Breed Overview

Great Dane popularity in America, including official American Kennel Club rankings and ownership factors affecting this breed.

National parent clubs and the American Kennel Club define the Great Dane standard to protect health and temperament.

Early Great Dane imports from Germany trace how these hunting dogs arrived in America during the late nineteenth century.

The first official German Great Dane standard traces the history of the breed from early boar hounds to the Deutsche Dogge.

The Great Dane history explains why the German hunting dog carries a Danish name and how it became Germany’s national breed.

Otto von Bismarck and his famous Great Danes show how the Iron Chancellor shaped the breed into a German national symbol.

English and German bloodlines shaped the Great Dane, and an 18th-century French naturalist created its misleading name.

Great Danes hunting wild boars in German forests, explaining the origins of their strength and physical build.

French naturalists called the Great Dane Grand Danois, masking its true German origins and wild boar hunting heritage.

The historical origins of the Great Dane trace back to Germany despite the misleading eighteenth century French term.