546 The Dog Book 



must show speed lines, but with weight and strength. Well-placed should- 

 ers are as much a necessity in this breed as in the greyhound, for ease of 

 movement at the gallop tells in a dog of the weight of the Dane. The back 

 should be very strong with no suggestion of slackness of loin, and the hind- 

 quarters muscular with great length from hip to hock, and no suspicion of 

 cow-hocks. The feet should be well knit and knuckled up, and the pads 

 thick and horny. The forelegs should closely approach the highest terrier 

 formation, the bone being large, but not to the extent of looking clumsy. 



The Great Dane Club of America has a standard and description, but 

 we cannot commend it as sound and it leaves so much room for improvement 

 in giving the necessary details in a thorough manner that we prefer the stan- 

 dard of the English club, both of which seem to have had a similar founda- 

 tion. The American standard calls for refinement which is inapplicable in 

 a dog of this description. Symmetry would be a more suitable term. It 

 calls for the head to be "pressed in on the sides" and with no cheek develop- 

 ment. The brow is also to be well developed and the neck long. None 

 of these points are correct, but it is preferable to the standard we give in 

 calling for the line of muzzle to be only slightly arched, a moderate Roman 

 nose. The even jaw (or teeth) of the American standard is also to be pre- 

 ferred; though with the permission to be very slightly undershot, a squarer 

 termination to the muzzle is better assured. The preferred standard is 

 as follows: 



Descriptive Particulars 



General Appearance. — ^The Great Dane is not so heavy or massive as 

 the mastiff, nor should he too nearly approach the greyhound in type. Re- 

 markable in size, and very muscular, strongly though elegantly built, move- 

 ments easy and graceful; head and neck carried high; the tail carried hori- 

 zontally with the back, or slightly upward with a slight curl at the extremity. 

 The minimum height and weight of dogs should be 30 inches and 120 

 pounds, of bitches 28 inches and 100 pounds. 



Head. — Long, the frontal bones of the forehead very slightly raised and 

 very little indentation between the eyes. Skull not too broad. Muzzle 

 broad and strong, and blunt at the point. Cheek muscles well developed. 

 Nose large, bridge well arched. Lips in front perpendicularly blunted, not 

 hanging too much over the sides, though with well-defined folds at the angle 

 of the mouth. The lower jaw slightly projecting about a sixteenth of an 



