Great Dane
F.C.I.-Standard No. 235/10.04.2002/D
Origin: Germany
Date of publication of the valid original-standards: March 13, 2001
Use: Escort-, Guard- and Security-Dog
F.C.I.-Classification:
Group 2: Group 2: Pinscher, Schnauzer, Molossoide, Swiss Sennenhund and
other breeds
Selection 2.I: Molossoide, danelike dogs
without exam
Historical Overview: The precursors of today’s Great Dane are the old
“Bullenbeisser” as well as the so-called “Hatz- and Saurüden” (hounds), which
are a cross between the strong Mastiff of the English type and a fast and nimble
Greyhound. At first, big and strong dogs that did not necessarily belong to a
certain breed were considered as Danes. Later on, names like Ulmer Dane, English
Dane, Danish Dane, “Hatzrüde”, “Saupacker” (wild boar hunt) and big Dane
described the different sizes and colors of this type. In 1878 a committee of
seven, consisting of committed breeders and judges with the chairman Dr Bodinus,
decided in Berlin to unite all varieties of the above-mentioned types under the
term “Deutsche Dogge” (German Dane, ie Great Dane). Through this the foundation
for the first German dog breed has been laid. In 1880, on the occasion of a dog
show in Berlin, a standard for the Great Dane was determined for the first time.
Since 1888, the “Deutsche Doggen Club 1888 e.V.” is in charge of this standards
and repeatedly modified it since. Today’s edition fulfills the demands of the
F.C.I.
General Appearance: The noble outward appearance of a Great Dane unites a
big, strong and well-shaped body structure with pride, strength and elegance.
Through substance paired with nobility, harmony and a well-proportioned line as
well as a very impressive head, it looks like a noble statue. It is the Apollo
among the dog breeds.
Important Proportions: The body structure seems to be almost square –
especially with males. With males the trunk length (tip of breastbone up to the
bump of the hip bone) should not exceed the withers height by more than 5% and
with bitches not more than 10%.
Behaviour/ Character (Nature): Friendly, loving and attached to their
owners, especially to kids, restrained towards strangers. Demands: a self-confident,
intrepid family- and escort-dog with a high stimulus threshold and without
aggressive behaviour, who is quick and eager to learn and easy to handle.
Head: Upper head:
Skull: Must be harmonious to the total appearance, long, slender,
prominent, expressive, fine features (especially the part under the eyes), well-developed
arch of the eyebrows but without being too prominent. The distance from the tip
of the nose up to the stop and from the stop up to the weakly distinctive bone
of the back of the head should be about the same. The upper lines of fang and
skull should be parallel. Viewed from the front the head should seem slender
whereas the bridge of the nose should be broad and the cheek muscles should not
be prominent but only slightly show their features.
STOP: Prominent
Facial Bones:
Nose sponge: well-developed, broader than too round and with big nostrils.
It has to be black, except for the the harlequin danes. For these Danes a black
nose is wished for but a black spotted or flesh-colored nose is also tolerated.
The nose color of blue danes is anthracite (light black).
FaNG: Should be deeply-set and rectangular. Well visible chaps angle.
Dark-pigmented chaps. With harlequin danes, incompletely pigmented or flesh-colored
chaps are tolerated.
Jaw/ Teeth: Well-developed, broad jaw. Strong, healthy and complete
scissors bite (42 teeth according to the tooth formula).
Eyes: Medium-sized with a lively intelligent and friendly expression;
should be dark, almond-shaped with flat eyelids. For blue danes, lighter eyes
are permissible. For harlequin danes, light-colored or eyes of two different
colors are tolerated.
Ears: Von Hanging by nature, attached high, medium-sized, front edges
should touch the cheeks.
Neck: Long, dry, muscular. Well-developed base, should taper a little
towards the head with a curved neck-line.
Body:
Withers: Highest
point of the strong body. It is formed by the two shoulder blades which tower
above the spiny process.
Back: Short and taut, in an almost straight line slightly dropping away
to the back.
Loins:: Slightly bulging, broad, very muscular
Croup: Broad, very muscular, from rump-bone to base of tail slightly
dropping away and insignificantly running in the base of the tail
Chest: Reaching up to the elbow joints. Well-bulging with ribs widely
going back. Broad chest with prominent fore chest
Lower profile and stomach: Stomach should be drawn to the back and form
a well-curved line with the underside of the thorax.
Tail: Reaches up to the hock. Set up high and
broad. Tapers gradually to the tip. Being calm, it hangs down with a natural
swing. Being agitated or in motion, it is worn sabre-like but not much over the
back line. A ‘brush’ tail is not desired.
LIMBS FORELEG: Vorhand:
Shoulders: Very muscular. Shoulder blade is
long and sloping in an angle of 100-110 degrees to the upper arm.
Upper arm: Strong and muscular, flat to the body. Should be a bit
longer than the shoulder blade.
Elbows: Neither turned outwards nor inwards
Forearm: Strong and muscular, viewed from the front and side it should
be totally straight
Tarsus joint of forefoot: Strong, stable. Only slightly standing out
from the structure of the forearm
Middle part of forefoot: Strong, straight when viewed from the front.
Slightly directed towards the front when viewed from the side.
Front paws: Roundish, domed with flat toes (cat paws). Short, strong
and dark nails.
HINDLEG:
The entire skeleton is covered with strong muscles
which let the croup, the hip and the thigh appear broad and roundish. The
strong and well-angled hind legs are parallel to the forelegs when viewed from
the back.
