Harlequin Great Dane – Most Favored Large Dog Breed
From ancient times dog is always a very reliable companion for humans. People always love something more adorable, affectionate, caring.
Here we going to talk about a very well-known breed of dog that is Harlequin Great Dane, which is originated from Germany.
The Great Dane was also named German Mastiff or Deutsche Dogge or German Boarhound.
It has also another name known as Apollo of Dogs. Once they were popularly used for hunting and taking down wild boars. Nowadays it is known only as a pet.
Harlequin Great Dane:
Among the world’s largest dog breeds, The Harlequin Great Dane is the best choice. Due to its unique qualities, it becomes popular with dog lovers.
In the dog world, it is known as the gentle giant, stunning, oversized dog but it can easily handle family-friendly nature and its sweet spirit.
The Harlequin Great Dane has a long, muscular body with a rectangular head, deep-set eyes, straight legs, and floppy ears.
The Harlequin Great Dane puppies have a pinkish nose that turns black as a grown-up. Generally, Male Harlequin Greate Danes range between 30 and 32 inches, and females are range between 28 and 30 inches.
In the case of weight, males are between 140 and 175 pounds and females are between 110 and 140 pounds.
They have very shortest lifespans of between 7 and 10 years. This breed is very fast-growing and can reach 100 pounds within 6 months.
Great Dane breed has a number of colors and color patterns. The seven identifying colors of the Great Dane breed are Black, Blue, Harlequin, Fawn, Brindle, Mantle, and Merle.
Among these the most expensive and favored Great Dane color is Harlequin.
“Harlequin” is known for its black-and-white patchwork pattern. This pattern of coat color is also marked as spotted or dapple type.
Harlequin Great Dane also is popularly known as Spotted Great Dane or Dapple Great Dane.
Before we know about vast about Harlequin Great Dane, we will have an idea about other color variations in short. Those are as follows:
Black Great Dane are enormous, powerful, and elegant canines.
Blue Great Dane is a rare variation of Great Dane with a steel blue coat and blue eyes. Its shades vary from charcoal-blue, slate, deep steel blue, to a pale bluish color.
Fawn colors shall be yellow gold with a black mask. Black should appear on the eye rims and eyebrows, on the ears and tail tip.
Brindle Great Dane’s coat color varies from golden, light fawn, golden brown, deep golden red, a pale yellow with stripes markings all over the body. The color for stripes is; red and black, fawn and black, charcoal and grey. Golden with black patterns is the most favored Brindle Great Dane color all over.
Harlequin Coat pattern has black and/or gray color with irregular and random secondary patches on white background.
The Mantle Great Dane is usually white with black over the body as like a blanket. It has a full black skull with a white muzzle and blaze. Its legs have white shades at the end that look like socks. It has white color on the neck as alike collar, in the chest, and in black tail tip.
The merle pattern is a pale to dark grey coat, covered in darker splotches. There are some different patterns of merle which are: harlequin, merle, cryptic merle, dilute merle.
The patchworks of Harlequin Great Dane and Merle Great Dane are more or less the same but the main difference between Merle and Harlequin is the base coat color. Merle Great Danes have colored patches on greyish base color while the Harlequin Great Dane has dark patches on the white base color.
Breeding:
According to the code of ethics, A harlequin Great Dane should not be bred with fawn, brindle, or blue color families of the group. The report says that Breed between Harlequin & Harlequin can produce puppies with lots of health problems like congenital deafness or blindness.
For a healthy puppy breed between Harlequin & mantle is the best. Mainly the complex interaction of the Merle (PMEL17) and Harlequin (PSMB7) genes on black pigment is responsible for the Harlequin coat pattern of Great Danes.
Only the Merle gene can produce dark spots on a dilute background on melanistic dogs and when a Merle gene inherits 1 copy of the Harlequin gene then the dark spots become increase in size and remove pigment from the background.
Temperament:
The temperament of this breed is more or less the same as like of other breeds of dogs.
They are generally very friendly, devoted, reserved, confident, loving, and gentle but their personality can be affected by any childhood or psychological trauma.
This dog is homey in nature, wants to spend its full-day lazily at home, and is so friendly to everyone in a family.
They are sweet and loving as they always alert to anything suspicious for the family. If anyone has a puppy of this breed, they must have to provide a very comfortable and friendly environment to express their personality properly.
Grooming:
Harlequin Great Dane dog requires regular grooming and bathing with good shampoos. Depending upon their lifestyle and activity level this gentle dog can be bathed weekly or once every six to eight weeks.
Regular bathing can minimize shedding and maintain healthy skin. When cleaning especially for this breed one must have to check his ears every two weeks whether any debris and wax build which can cause infection.
Brushing should be done at least 3 times a week that will maintain the coat’s sheen and minimize shedding.
Teeth should be cleaned thrice a week; trimming of nails is necessary because long nails can cause pain and also create problems in walking and running.
Diet & Nutrition:
Good quality food assures proper nutrition and increases the quality of a dog’s life.
The composition of the high protein (23%), moderate fats (12%), and low calories is a good diet for Harlequin Great Dane.
Besides this high protein can be fulfilled by the meat of lamb, beef, fish, and whole chicken.
There are lots of premium quality dog foods in the market which will give the proper balance of nutrition for your pet.
The amount of food consumption depends upon the age, physical activity, and quality of feed offered to the dog.
Generally, an adult dog eats 8-10 cups of food each day and a puppy eats 3-6 cups of feed.
Health Issues:
Though Great Dane is a very large dog breed their life span is very short. They can survive only 7 to 10 years. This dog is susceptible to a number of health issues due to its large size.
The common health issues are:
Gastric Torsion is the most common killer for Harlequin Great Danes also known as canine bloat. When dogs overeat or eat too fast gas builds up and the stomach expands. Blood circulation to the heart & stomach can be prevented due to expansion of the stomach and cause stomach tissue to die.
It is a genetic disorder that causes the heart to enlarge. It causes difficulty breathing, weakness, weight loss, increase heart rate, etc.
Hip dysplasia is a chronic condition in which the head of the femur bone doesn’t fit into the hip socket correctly. It is very commonly happened with large breeds of dogs.
These the most frequently occur in Harlequin Great Dane but there are some other conditions also like: tricuspid dysplasia, acral lick dermatitis, callus dermatitis, hypothyroidism, megaesophagus, panosteitis, osteochondrosis, cancer, Wobbler’s syndrome, etc.
Blue Harlequin Great Dane:
Blue Harlequin Great Dane is a breed that comes from crossbred Blue Great Dane with Harlequin Great Dane.
They are more or less similar to Harlequin Great Dane but the main difference is their coat is covered with blue color Harlequin patches instead of black color patches.
This breed appears subtle and pleasant. They have blue eyes that are very identical.
Harlequin Great Dane Puppies:
A Harlequin Great Dane puppy has great demand to the people, especially to kids. They are so cute and friendly. They are fast-growing and achieve 100 pounds within 6 months and keep growing even after 2 years.
Its price varies depending upon its pedigree, good medical records. To get a puppy the best way is to buy directly from reputable breeders with ancestral lineage and good genetic health.
A Harlequin Great Dane puppy will cost between $1000 to $ 2500. But the price varies depending on a few factors like age, health, gender, their breeding profile, and mostly the coat color and its quality.
Conclusion:
Though all of its health issues, having a short life span, or congenital problems a Harlequin Great Dane is a gorgeous and loveable breed.
Among all other varieties of Great Dane, it is more precious and demandable for its strong personality and gentle behavior.
Proper care, a healthy diet, exercise, and lots of love can make a Harlequin Great Dane dog a wonderful companion to anyone.
