Life-Span & Intelligence

[KatieRae]

I am fully aware that the life-span of a Dane is not as long as other breeds, however, I had a St. Bernard (who was only expected to live 10-12 years) live 19.5-19.8 years. Good diet, great vet, etc, probably extended his life.

My boy is going to the same vet, but on a different food, (he's on Orijen) however, I have continually been told (not by a vet) he will only be around until he 6!) I don't believe it. I don't care about the expense; he's more than worth it. Is there anything I can do to prolong his life? Stomach tacking? Etc.?

Why is it that people believe Danes are unintelligent? What in the world could they possibly be talking about?!? Apollo is brillant! He learns like a sponge with EXTRA absorption!

Has anyone heard of this BS?

[CarolB]

Most of my danes live to be 12. I have extended their life span by feeding a raw diet and giving minimum vaccines.

[kahluadanes]

Actually the average span is 10 years which is the same for most large/giant breeds. The better bred and the better nutrition and care they het the longer the life span is likely to be.
There are Danes that have been known to live to be 15 years of age.
As far as intelligence go..Danes are very intelligent and very easy to train.They are wonderfully versatile dogs as well. They can excel at tracking, search & rescue, Service dog, therapy dog, dock dog, agility, obedience, rally, protection work, retrieving (yes Danes can learn to retrieve)..

[pfrantz77]

Danes are super smart!! I think most have such a laid back care free attitude that people think they are less intelligent but that is so incorrect! Both my boys are sponges also!


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[SuzanneRM82]

Most of the general populace is convinced that Danes drop dead when they turn seven. That was the number one "warning" I heard from people when I was looking for one.

We had Fergus out on the San Antonio river walk this weekend. Some lady came up, loved all over him and carried on, then when she walked off I heard her say to her friends, "He's a Great Dane. They only live 7 years. Too bad, because he's sweet."

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[Titan3151]

I hear it all the time and when I was looking at finding my Dane (After 20 years of waiting) everyone was like "you know they only live to be about 7 right?" well that's sad but yes some do have shorter lives... however the average is about 10 years. Danes are GOOFY puppies and I think that gives people the impression that they are dopey and dumb too.

[HarlequinHorror]

I don't think people realise how rude it is to state how long they think your dog will live. I had a vet student say it to me the other day, oh they only live to 6 or some shite like that. I just smiled and said every dog is different. I consider my dogs my family members, if you had people commenting how long they think your child is going to live it wouldn't go down to well. People just don't think. And vets/students should know better, bedside manner seems to be sorely lacking these days.

[mnmouse]

My first rescue dane lived to be 12. I had to put him down because his hind end became so weak. Otherwise, there wasn't a thing wrong with him. My current fawn girl is seven--and has bone cancer that will drastically shorten her life. Otherwise, there wasn't a thing wrong with her either. These were both rescues that had it quite bad for the first five years of their lives, too.

The incident of bloat really pulls down the average lifespan of danes--danes of all ages bloat and die and of course that really affects average lifespan statistics. The giant factor increases skeletal problems and mobility is a problem with a 150 pound dog. If my Justice had been a 20 pound dog, we could have managed his arthritis and resulting weakness much better together.

To me, seven is a dane just entering senior status, and my Justice wasn't an "old" dane until he hit about ten years old.

[Maximus' Mom]

I hear that to about the years you have with them. They are my family...whether 6 years or 12...you enjoy being with them and give them all the best for the time you have together.

I don't want to even think about the inevitable..... we all know the day comes, but do people really need to remind us? Like telling you the 'count down is on'.

[Tucker's Mom]

I think a lot of people associate dane goofiness with intelligence. But I do have to admit that I question Tucker's intelligence on at least a weekly basis. Like the issue with the terrifying vacuum monster, or the constantly whacking his head on the coffee table, or the getting his own foot stuck in his toy and can't for the life of him figure out how to get it out...it does leave me a tad concerned! Lol!

[Titan3151]

I think a lot of people associate dane goofiness with intelligence. But I do have to admit that I question Tucker's intelligence on at least a weekly basis. Like the issue with the terrifying vacuum monster, or the constantly whacking his head on the coffee table, or the getting his own foot stuck in his toy and can't for the life of him figure out how to get it out...it does leave me a tad concerned! Lol!

I'm so glad to know that my boy is not the only one that has issue with the vaccum or the coffee table.

[Maximus' Mom]

Or the kitchen table.

[theboys]

My experience in dog class is that my Danes are more easily distracted than other dogs. They do better when they are alone, but they still love to play. Many years ago I trained my grandparents Shepard and she seemed pay attention to me. When I got my first Dane ( she turned out to be deaf among other issues) I trained with a friend who had a boxer and the boxer paid attention to his human while my Dane was always looking to play. My current Danes were trained at a more formal private (not park district or store) facility and they were pretty good, they were not dumb at all. But it was always a good laugh for the whole class when one of them would either drop in the middle of class and roll over, the instructor would say Danes can be goofy. Or they would just stop listening and start barking so loud we had to leave class. So I would not say dumb, but more playful and more easily distracted.

As I have mentioned our first Dane had may medical issues. When we found out she was deaf at almost a year old the breeder offered to exchange her for a beautiful huge male that they could not show. We did not take the exchange. She lived for 10 years, he died at 5 years.

[Jazzandcompany]

As far as intelligence goes I think a lot of that has been influenced by media. Movies such as marmaduke, even TV shoes with danes tend to portray them as big goofs.

I have one dane that is frighteningly smart, too smart for her own good really. She is wonderful at obedience/rally training and can do pretty much anything I ask within a couple of practices. Now then there is my boy.......... I say it's a good thing he is cute a LOT! Again he is smart and eager to please so training is great and we make progress, but he needs a lot of repetitions to get what I'm asking. Once he knows it, he does it near perfectly but getting to the understanding portion sometimes about drives me crazy.

[KatieRae]

I am so glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. This just happened to me at the vet yesterday. Apollo gets a lot of attention because his color exemplifies his big blue eyes, and while he was sitting in my lap, I wasn't surprised when I had about everyone in the office come and ask me about him. Every time, it was the same convo:

'What kind of dog is that?'

'He's a Great Dane.'

'Wow, I've heard they only live to be around 6! Do you have trouble training him?'

'Well, lady, as you can see, he's trying to kill me by snoring in my lap. So yes, he is an absolute monster.'

I hate getting so frustrated with these people, but it's just like you guys said, it's like they're putting a life expectancy on my child! Makes me absolutely nuts.

Apollo is the best dog I've ever had, aside from my St. Bernard, Sampson