. Another problem that this dog shares with large breeds is bloat. This is a very painful twisting of the stomach. It is not that common but does affect Great Danes. If it is not taken care of quickly, the dog will die. Some people have the dog’s stomach tacked to prevent bloat. Great Danes also have problems with hip dysplasia, dilated cardiomyopathy and congenital heart diseases. This dog usually does not live very long; most only live to be 10 years old.

This dog does the best if it has a large yard to exercise. While it is inside it is not very active, so it could be kept in an apartment if it was brought out regularly for exercise. It needs to be walked daily.

The Great Dane doesn’t require much brushing but you should use dry shampoo when needed so that you won’t have to give the dog a bath. Bathing this dog can be very difficult because of their size.

Although this dog is very sweet and loving, it does need lots of training when young so that it doesn’t become difficult when it gets larger. It also needs exercise every day. Make sure you can give this dog all it needs before purchasing one.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Dogs

What some people failed to realize is that potty training is an important part in the life of a Great Dane or any other dog regardless of breed. While agility or obedience training prepares your Great Dane for dog shows, potty training is important in order for them to establish regular urinating and defecating and to minimize accidents that often times cause you to punish your adorable Great Dane.

There may be some owners who are excited in having their pets star in dog shows that they sometimes overlook the importance of potty training. Potty training or housetraining as some may call it is a process wherein dogs are being trained to urinate or defecate regularly at the place specified by the owner. The goal of this training is to prevent accident from happening rather than waiting for it to happen. Naturally you do not want to see piles of feces in your living room or urine stains in your new carpet, don’t you? By training your dog at the right time, accidents will be minimized if not totally prevented.

Probably you already knew but if in case you are wondering when is the right time to housetrain your dog, the right time is when your Great Dane hasn’t turned into a giant dog yet. If you do not want to see huge pile of feces scattering around the house, better start training when your dog is still a puppy. Puppies are easier to train given the fact that they haven’t learned undesirable habits yet. But if you have an adult dog with housetraining problems, do not assume that correcting the problem is impossible. You can train an adult dog as you would train a puppy. Just be patient, determined and believe that there is nothing you and your dog can’t do as long as you can communicate with each other.

A dog need not talk (since they could not talk) in order for you to grasp his urge to eliminate. However, there are signs to watch out when there is a need to eliminate. When a dog exhibits behaviors such as pacing, sniffing the ground, turning in circle or scratching the floor, no doubt he is trying to tell you something. Those behaviors are his ways of saying something like, “Take me out! I’m gonna pee!”. That is why dog owners should learn to understand their dog’s body language. It is their only way to communicate.

Getting a dog master what is being taught to him may take time. Perhaps even days or weeks depending on how the animal respond to the training procedures. You have to identify what training procedure works best for your pet. The best and commonly used so far is positive reinforcement training wherein you are using something, a treat or his favorite toy, to increase the chance of the behavior being exhibited again. A gentle stroke, loving praise or a treat or a toy may be given to your dog to let him know that you like what he did and you are expecting him to do it again.

Not all dogs respond well to positive reinforcement training. But regardless of the training procedures used, you should always remember that training based on punishment is not an ideal one to use. Rubbing his nose on the area where the accident happened will not help you achieve the things that you desire for your dog to do.

Potty training can be a daunting task but remember that your dog depends on you in order to become successful. Just be patient for you and your dog will reap your reward in due time.

By: Richard Cussons

Soyou have a new Great Dane puppy. Puppies are adorable, snuggly, cute, fun to watch, and they have awesome puppy breath. Now its time to housebreak him or her and you arent quite as excited as you were when you first saw him.

Here are ten tips that will hopefully make the process easier for both of you.

1. Be Upbeat and Enthusiastic- The dogs mission in life is to make their humans happy. If you want any training to go smoothly, you need to be enthusiastic. Your puppy will succeed much easier if he thinks that housebreaking is a fun adventure for the two of you! If you start out being gloomy and distressed, your dog will naturally think that youre displeased with him. Hell be confused and try to figure out what he did wrong. Since you havent even started yet, youre sending the wrong message. Talk yourself into thinking youre going to have a great time and convey this to your puppy. Each time you take him outside, do it with gusto!

2. Be Patient Lets face it, youre going to have some disappointing moments while youre house training a dog. Try to look at the big picture. For one thing, your dog will bring you far more happiness in life than unhappiness. When hes young, hell make lots of mistakes, but before you know it, hell be trained. So give him time to learn all these new behaviors. Also, if you act impatient with him, youll get into that confusion thing again. Just take a deep breath, smile at how cute he is, and know hell do better next time.

3. Make a Schedule- The smaller your dog, the smaller bladder he or she has. Every puppy needs to be put on a potty training schedule, so take this into consideration as youre setting it up. Take him out first thing in the morning. Feed him, and take him out again. If youre home with him during the day, take him out every hour while hes tiny. You can figure out what adjustments to make as he grows. Always take him out the last thing before bedtime.

