Odin is currently asleep. Specifically, he is asleep across approximately two-thirds of my sofa, one leg hanging off, making soft snoring sounds that suggest contentment rather than dignity. It is not the posture of a hunter. It is not the posture of anything that has ever hunted anything. And yet, if you go back far enough, that's exactly what Great Danes were built for.
Not just hunting. Boar hunting. Wild boar — aggressive, tusked, capable of killing a dog with a single charge. Great Danes didn't track them from a distance; they were bred to close in and hold a boar at bay until the huntsmen arrived. That required size, power, courage, and an alarming willingness to get very close to something that might seriously injure them.
How that dog became Odin — who is frightened of plastic bags — is one of the more interesting stories in the history of dog breeding.
Ancient Origins: Not Actually Danish
The name "Great Dane" is something of a historical accident. The breed has very little to do with Denmark. The most credible theory traces them back to ancient crossings of English Mastiffs with Irish Wolfhounds, which were then refined by German nobility over centuries into the specialised boar-hunting dog we recognise today.
There is archaeological evidence of large Mastiff-type dogs that look remarkably similar to Great Danes on ancient Egyptian monuments dating back over 3,000 years. Chinese literature from around 1121 BCE describes similar large dogs. Whether these were direct ancestors or parallel developments isn't fully established, but large, imposing dogs bred for power have deep roots across many cultures.
The Boar-Hunting Dog of German Nobility
By the 16th and 17th centuries, large powerful dogs were central to noble hunting culture in Germany. Wild boar were genuinely dangerous animals — some weighing over 200 kilograms — and hunting them was both a prestigious sport and a practical necessity for rural communities whose crops they could devastate.
The dogs bred for this role needed to combine seemingly contradictory qualities. They needed to be large enough to hold a boar without being killed. They needed to be fast enough to run it down. And crucially, they needed to be manageable around people, because these were household animals for the nobility, not wild hunters living in the field.
"These were not dogs that killed from a distance. They closed in, held on, and waited. That combination of power and restraint is built into the breed's character to this day."
The German nobility's kennels were sophisticated breeding operations. Different dogs were kept for different roles — trackers, chasers, and the final holders. The boar-holders (Saupackern) were among the most prized. German princes and dukes maintained hundreds of dogs at a time, with dedicated staff and meticulous records.
The Transition: From Hunter to Companion
As firearms improved and changed how hunting was conducted, the role of boar-holding dogs declined. You no longer needed a dog to physically hold a boar when you could shoot it from a safe distance. The breed's hunting function faded gradually through the 18th and 19th centuries.
But the aristocratic affection for Great Danes didn't disappear — it just shifted. What had been valued as a combination of hunting utility and imposing appearance became valued for the appearance and temperament alone. Great Danes were still impressive dogs to keep. They were status symbols, companions, and — increasingly — show dogs.
The first official breed standard was established in 1891. By this point the breed was being shaped for show qualities as much as working qualities. Breeders refined the long elegant head, the deep chest, the distinctive proportions. The dog that held boar was becoming the dog that held attention in show rings.
The Giant Among Giants
Great Danes hold multiple records as the world's tallest dogs. The Guinness World Record for tallest dog has been held by Great Danes on multiple occasions. Odin, at around 70 kilograms and roughly 80 centimetres at the shoulder, is large but not exceptional for the breed — show-quality males can stand considerably taller.
This size comes with real trade-offs that anyone who owns a Great Dane discovers quickly. Joint issues are common — the skeletal structure is under significant stress, which is why joint supplements are such a frequent topic in Great Dane communities. Lifespan is shorter than smaller breeds, typically 7–10 years. Bloat (gastric dilatation-volvulus) is a serious risk and a leading cause of death in the breed.
The Character: Gentle Giants, Actually
The phrase "gentle giant" gets used so often about Great Danes that it risks becoming meaningless — but it does capture something real. The same qualities that made them manageable around nobility — natural calmness, social intelligence, tolerance of people — are exactly what makes them distinctive as companions today.
Great Danes bond strongly with their families and tend to be deeply people-oriented. This is almost certainly a result of centuries of being kept close to humans rather than working independently. They are not, by default, aggressive guard dogs — though their size alone is a significant deterrent. Odin's approach to strangers is to attempt to place his head in their lap and wait to be acknowledged.
Great Danes Today: What to Actually Expect
Modern Great Danes are still the same dog in the ways that matter: the size, the bone structure, the fundamental temperament. What's changed is the context. There are no boar. There are, however, sofas to occupy, small children to be surprisingly gentle with, and cat companions who will sit under them without apparent concern.
If you are considering getting a Great Dane — or have recently acquired one as a small 10kg puppy who will rapidly become nothing of the sort — a few things are worth knowing. They are not low-maintenance. Vet costs, food costs, and equipment costs are significantly higher than most breeds. Joint health is a genuine concern from early life. And they are considerably lazier than you might expect from something that can look like a small horse.
They are also, in the opinion of one very biased owner, excellent dogs. The history is just a bonus.