Have/had Great Danes?

Question

I wanted to find out from Great Dane owners how long their dogs lived? Did they ever bloat in their lives? Any surgies? How much did you feed a day? What type of food?
I have a 2 1/2 year old Great Dane that i've been through hell with.. He's had bloat, 2 knee surgeries, is deaf, has seperation anxiety, cannot eat hard food for some odd reason anymore (happend after his 2nd knee surgery, he starts to choke), dog aggressive (used to be fine around them then oneday snapped) and used to be VERY human aggressive. At one point I considered putting him to sleep because of his health problems and aggression issues. He's a great dog, but I don't think I will get another. He's come a long way since a pup with his temperment issues since he's from a backyard breeder :( Tell me about yours!

Answer 1

dont put him to sleep. if you dont want him, give him away, but dont put him to sleep.

Answer 2

I own 6 Danes. One is 8, three are 3, one is 5 and one is 8 months and have never had any bloat or skeletal issues or any other health issues or aggression in our dogs or their pups. I think you got a lemon from your back yard breeder and I can see that you learned a valuable and very expensive lesson. I do not think your experiences should steer you away from the breed. You have not had the pleasure of owning a Great Dane that is what the breed is supposed to be. Hopefully when this one is gone you will search for a reputable breeder and do things right so that you can have an experience that you 'thought' you would when you purchased this one.
A lot of things can cause some of the issues that you talked about. Nutrition being the main one. Vaccines can also cause a lot of damage and behavior issues as well as other drugs such as Ivermectin that is in heart gaurd. That can cause digestive disorders and sudden aggression. The rabies vaccine can cause aggression too.
I am not sure when all of your problems started but you might be able to think back and correlate these issues with the timing of vaccines with in a month or 3 of the jabs.
We feed our Danes a raw diet and they receive very little vaccines. Never a cocktail vaccine and just one parvo and one distemper their entire lives. I have one pup who is 8 months that never has received a single vaccine and never will.
We know that stress causes bloat. People don't seem to consider a diet as a stress factor but it most defiently is. Grains are not easily digested/used by dogs and when you feed those to a dog with a deep chest/breeds suseptible to bloat, it can be a disaster in waiting.
That is wierd that he can't seem to eat hard food anymore. Personally I would look into all the drugs he may have had for the surgery and see if there are any side effects or damage that could have caused esophagus problems or throat irritation.
But maybe he is just getting the wrong food? Who knows. That's a strange thing for sure.
In any case I think you should consider a raw diet for him to prevent bloat in the future and please NEVER give this dog another vaccine. There is a lot of info out there about vaccines and the damage they can do.

Answer 3

Poor little guy. Please join the Premiere Great Dane Club chat group on yahoo. There's a lot of very knowledgeable dane owners, vet techs, and trainers who can probably help with your questions. Have you had a professional trainer work with you and him yet? With all his problems, it's not a wonder he's confused and probably scared of what will happen next.

Don't give up on him yet! Feel free to email me seperately if you like. My dane pup is 17 weeks old now, and they've been very supportive of my new mommy/ dane specific questions.
Good luck!
Cindy

Ps- Sampson eats @ 6 cups of Canidea All Life Stages right now. I'm sure it will increase as he grows, but the breeder I got him from feeds her 4 the same 6 Cups (all adults) except for 1 gets extra because she's underweight - still recovering from HOD.

Answer 4

I've had Great Danes for over 25 years.To this point I haven't had any health issues that were genetic in nature..1 rescue Dane that I owned @ 10 years ago had kidney issues because of severe abuse and my retired obedience dog had a bad fall and herniated a disc in her neck..that' s it. I've had both rescue and from breeders. I've never had temeprament issues with any Dane I've owned.
No surgeries on any of my Danes except spay/neuter.

I feed Canidae All Life Stages 4 cups per day dry (2 in the am, 2 in the pm) and 1/2 a can of either Merrick or Canidae per Dane.

One of my current Danes is 5 years old. She is titled in obedience and rally and is a TDI certified therapy dog. She also has her CGC. another is 14 months and is my conformation show boy. He also has his CGC. my third is 13 months and a rescue that I just recued 2 months ago.
In the pedigree of my 5 year old and the 14 month old they have a history of longevity..living to an average of 15 years..the rescue it is unknown.
I not only show & compete with my Danes I also use them in demos, parades and as meet & greet dogs in CGC tests.

Answer 5

I don't have Danes and never have. I know only a little from Dane owners but I have to say, your dog could be the poster child for not buying from back yard breeders! I am so sorry that you and your dog have had to go through this. With his many problems, I would think your dog will have a shortened life span. What caused the deafness? Did the breeder breed two merles? Bless you and I can only say, your dog is a lucky boy to have ended up with you!