4. Be Consistent- Consistency is one of the most important aspects of house training a puppy. There are several methods you can use including putting papers down and confining your dog in the same area as the door hell be using. There is also dog litter box training, and the umbilical leash, where you keep him by your side every minute that you can. Whichever means you use, say the same words and take the same actions. Changes will make him nervous and cause accidents in the house. Crate training is the method we prefer and it gives your puppy a den of safety, too.

5. Reward Behavior- Every time your dog goes potty outside, even before he asks to go out, reward him. This will quickly teach him that hes doing something that pleases you. You can give him food treats or his favorite toy. Whatever you give him for a prize, lavish praise and affection on him at the same time. Tell him what a good boy he is in your most ecstatic voice.

6. Dont Punish and catch him doing something right!!- – The old school of housebreaking a dog held to punishments such as rubbing his nose in his own waste. The new model is much kinder and more sensible. Since he wants to please you, if you dont react, but walk away instead, hell get the message loud and clear that he was a bad boy. Give him a few minutes, and then start speaking to him again.

7. Alpha Dog- Dogs exist in packs. That means there is one alpha dog and the rest are subservient. In your family or even just with you, youre the pack members. The trick is to let him know right away that youre the alpha dog. In other words, you are the leader of his pack. It doesnt mean you have to be mean; you just need to let him know that you call the shots in dog housetraining; and all other training too.

8. Command Word- Every training exercise needs a command word; something simple. For house training your puppy, potty or outside are examples of appropriate words. Whatever you choose, always stick with the same one for the each command.

9. Keep it Simple- Dont make housebreaking your dog any more difficult than it has to be. For example, each time he goes on his papers or makes a mistake in another area, pick him up, gently but firmly, take him out the same door, and set him down on the grass. Hell probably urinate, so reward and praise him, and call him back inside. Dont make side trips on the way out or try to have a conversation with him. The easier you make it for him, the easier hell make it for you.

10. Lots of Love- The last rule, which should be the easiest, is to give that dog all the love in your heart!

Article by Jen Carter, staff writer for Dynamite Danes. Gale Renz is a great dane lover and professional qualified Great Dane Breeder and owner / founder of http://www.dynamitedanes.com.

Wild boars used to roam in the wilds of Europe many centuries ago. In those days the titled land-owners cherished the large dog known as the “Boar Hound” which had the courage, the agility, the speed and the strength to hunt these beasts and bring them down. It is believed that the magnificent dog that we know of today as the Great Dane is descended from the original “Boar Hound”. One can readily see that the Great Dane would have the ability to perform this task admirably. They have the length of leg for the speed, the chest and lungs for the endurance and great strength of jaw.

It is a mystery why this dog is called the Great Dane since there is no actual tie in history that relegates this dog to the country of Denmark as its origin. It was known early as the “Deutchse Dogge” in Germany and is believed to have been developed in that country. They were prized by the land-owners not only for their abilities as a dog for the hunt, but their beauty and passive tranquility as dogs which could reside in the manor and be a part of the household. They are indeed quite nicely attuned to being a dog that lies quietly in front of the fireplace, while at the same time being a fearless and active hunting dog of great stamina and power. They also do well at the job of guard dog while at the same time being a gentle family pet, allowing children to climb on them and tug on them without a hint of aggression. For the most part, the Great Dane is quite happy to just lie around the household and sleep. Owners need to be aware that to keep this giant dog in good health, they should give it plenty of exercise, it will not choose to do so on its own!

Great Danes, like most of the giant breeds, take a long time to mature, and the puppy years last at least until the dog is a two year old. Puppies of course can be more rambunctious than adults so there is a period of time when the youngster can do good deal of damage to the household in the absence of supervision. Early training is a must since by the time they are six months old they could weigh nearly 60 pounds and be quite a handful if not taught basic manners in the house. Their excessive height allows them to check out counter tops nicely by the age of six months.

Danes come in nearly every color, even Harlequin (white with black spots). The most beautiful of the Danes are perhaps the Blues, which can range from a light gray to a steel-blue coloring. However, Dane lovers will profess that they all are a delight to own, regardless of color. The head of the Great Dane appears quite regal in nature, the jowls should not be loose and there should be no hint of drooling. The jaw is rather square in appearance and the muzzle should be as long as the backskull. The look of the dog should be clean and when moving he should balance well and be “light on the feet”. A good Dane will move with such grace that one could not imagine that in reality he weighs more than 140 pounds! A male Dane should be 32 inches at the shoulder and a female 30 inches. Less than 28 inches is a disqualification in the A.K.C. show ring.

Probably the most important aspect of the Great Dane should be the temperament, which must be one of dependability and never aggressive. Aggression in such a large breed could have disastrous consequences and breeders of today should be commended that they have made a great effort to maintain the gentle nature of this dog.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Animals