The Great Dane 547 



inch. Eyes small, round, with sharp expression and deeply set, but the wall 

 or china-eye is quite correct in harlequins. 



Cropping being prohibited in England, the standard calls for small 

 ears carried greyhound fashion, which they seldom are, being commonly 

 held like a terrier's. Here the ears are cropped and not too closely at the 

 butt. The crop is carried pretty high but not attenuated and the ears should 

 be held well up to give smartness to the appearance of the dog. 



Neck. — Rather long, very strong and muscular, well arched, without 

 dewlap or loose skin about the throat. The junction of head and neck 

 strongly pronounced. 



Chest. — ^Not too broad and very deep in the brisket. 



Back. — ^Not too long or short; loin arched and falling in a beautiful line 

 to the insertion of the tail. 



Tail. — Reaching to or just below the hock, strong at the root, and end- 

 ing fine with a slight curve. When excited it becomes more curved, but in 

 no case should it curve over the back. 



Belly. — Well drawn up. 



Forequarters. — Shoulders set sloping; elbows well under, turned neither 

 inwards nor outwards. Leg: Forearm muscular, and with great develop- 

 ment of bone, the whole leg strong and quite straight. 



Hindquarters. — Muscular thighs ; second thighs long and strong, as in 

 the greyhound. Hocks well let down and turning neither in nor out. 



Feet. — Large and round, neither turned inward nor outward. Toes 

 well arched and closed. Nails strong and curved. 



Coat. — ^Very short, hard and dense, and not much longer on the under 

 part of the tail. 



Colour and markings. — ^The recognized colours are the various shades 

 of grey (commonly termed blue), red, black, pure white, or white with 

 patches of the above-mentioned colours. These colours are sometimes ac- 

 companied by markings of a darker tint about the eyes and muzzle, and with 

 a line of the same tint (called a trace) along the spine. The above ground 

 colours also appear in the brindles and are also the ground-colours of the 

 mottled specimens. In the whole-coloured specimens the china or wall eye 

 but rarely appears, and the nose more or less approaches black, according to 

 the prevailing tint of the dog, and the eyes vary in colour also. The mot- 

 tled specimens have irregular patches or "clouds" upon the above-named 

 ground colours; in some instances the clouds or markings being of two or 



