Edited by JOHN GILMER SPEED 
The purpose of this department is to give advice to those who have country or suburban places as to the purchase, keep 
and treatment of Horses, Cows, Dogs, Poultry, etc. Careful attention will be given each inquiry, the letter and answer 
being published in due time for the benefit of other readers. Where an early reply is desired if a self-addressed, stamped 
envelope is enclosed the answer will be sent. No charge is made for advice given. 
The Great Dane 
By C. H. ANNAN 
F ROM what we can ascertain there is but little 
doubt that the Great Dane of olden times 
was much the same dog we have now, except 
that the intelligent attention given to his breeding in 
recent years has developed a larger and finer dog in 
all respects. 
In the matter of height alone it would be safe to 
say that the present Great Dane has gained three or 
four inches over his early ancestors. We frequently 
hear of the “good old days" and how superior many 
things were then. Concerning dogs, investigation will 
hardly substantiate 
this. For almost 
all standard breeds 
of dogs have been 
vastly improved 
within the p a s t 
twenty-five years 
even, and it is rea¬ 
sonable to expect it 
to continue by a ju¬ 
dicious course of 
breeding from se¬ 
lected animals. 
There are as widely 
different degrees of 
intelligence between 
dogs as between 
men, and in like 
manner, as a rule, 
the highly bred 
possesses greater 
natural intelligence 
than the plebeian. In the matter of intelligence 
the Great Dane is in the front rank, “equaled 
by few and excelled by none. ” It no doubt will 
sound absurd to the man who has no love for, or in¬ 
terest in, man’s most faithful companion and most 
intelligent of the animal kingdom, to say that there 
have existed Great Danes which seemed capable of 
being educated as we do our children, if they could 
have had the power of speech. It is still unde¬ 
termined why and how the Great Dane got the last 
part of his name. It would seem more proper to call 
him “The Great 
German,” for it is 
to that country 
that we Americans 
are indebted for the 
Great Dane. But 
the fact is that we 
have as many fine 
specimens in this 
country to-day as 
can be found any¬ 
where owing to 
many importations 
of the finest Ger¬ 
man dogs and our 
scientific breeding. 
There are two dis¬ 
tinct types: the 
tiger-striped, or 
b r i n d 1 e, a n d the 
harlequins. The 
latter are strikingly 
SPARTACUS, A. K. C. S. B. NO. I0r,440 
Danica Kennels, Geneva, N. Y. 
19 7 
