The Great Dane

The Great Dane can trace it’s linrage back as far as Ancient Egypt. Drawings of Dane-esque dogs
have been found on Egyptian monuments from a far back as 3000 B.C. Shown to the below is a
relief-plate depicting Assyrian men walking Dane-like dogs and carrying hunting nets. It was found in a
Babylonian temple that was built in 2000.B.C.
.


.It was these well traveled and cultured people that traded their massive hunting dog alpng with
their other goods to the Romans. Having also aquired the giant British dogs, the English Mastiff, it was
the Romans that helped solidify the foreBearer of the Great Dane.


Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Aragon and Castile.

Another key factor was the stout bodied Asiatic Mastiffs that were brought into ancient
Germania by the invading Alans in 300A.D. It was a blending of these powerful crosses the Great
Dane stemmed from. The Germatic lands lush and filled with plenty of wild game, it was the
this dogs fearless hunting of one fierce quarry it gained the name Boar Hound. The German
noblemen brought in Irish Greyhounds to refine and bring fleeter agility to their massive dogs.
Having out lived their original purpose as wardogs, they soon found a niche elsewhere as
Hounds of the Hunt, Court and Guardians during the Middle Ages.

In the 16th century, well documented breeding programs were formed by the German
Noblemen. So proud they were of these dogs.. the most handsome and prized were
taken into the home and became known as Kammerhunde, meaning Chamber Dogs
or Dogs of Court. These cherished pets wore guilded collars with gems, fringe and padded
with velvet and were allowed to roam indoors freely, including the kitchens and bed chambers.


From the Book of the Hunt. Foreground one can see Greyhounds,
but in the rear clearly is the stockier Great Dane.
Gaston Phoebus stated in his book about Boar Hounds “They somewhat have the pace of a slow
greyhound, but with a large head, large lips and large ears”.

Large kennels were formed to house these invaluable hounds of the hunt. With their longer
legs, less bulk, these dogs kept up easily with the Huntsmen and their horse, while having
enough size still to take down large game such as boar, stag and bear when working in a
pack. Most estates hired a large staff to care, train and feed their packs. If it was found
that these tasks were done poorly, harsh penalties would be incurred.Some countries
actually appointed court officals to travel the lands seeking out the best of these hunting
dogs for their Master’s home kennels.



1. There is a record that Landgrafen (Earl) Philipp in the Habichswald, Reinhardswald
and Kaufunger Forest, caught no less than 726 wild boar, an achievement only possible
because of the incredible abilities of his Great Hounds. And this didn’t go unnoticed
elsewhere in the world since our Philipp, not beyond a little self puffery, wrote to many
friends and fellow huntsmen the world over, that in 1559 he bagged 1,120 boars in
a season. He outdid himself in 1563 bagging 2,572 boars in that season.


In the upper left hand side one can see the image of the dane clearly wearing chain mail


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