Greatdane Approved » accidents

Kids

n8blls — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:37:15 +0000

Great Danes love chew toys and were breed to chase and corner animals of all sizes so it does not seem like they would really do too well with kids but thankfully they do play well.

I have two danes and two kids and no serious injuries related to either category. The Greatdanes will scare the crap out of the occasional kid but it is normally unintentional. And on occasion one of the Danes will corner a small child and wait for the hunter to come finish the job, depending on the child I usually discourage this type of behavior.

Trampling is by far the most common incident related to children and is always unintentional. It is usually a misguided attempt to show love and is closely related to the bull in a china shop syndrome of which Danes are gifted. Trampling can usually be remedied with a hug and by reassuring the child that they are not lunch.

Be forewarned Great Danes and crybaby children do not play well. Black eyes, busted knees, and attacks from the killer Dane tale are common. By the way the Great Dane is the only canine that inherited the stegosaurus attack tail. Kids watch your heads, adults watch the soft spot located about midway.

A reminder to children. Great danes are not miniature horses, they are not related to cows, and while they will tolerate being ridden, it will ruin their backs and decrease their already short life expectancy.

As a reassurance to parents I will let you know that my ferocious looking, blue, male, Great Dane that slightly resembles Lucifer and scares the crap out of grown men will tolerate anything thrown at him so far. I have seen him ridden, chased, chase, hit, his teeth poked at, wrestled with, tail pulled, and to top all I have witnessed a 3 year old grab him by the balls. I thought for sure it was over despite the fact that this was a pretty tough kid but the Dane barley noticed, possibly even appreciated.

I have been pleased with the family dynamics of my kids and Great Danes and even more pleased to see these gentle beasts act protective of my family. Not overly protective but enough so to scare off most danger and reassure a concerned father. When the smaller children show up (under about 3 and possibly not so tough) I do keep a close eye or keep them away. Fighting, aka. Playing Danes can be dangerous to anything around people, furniture, cars, etc.

Bones

n8blls — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:29:08 +0000

While a hug chew bone will keep a great dane occupied for a few minutes human bones are not suggested. It is said that a vehicle collision at 10mph generates a similar impact to a vehicle falling off a one store building, one store for every 10 mph. Based on this fact I would jump to the conclusion that a 150lbs four legged beast moving at a speed of approximately 20mph, which it reaching in approximately .04 seconds can generate a fairly similar force. This acceleration can pretty easily be reached in the distance of a normal leash and fairly easily triggered by a startled feline. Needless to say an unexpecting leash holder attached to an unexpecting arm does not fare well. Bone snaps at about 7lbs of pressure. Four legs + low center of gravity + 120lbs and up + major acceleration = easily equals the necessary force needed to cause long term physical therapy. Retractable leashes are even more dangerous. Great Danes have the capacity to reach a full gallop before reaching the end of one of these bone crushing leashes. And for added kicks other extremities are pretty easy targets for a loose leash to snare and be included in the bone crushing fun.

If you walk a Dane, which you should if you have one because they respond very well to exercise and it greatly extends their life and aids in weight management, you should be very careful. Pay close attention, take the time to train the Dane, keep the leash taught, use a choke collar with (the kind that looks like a medieval torture device with spikes that point inward, Danes feel very little pain), know where problem areas may exist, think twice before walking with kids or other dogs.

The bone crushing principle applies to play as well as walking. If you must play rough realize that you will sooner or later get hurt. Playing rough with a great dane is similar to wrestling with Mike Tyson when he was 10 years old, they are strong as hell, they feel no pain and they are out of control. Keep your mouth closed to avoid losing teeth and watch out for head butts and when you get tramped don’t said I didn’t tell you. One of the four feet will most certainly be applied with great force to the family jewels.

On a personal note. My wife learned this the hard way and has been recovering from a broken scapula for over a year now.