Great Dane

Pinschers & molossoids

Giant

Median 10.6 y

FCI group 2 · Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid and Swiss Mountain Dogs · Derived from the adult weight midpoint (64.1 kg)

Median survival across 2,850 UK dogs (VetCompass, McMillan 2024) · half live 8–13 y

The Great Dane is a German breed of large mastiff-sighthound, which descends from hunting dogs of the Middle Ages used to hunt bears, wild boar, and deer. They were also used as guardian dogs of German nobility. It is one of the two largest dog breeds in the world, along with the Irish Wolfhound.

Friendly

Patient

Dependable

Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · reference ranges from the Kintail breed dataset

Adult weight

Reference

Male

63.5–79.4 kg

Female

49.9–63.5 kg

Breed club figure (the American Kennel Club)

Weight for age

Stock data

Male

Female

Expected range

Expected range from the breed's own adult weight, kilograms. Growth reference: Hawthorne et al. 2004, WALTHAM, n=11 Great Danes.

Heat cycles · females

Stock data

First heat

8–12 mo

typical

Interval

180 d

typical

Bleeding

~9 d

typical

Proestrus 9d

Estrus 9d

Diestrus 52d

Anestrus 110d

General figures for dogs, not for this breed — individual cycles vary widely.

Questions people ask

Adult males usually weigh 63.5–79.4 kg and females 49.9–63.5 kg. Most are close to their full size by around 12 months, though the last little bit of filling out takes longer. Growth reference: Hawthorne et al. 2004, WALTHAM, n=11 Great Danes.

No Great Dane cycle figures are published here yet, so this is general guidance rather than a breed number: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later.

The median is 10.6 y. Median survival across 2,850 UK dogs (VetCompass, McMillan 2024) · half live 8–13 y. How the later years go comes down to weight, teeth, exercise and regular check-ups far more than to the breed.