Being one of the world’s biggest dog breeds, Great Danes are truly mesmerizing and quite unique animals. One of the biggest factors that makes them stand out so much is their elegant appearance, as there are 10 officially recognized coat hues and/or patterns: black, black and white, blue, brindle, fawn, harlequin, mantle, merle, white, and silver. 

And yet, despite their humongous size, these Gentle Giants are exactly as their nickname suggests—gentle. One of their best-known traits is their ignorance of their size; they almost always neglect the fact that they’re too big to be lap dogs.

Animal behaviorist Julie Bond told Bored Panda that, in her experience, their size understanding appears to be practically nonexistent when it comes to these huge but nonetheless cuddly canines that will rarely miss out on an opportunity to climb into your lap.

However, since the Great Danes are quite easily spooked dogs, their size can become a problem if they’re not properly socialized early and they don’t get adjusted to various things, like loud noises. “A fearful Great Dane is frightening in that their size can make managing a fearful one nearly impossible for the average owner.”

Fortunately, these Gentle Giants are intelligent and can be trained, given that you start doing that while they’re young enough since out-muscling a grown dog like that is a tough task. In addition, these canines love kids and can most often safely live with other animals just as well.

There are plenty of other ways in which these adorable dogs seem to reject the idea that they’re supposed to be elegant and intimidating. For example, Zeus who, back in 2022, received the Guinness World Record for being the world’s tallest living dog at just over 41 inches, was afraid of rain, which says a lot about his character. 

Incidentally, the tallest dog ever recorded in human history is another Great Dane with the same name. Receiving his record way back in 2008, 155-pound Zeus measured 44 inches, reaching a whopping 7 feet 4 inches when standing on his hind legs. For reference, this would’ve made him as tall as Serbian basketball player Boban Marjanović, who can almost dunk without jumping.

However, aside from their impressive size, Great Danes have plenty of other interesting facts. Descending from the Molossian dogs of Ancient Greece, they’re actually neither Greek nor Danish, despite what their name or origins might suggest. Instead, they come from Germany, and are even its national dog breed. 

Or perhaps you’d like to know that Chinese writings dating as far back as 1121 B.C., as well as ancient Egyptian drawings, depicted dogs exactly like the Gentle Giants? And if you found that interesting, you might also like to know that in the Middle Ages, these mesmerizing dogs were thought to protect people from nightmares and ward off ghosts and evil spirits.

This last bit is actually part of the reason why Scooby-Doo himself is a Great Dane. Of course, arguably the more important part of the character’s creation was the fact that his creator, Iwao Takamoto, was inspired by a dog of the same breed and name—minus the ‘Doo’—that he owned at the time. 

Whether it’s for fighting the supernatural or just their wholesomely warm companionship, before getting such a dog, Julie Bond explained that you have to be prepared. There are plenty of things that apply to the Gentle Giants that apply to all other dogs, like the need for mental and physical exercise, training, a good environment, and similar.

At the same time, there are some breed-specific things you should know. One such thing is that giant dogs with narrow/deep chests like these canines are at high risk for bloat, which is a condition that can lead to serious consequences. 

To prevent this, the expert recommended encouraging your dog to eat slowly, feeding them in a raised bowl, and not exercising or playing with them 1-2 hours before and after eating. “And remember, an adult Great Dane eats 8-10 cups of food a day! You need to budget for that expense.”

Ultimately, if there ever were dogs that you could call the embodiment of the saying “Don’t judge the book by its cover,” it’s Great Danes. And that’s exactly what’s so great about them because it shows us that no detail beyond our control can ever define who we truly are. In the end, it’s all in our hands, and everything is up to us.

But hey, who knows? No one can say for sure that there aren’t any super serious and fearless Not-So-Gentle Giants out there, fighting nightmares and ghosts, protecting the world from evil spirits. After all, most myths and legends carry at least a grain of truth. 

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