In spite of his great size the Dane makes an excellent house dog. True, he will stretch out in front of the fire, blocking the warmth from the rest of the family, and will commandeer the most comfortable armchair, or settee. These are his privileges. His kindly disposition, affection for children, devotion to his family, and easy tolerance of other animals more than compensate. He is very clean in his habits and his short coat is easy to groom.Dignified and noble, with a look of dash and daring, ready to go anywhere at time, an excellent guard and watchdag these are just some of his many attributes. This handsome, elegant dog comes in a variety of striking, colours. Used as a hunting dog in the pursuit of wild boar in Europe, his ancestry, despite his name, is claimed to be German.

Characcteristics ** Alert expression, powerful, majestic action displaying dignity.

Temperament** Kindly without nervousness, friendly and outgoing.

Head and skull ** Head, taken altogether, gives idea of great length and strength of jaw. Muzzle broad, skull proportionately narrow, so that whole head when viewed from above and in front, has appearance of equal breadth throughout. Length of head in proportion to height of dog.  Length from nose to point between eyes about equal or preferably of greater length than from this point to back of occiput. Skull flat, slight indentation running up centre, occipital peak not prominent. Decided rise or brow over the eyes but not abrupt stop between them, face well chiselled, well filled in below eyes with no appearance of being pinched, foreface long , of equal depth throughout. Cheeks showing as little lumpiness as passible, compatible with strength. Underline of head, viewed in profile, runs almost in a straight line from corner of lip to corner of jawbone, allowing for fold of lip, but with no loose skin hanging down. Bridge of nose very wide, with slight ridge where carilage joins bone, this is a characteristic of breed . Nostrils large, wide and open, giving blunt look to the nose. Lips hang squarely in front, forming right angle with upper line of foreface.

Ears **  Triangular, medium size, set high on skull and folded forward, not pendulous.

Mouth **  Teeth level. Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

Neck **  Neck long. well arched, quite clean and free from loose skin, held well up, well set in shoulders, junction of head and neck well defined. 

HindQuarters ** Extremely muscular, giving strength and galloping power. Second thigh long and well developed, good turn of stifle, hocks set low, turning neither in our out.

Feet**  Cat like, turning neither in our out. Toes well arched and close, nails strong and curved. Nails preferably dark in all coat colours, except harlequins, where light are permissible.

Coat **  Short dense and sleek looking, never inclined to roughness.

Colour ** Brindles must be striped, ground colour from lightest buff to deepest orange, stripes always black, eyes and nails preferably dark. dark shading on head and the ears acceptable.

Faws **  Colour varies from lightest buff to deepest orange, dark shadings on head and ears accepttable, eyes and nails preferably dark. 

Blues **  Colour varies from light grey to deep slate, the nose and eyes may be blue.

Blacks**  well black is black. 

In all above colours white is only permissible on chest and feet, but is not desirable even there. Nose must be always black, except in blues and harlequins. Eyes and nails perfectly dark. 

Harlequins **  pure white underground with preferably all black patches or all blue patches. having appearance of being torn. Light nails permissible. In harlequins, wall eyes, pink nose, ore butterfly noses permissible but not desirable. 

Faults** Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note **  Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

 Any departure from the fore

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