Archive for the 'Approved or Unapproved' Category
Carpet
Carpet
If you have a house with carpet and you thought it would be a good idea to get a great dane, what the heck were you thinking? You would be better off pulling the carpet out and exposing the plain concrete slab of your house. The dogs won’t appreciate this but your allergies will and you will save a fortune in carpet cleaning bills. There are a couple of reasons that carpet is a really bad idea
Short Hair
Just because danes have short hair does not mean that they don’t shed. They shed a lot and it is pretty easy to sweep up on hard floors but that short hair also has a way of burrowing deeply into nice carpet. It won’t vacuum out nearly as easily as long hair because of the reduced surface area and it tends to work its way deeper and deeper into the carpet. If you have ever removed carpet you know how disgusting it can be beneath the surface. Multiply that by a factor of 10 just when taking into account the great dane hair.
Big Paws
These monstrous paws do great damage in two ways. One they track in all sorts of good junk from the yard, danes are not very good at wiping their feet and their feet are so big that the increased surface area contributes greatly towards big muddy foot prints on nice carpet. Next damage factor. Ever see a cleated soccer player change direction on a muddy field? They leave a big divot in the grass. Danes are capable of doing this to your carpet. Their nails get long fast any you need a hedge trimmer to cut them so it often goes undone, thus contributing to divoted carpet.
Slobber
This one is a little more avoidable than some of the others but no less destructive. I have already discussed the tendency of food to disappear in a dane household and carpet seems to be prime eating area for great danes or and dog for that matter. The likely hood of a steak being eaten off of your nice carpet is pretty high and from what I know steak is fairly difficult to get out of carpet. Apply this rationale to basically anything that you expect to disappear in the future. Bones are also incredibly messy but a delight to chew on the carpet.
All solid floors is the way to go, you will save a fortune in heartache and bills alike. As much as we love our great danes we must be prepared for their ability to destroy.
Counter Tops are Head Level
Counter tops as a whole are not great dane approved. This may seem obvious to some who are familiar with danes but to those who are not let me paint a picture. As I am tediously fixing a delicious meal for myself I turn my back for long enough to grab another ingredient from the refrigerator. When I return to put the finishing touches on my meal, it is gone. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for a whole turkey to disappear and it works in the great dane’s favor that their heads are right at counter level. They simple prance through the kitchen and devour anything that is at mouth level and appear remotely appetizing.
As you can imagine this is kind of frustrating. But the danes are so lovable that I always end up giving them a second chance. Can this be trained out, maybe but I am not that talented a trainer. The best thing I have found to do is plan ahead a little and realize that they are doing what big dogs do.
If I am spending long in the kitchen and cooking a large meal, the area becomes a no great dane zone. This is by far the safest course of action but not always practical. If I do not condone off the area it does not take long at all before I have big noses pushing their way into the mix trying to be of assistance. I can do without their help.
If I made the daring choice to leave food out in the kitchen, it must, and this is imperative, not be left at head level. The quick safety test that I run consists of me imagine if I could reach something with my mouth, great danes are about as tall as me, maybe a little taller when standing on two legs, so naturally if I can reach it so can they. I find that the only truly safe area is on top of the refrigerator.
Tables are not different, if you are planning on getting a dane be prepared to alter your eating experience or be prepared to condone off an area during meal time. Don’t let the sad eyes fool you, they will devour am entire table of unattended, or attended food for that matter before you have much of a chance to react.
Great danes are irresistibly lovable and have more personality than any other breed I have met. But they do require some pretty serious lifestyle shifts and don’t ever forget, counter tops are not great dane approved.
Furniture
Great Danes manage to win their way into your heart thus getting away with much more than other beast of similar size and drooling ability. One thing that certainly suffers in the Great Dane household is the furniture. This suffering is accomplished in a few different ways.
First and most straightforward. Leave Danes alone and without a chew toy and they will be pissed. The normally loving devoted animal decides to take revenge for being left alone, I am not sure if this is true revenge or separation anxiety, but none the less, they chew. If they have a nice big juicy bone or a chew toy hopefully they choose this but if not watch out. Furniture is fair game, so are door knobs, shower faucets, cabinets, wood seems to be especially tasty, and the newer or more expensive the better. So, if the Dane is untrained or in a chewing phase a cage is an excellent idea, they seem to actually kind of like the cage, I thought it was strange too.
The next less direct means of destruction by a Dane is simple use. Danes become convinced that they are people just like the rest of use and that they have just as much claim to the furniture as we do. It may start with the Great Dane sitting on furniture like a person and the owner thinking this is a wonderfully cute photogenic moment, but it will end with full blown Dane lounging in the recliner or on the bed. Once the habit is set it is hard to break and it does not take much to set the habit when the floor is the alternative.
You must decide in the beginning. Are you willing to share your furniture with a beast that is worse than a lazy teenager and incapable of cleaning up its hair or are you not. As cute as it is and as cuddly a beast as a Great Dane can be don’t even let them on the bed to visit for a second. I am reminded of the old adage of giving someone a foot and having them take a mile.
Our solution has been to give them a couch and only one couch and provide plenty of other comfy beds and pillows that the Danes know are theirs. Consistence is key, if you want to cuddle get on their bed.