Great Dane Care and Feeding
It's important to keep your Great Dane happy by giving him or her the proper care and diet.
According to All About Great Danes, a Great Dane should be fed premium dog food with no more than 24% protein and 12% to 14% fat. Raw food is another option. Puppy food is to be avoided, since it is too high in protein and fat. Chromadane recommends dog food with an ash content that is as low as possible.
Your Great Dane's diet should be calibrated to allow your dog to grow at the typical rate. A detailed height and weight chart is available at Chromadane. Just after your dog is born, you should expect him or her to grow by a few pounds a week. If your Great Dane grows at a faster rate than this, scale back the feeding. Being overweight as a puppy can cause health problems later on.
By the time your Great Dane is a year old, he or she should weigh between 90 and 135 pounds, with males at the heavier end of the spectrum. Maximum weight, even for a male Great Dane, should not exceed 190 pounds.
Exercise is another significant factor in your dog's health. According to Great Dane Frequently Asked Questions, a Great Dane does not need as much exercise as other breeds, like Dobermans and Dalmatians. At a minimum, walk your Dane once a day and let him or her chase a ball or stick for 10 to 15 minutes. At night, Great Danes thrive better inside the house than out in the yard, due to their short-haired coat.
Medical care is important as well. Great Dane Savvy recommends yearly checkups at the vet's office. The vet should keep an eye out for canine distemper, infectious canine hepatitis, and Lyme disease.
You may also want to look into getting your Great Dane spayed or neutered. Great Dane Lady advises that you wait until your male Great Dane is at least a year old before neutering him, so as not to interfere with his natural muscle growth. Likewise, spaying a female when she is too young can cause problems with incontinence. If you spay her during her estrus season, there is an increased likelihood that she will bleed to death during the surgery, so it is better to wait until the season has passed. In a survey of 385 Great Dane owners, 30% had lost a Dane to spaying or neutering surgery, according to Great Dane Lady.