A breeder's guide to Great Dane health testing
Giant size shortens lives, and the Dane's great risks are its heart and its stomach. Good breeders screen what they can and study the pedigree for the rest. This VerifiedStuds guide explains the tests the parent club lists and what we require for the Verified Health badge.
The Great Dane Club of America is the AKC parent club. Its list, as published by the AKC, has four items:
Clearance
Who does it
Earliest final result
Hips
X-rays sent to OFA, or PennHIP
24 months (OFA)
Heart
Cardiologist exam, usually with an echocardiogram
12 months
Eyes
Board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist
Any age; valid 12 months
Thyroid
Blood panel sent to an OFA-approved lab
12 months
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the main worry. The heart muscle weakens and stretches, usually in middle age. Because early disease makes no sound, a stethoscope alone can miss it.
Therefore, the club asks for an echocardiogram by a cardiologist. Careful breeders also repeat it every year or two, since a clear result at two says little about a dog of five.
Useful extras: elbow x-rays, and a DNA panel that includes degenerative myelopathy.
Bloat with stomach twisting (GDV) kills more Great Danes than anything else, and no screening test exists. Risk runs in families. So ask whether the stud, his parents or his siblings have bloated. Many owners choose a preventive stomach tack, called a gastropexy.
Similarly, wobbler syndrome and bone cancer have no clearance. As a result, longevity in the pedigree is the best evidence you can get.
Harlequin and merle Danes carry the merle gene. A puppy with two merle copies is often deaf, blind or both. Therefore, breeders follow the club's color code, and merle is never bred to merle or harlequin to harlequin without expert planning. Ask for the stud's color DNA if he is harlequin, merle or mantle from a harlequin family.
Brucellosis spreads through mating and has no reliable cure. Therefore, the AKC advises testing stud dogs every six months and females before each breeding. In addition, VerifiedStuds asks for a negative test before every booking. Read brucellosis in dogs for the details.
Ask for the date of his last echocardiogram, and the name of the cardiologist.
Look up his registered name in the public OFA database for hips, eyes and thyroid.
Find out how long his relatives lived, and whether any bloated.
Request his color DNA if merle may be involved.
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What health tests should a Great Dane have before breeding?
Hips, a cardiologist heart exam, an eye exam and a thyroid panel, plus a negative brucellosis test.
Is there a test for bloat in Great Danes?
No. Family history is the only guide, and a preventive gastropexy lowers the danger.
How is DCM screened in Great Danes?
With an echocardiogram by a cardiologist. Many breeders repeat it every year or two.
Can two harlequin Great Danes be bred?
It carries a risk of double merle puppies with hearing and eye defects. Breeders follow the parent club's color code to avoid it.
What does VerifiedStuds require for Great Dane studs?
The four items on the parent club list, with a negative brucellosis test, for the Verified Health badge.
Sources: Great Dane Club of America, AKC Working Group health testing requirements, OFA CHIC program.
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