Thigh:: Long, broad, very muscular
Knee: Strong, almost perfectly vertical under the hip joint
Lower leg:: Long, more or less the same length as the thigh, very
muscular
Hock: Strong, stable, neither turned inwards nor outwards
Middle part of hind leg: Short, strong, almost perfectly vertical
Hind paws: Roundish, domed with flat toes (cat paws). Short, strong and
dark nails.
Gait: Harmonious, supple, lengthy, slightly
jaunty with parallel moving legs when viewed from the front and back.
Skin: Close-fitting, for plain colored well pigmented, for harlequin
danes the pigmentation corresponds to the predominant color.
FUR:
Hair: Very short and thick, close-fitting,
shiny
Color: The Great Dane is being bred in three independent varieties:
Fawn and Brindle, Harlequin and Black, Blue
Fawn: Light up to rich old gold, black muzzle desired. Not desired are
small white spots on chest and toes
Brindle: Ground color is light up to rich old gold with black, even and
clearly marked stripes which run towards the ribs. Black muzzle desired. Not
desired are small white spots on chest and toes.
Harlequin (so-called Tiger Danes): Ground color is pure white without
any cast. Glossy black spots of different shapes and sizes spread over the
entire body. Not desired are grey or brownish spots.
Black: Glossy black, white spots are permissible; among these we also
count the mantle harlequin who wear the black color like a mantle around the
body, whereas the fang, neck, chest, stomach, legs and tail may be white; just
like danes with a white ground color and large black ‘plates’ (‘Plate Dogs’).
Blue: Pure steel-blue, white spots on chest and paws are permissible.
SIZE:
Withers height: For dogs
minimum 80 cm
For bitches minimum 72 cm
FAULTS:
Any deviation from the aforesaid points has to be
regarded as faulty, whose assessment should be in proportion to the degree of
the deviation.
General Appearance:: Faulty sex distinctiveness, lacking harmony, too
light, too coarse.
Character: Lack of self-confidence, nervousness, low stimulus threshold
Head: Not parallely running head line, apple-shaped head, wedge-shaped
head, too little stop, prominent cheek muscles
Fang:: Pointed, minor chaps, jutted out chaps, bridge of nose concave (saddle
nose), convex or dropping away to the front (eagle nose).
Jaw/ Teeth: Any deviation from the complete set of teeth (only a
missing PM1 of the lower jaw can be tolerated): uneven positioning of
individual incisors, too little teeth
Eyes: Loose eyelids, too intensely reddened conjunctiva; light,
penetrating, amber-colored eyes; watery-blue or eyes of two different colors
for all plain colored danes. Both eyes being too wide apart or having slit
eyes, protruding or hollowly eyes.
Ears: Attached too high or too low, sticking out to the side or being
too flat
Neck: Short, thick neck, ‘deer neck’, too much loose skin on the throat
or dewlap
Back: Fallen back, carp-like back, too long, back line rising up to the
back
Croup: Plummeting or being horizontal
Tail: Too strong, too long or too short; attached too low or too high
over the back line; hooked or curly tail, as well as a tail turned sideways. A
tail that’s widened out, thickens at the end or a docked tail.
Thorax: Flat or barrel-shaped ribs, lacking broadness or depth of the
chest, protruding breastbone
Lower profile: Stomach line not sufficiently drawn back; faulty
atrophied dugs.
Fore leg: Not sufficiently angled. Light bones, weak muscles. Not in a
vertical position.
Shoulders: Loose, overloaded. Steeply-positioned shoulder blade.
Elbows: Loose, turned in- or outwards
Forearm: Curved. Bumps above the tarsus joint of the forefoot.
VTarsus joint of forefoot: Bumpy. Considerably giving or overbending.
Middle part of forefoot: Too sloping or steep
Hindleg: Angle too open or closed. Cow-like or barrel-like position or
too tight.
Hock: Bumpy, unstable
Paws: Flat, splayed, long
Gait: Not sufficiently lengthy, closed action, frequent or permanent
amble, faulty correspondance between foreleg and hindleg movements.
Fur: Dull fur
Color:
Brindle: Ground color silver-blue or isabell, faded brindle
Harlequin: Ground color with a blue-grey cast, large yellow-grey or
blue-grey spots
Black: Yellow-, brown- or blue-black color
Blue: Yellow- or black-blue color
SERIOUS FAULTS:
Character: timidity
Jaw/ Teeth: pincer bite
Eyes: ectropy, entropy
Tail:bent tail
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS:
Character: aggressiveness, biting of fear
Nose: liver-colored nose, split nose
Jaw/ Teeth: fore bite, back bite, cross bite
Color:
Fawn and Brindle Danes with a white line on the forehead, a white
collar, white paws or ‘socks’ and white tip of the tail
Blue Danes with a white line on the forehead, a white collar, white
‘socks’ or white tip of the tail
Herlequin Danes Danes that are plain white without any trace of black
(Albinos) As well as deaf danes; so-called Porcelain Tigers (these show
predominantly blue, grey, fawn or brindled spots); so-called Grey Tigers (these
have a grey ground color with black spots)
Zize under minimum size
ATTN: Males must have two obvious normally developed testicles which are
situated entirely in the scrotum.
|
|
|
|
Fuente: Club
Aleman del Dogo
Alemán (10/11/2006)
