r/greatdanes

Artie starts obedience class beginning of June and we got to sit in and observe the current class. She did so well and the instructor was pleased to see her watching so nicely. He thinks she'll do well and once we're finished with 7week beginner and 7week advanced we'll see if we get an offer to join the club. If we join we get to take part in their Therapy class and hopefully partake in therapy work! The instructor is confident with how she already is that she'll excel and be a perfect addition to their program.

Enjoy a pic of her focusing on me, despite other dogs and people running around the room in close proximity 🥰

Hi Reddit! Looking for a life jacket for my 9-year-old Great Dane (160 lbs, chest girth around 38”). He has a spinal issue and both ACLs partially torn, and our vet recommended swimming to help maintain and rebuild muscle strength.

He loves lakes and rivers but gets nervous in pools. One major thing I need is a life jacket with REAL support handles, not just a small top handle. I need something supportive around the chest and waist so I can safely help lift/support him in and out of the water if needed.

We tried an Outward Hound jacket on his sister before, and even with handles it wasn’t supportive enough to actually help lift a giant breed dog. It basically just ran up her armpits and would slip off her head.

I’d also love something that helps keep his head/chin above water, but that’s the least important feature just the other things I mentioned please.

Does anyone with giant breeds, senior dogs, mobility issues, rehab dogs, etc. have recommendations? Especially from people with Great Danes or other extra-large dogs.
Thank you so much!

does anyone have any recommendations for a good dog bed? my not so little anymore guy needs a good bed and i figured if anyone knows any good beds it’s you guys :)

he’s outgrown his last bed and i fear our bed is, well, getting a little crowded lol. picture of the man in question for tax

So I’ve never had a dog this much of a mess. She has a liver shunt, her eyelids had to have surgery because they were growing inwards. She doesn’t eat a lot, very picky. Her spay and gastropexy have to be done by the best in the state and will cost me 4k. Insurance said they’ll cover $250. Laughed in their face.

I’m 23 and adopted her 2 years ago after i graduated college. Her deformities are rare and spontaneous, no health testing saw it coming. I’m at a loss. She costs me thousands a year and I can’t move out of my parents house because of her. I feel so alone. I got her brother for free from the same breeder and he is perfectly healthy. All 16(?) of her siblings have 0 issues. Her parents have zero issues.

Giving her up is NOT an option. She would actually die without me. I just would like some advice on what people with XXL dog breeds with medical issues do. What insurances will cover pre existing medical conditions? Is my only option to win the lottery? I love her so much but I’m at a loss with her. I’ve been paying $100/month to cover her and basically nothing has been refunded.

I’m not asking for medical advice. I’ve been to specialists for all her conditions. I’m just asking for insurance options, how others who go through the same things got through, and just seeing if there’s anyone out there who relate. Her condition is so rare they have zero information on mortality rates and how it affects them long term.

We were hoping after Epona's dilated cardiomyopathy diagnosis in Oct 2024 that she would live long enough to enjoy one more summer.

Instead, she has beaten the odds and she thrived last summer (2025), enjoyed lots of snuggles and comfort last fall and winter, and is now going strong into her second spring and summer with plenty of grace (and sass - she's a Dane afterall). She knows she is loved and we know that every day is bonus time so we always try to make the best of it.

When bear shows signs of being too hot I crate her and put a fan directly over her bed to cool her down

Bonus if you have a gigantic crate like this one

My 5yro boy is having some issues with weight. He's a 50/50 split between couch potato and outdoor torpedo. Plays a lot with our corgi indoors and outdoors as well. He should be about 138lbs, but shot up to 165lbs with no reason. He's not fed extra, and actually only eats 4c a day. We're handling all that on the vet side. Just know I tried to add it, but it gets removed for vet advice/questions without that being what I was after.

So my question is, is Victor a good brand of food for weight management? I have him on purina sensitive skin and stomach salmon right now. But i do have to be mindful of poultry because he does have a ton of allergies and some skin issues as well.

Thank you all!

Stella the Great Dane was thoroughly confused the deer don’t want to play!

Great days in the woods for a spring weekend.

Lily had her Vet appointment and even though she is a little underweight they said they found nothing of any concern. So that unknown was over and now she is part of this family/pack and eating very well

It allows you to input your pets photo so that it can recognize them.

Of course, I put my passed girl Ritzy’s profile in, in case she decided to visit.

Well, at the end of the day it gave me a summary that included Ritzy lounging around, which was exactly what she’d be doing. Not only that, but it continually panned over to an empty spot on the couch… like something was there that I couldn’t see 🤍

This gave me so much peace and assurance.

I knew she was around, but this just made it even more real.

My boy is a local celebrity!

My boyfriend and I rushed our sweet Hank (7 yo) to the emergency vet last night after picking him up from boarding as he seemed really off (not eating, throwing up white foam, moaning).

The vets were amazing and were able to perform emergency surgery within the hour to tack his stomach. They also had to perform a splenectomy which went extremely well.

We just received a call from the vet letting us know our boy is recovering well. (No signs of heart arrhythmia, able to walk to go to the bathroom, drinking water without gagging) He is still not eating, though they said they’re not overly concerned about it because they tend to do that when stressed. He’s on injectable pain meds and they’re going to make sure he can tolerate oral pain medicine tomorrow morning. If things continue to go well, we should be able to bring him home some time tomorrow.

We’ve bought a surgery suit for him and plan on feeding him some chicken and rice when he gets home. Hank loves laying in bed with us, and we’re considering taking the legs off the bed frame temporarily so he doesn’t hurt himself trying to get up on the bed.

It has been such a roller coaster of emotions. Hank is my boyfriend’s first dog and has had him since he was a puppy and he is absolutely my soul dog. I can’t imagine losing him.

If anyone has been through this with their dane or has any advice or tips please let me know.