Answer 6

I have a great dane and being that they are such large dogs they tend to have digestive trouble but if you will put his food up so that he doesnt have to bend over to eat it ,he will do a lot better.When they bend over their upper body is so large it puts pressure on them and the food they eat tends to make them bloat that might be why he cant eat hard food.I had to do that to mine she is 2 years old now and doing fine.I keep mine in the house and she to has seperation anxiety ,she gets mad when I leave her for very long and will distroy my house,But if its just a couple of hours she is ok.But now that im home all the time she is fine but when I was working I had to put her in the pen outside til I got home or I would have a big mess when I got home.His being aggressive is probally because she is been in pain .I feed her 4 cups of dry dog food twice a day.She is about 150 lbs.I do not leave food at all times just feeding times.And if she wants more I give her more but she is usally ok with what i give her.Of course my husband feeds her table food to which I dont think is a good thing but,Mine has not had to have any surgeries,there life expectancy is 7 to 9 years,I had a male great dane that died last year 8 years old ,they usally die of heart attack.All their weight is at the top and put pressure on their hearts.She is very loving and thinks she is human,she sits on the couch like a human with her tail on the couch legs on the floor and crosses her legs,she is really fun to watch,she comes and lays her head in my lap and if you are on the couch when she wants to lay down she will move you,She has her own couch ,she slept with me and my husband up to about 3 months ago we kicked her out of bed so now she sleeps on a body pillow at the foot of the bed on the floor.Hope your does ok and will fine,

Answer 7

Obviously, you got a backyard great dane. Man, I don't know if I could have let him go this long. I applaud you for your perseverance and love of your dog.

We had Great Danes, but they were show dogs. One, the fawn, had to have cottage cheese and sour cream supplements on his food so he would gain weight for showing. He never did gain enough, so became a pet. He passed of a heart attack at 8 years old. Very sad.

The other, a black, had to be destroyed because of aggressive behavior. My sister was out in a park walking him and a woman came through on a horse. The dog pulled the leash out of her hand, jumped the horse and brought horse and rider down.

Answer 8

Our last dane, who lived to be 10 (We had him for 5) was rescued on the side of a highway in colorado. His ears had be cropped but not raised. Tail had been docked. Had tons of scratch scars on his tummy, and our vet thought he had been fed steroids previously.

He had surgery twice in 5 years. He never had bloat. For the surgery, He had an absess on a leg from laying in pine needles while camping. Had stitches from an injury he got in the backyard. For the life of me, I cant remember what the second surgery was for. Other than that, a lot of xrays, and dietary indescretion's.



He had knee problems late at 9 years, but was still mobile, and with liver disease advancing, we couldnt see having him in pain for the last 9 months of his life.

He was the calmest kewlest dog youever saw, may he RIP. The liver disease made us have to put him down in Feb of 2006.

Our dane puppy at 18 months (Yes, hes still puppied up) has had 2 surgeries. Once as a new-born because he aspirated amniotic fluid, the other at about 9 months to remove a red sore (Cant rembember what it was called), but it was common in large breeds. Non-cancerous.

He's had a hygroma from whacking his elbow on the fireplace while playing with the pug. We opted not for surgery, and it took 6 months to heal and get back to normal..

We've never had bloat. Keep the food on a chair for feeding. And excercise to a minimum after eating for 30 min. No drining for 30 min after eat either.

Separation anxiety was solved by kennell training with a huge cage. He can be left for up to 8 hours or so, with out problem now. We dont usually do it, but know we can if we need to.

We are still working on agression. Right now its want to play agression with other dogs and kids. He's getting better. Walking daily in the mornings has helped. A couple other dog owners in the neighbor hood walk their dogs and he is learning to behave around other dogs that arent his brothers.

We Havent had to resort to a halti yet, like the lab gets, but the harness is working fine.

We look forward to the calm-down that happens between 2 and 3 with this breed.

We got our second from a champion blood-line from a local breeder. Huge difference in size looks, and fewer health problems (so far).

Answer 9

Sounds like your poor dog has spent the bulk of his short life in a lot of pain for various reasons. If he now has trouble eating hard foods, you might need to look into his having mouth/teeth problems as well. Having to deal with all the aches and pains plus being deaf on top of that could explain his sudden change in attitude - who can be happy when in pain? Is it possible for you to find another vet who is more experienced with GDs? Sounds as if you need more of a specialist than a "general" veterinarian. Good luck in finding a solution to his problems.

Answer 10

i have never owned a great dane but my neighbor just recently had to put hers down.
he was a great dog sweet and calm, great with kids. he lived until the age of 10 1/2 when his owners had to make a very hard decision to put him down . the quality of his life wasnt worth him living anymore. they couldnt stand to see him suffer but couldnt imagine their life without them . they did what was best for him and kindly put him to sleep after 10 1/2 happy years. he had bloat and he had to have surgery on his knees. towards his last few days on earth he could hardly walk becuase of the pain in his knees and hips.my neighbors are very sad for the loss of their beloved dog but know he is happier now for he doesnt have to live in pain.

Answer 11

It's a shame that a BYB set you up for this disappointment and now you think you won't consider another Dane. They're really wonderful dogs. My family had two when I was growing up and they were great fun and such gentle dogs.