Affectionately referred to as ‘gentle giants’, this breed is exceptionally good around children. They are incredibly sweet and friendly in nature. Though they were bred to hunt, nowadays, this is not their strength and they prefer to spend time with their ‘hoomans’ and other dogs. Fortunately, their size alongside a powerful bark does mean they make excellent guard dogs – enough to scare anyone! They are highly eager to please and demand lots of attention from their families, so it’s vital you have enough time (and space!) for these lovely dogs. Great Danes also tend not to need lots and lots of exercise and prefer a couple of daily walks to keep them fit and active. Unfortunately, their size does mean that they only live for around eight years, but honestly, who could resist making a Great Danes live fantastic.

Great Danes are thought to have been around for some time! Similar looking dogs can be seen on Ancient Egyptian Artefacts and also in a Babylonian Temple that was built in 2000 B.C. There is also evidence suggesting that these dogs may have been in Tibet with writing on a similar type of dog dating back to 1121 B.C. It’s then thought that this breed was traded by the Assyrians to the Greeks and Romans, who then went on to breed these dogs with other breeds, such as Mastiffs and Hounds, to create the dog we know today. Throughout history, they’ve been known as the Boar Hound, English Dogges, Chamber Dogs and eventually, in the 1700s, as ‘Grand Danois’ meaning Great Danish Dog. From then on, the name has stuck – even though the Danish part had nothing to do with their development!