Learning to Love Your Great Dane
You may be new to great dane ownership or you may be seasoned, either way it is always helpful to have a few coping strategies at your fingertips for times of peril. These are a couple of the ways that I have managed to learn to love sharing the house with my beasts of burden.
My great danes are indoor dogs as I believe all great should be, they simply become too attached to their families for them to be well adjusted outdoor dogs. That said, they get plenty of outdoor time. I believe in kicking kids and dogs out of the house for their sanity and mine. Give your danes plenty of outdoor time, it will keep them healthy and active and give you plenty of time to clean up after them.
My house does not have a single stitch of carpet and if it did I would rip it out in an instant. Carpet and great danes do not mix well or for that matter carpet and really any breed of dog. If you have a pet house you should not have carpet. The amount of dog that is swept off of the floor is testament to the fact that even short haired animals are a mess.
Keep the counter tops clear! I cannot emphasis this enough. Danes have sensitive diets and should not have excess food or really any human food. They are not aware of this and will help themselves to anything they find below 6 ft. Do not underestimate their ability to get things off of the counter top when your back is turned and do not underestimate their ability to make a whole plate of cookies disappear in the blink of an eye.
Teach your beast not to jump. Yes I know it is cute to see a 150 pound animal with its paws on your shoulders but it is bad manners and sooner or later will lead to someone getting hurt. Break them of jumping when they are young and stick to it for life. If you must teach them to give you a hug on command.
Great danes are truly fabulous family pets but they do require a different level of commitment than other dogs. Show up prepared and enjoy the ride.