We saw this Great Dane yesterday, this colour is not usually seen in the show ring. They are usually, fawn, brindle, Harlequin or black. Dogs resembling the Great Dane have been seen on Egyptian monuments dating back to 3,000 BC. Extremely large boarhounds resembling the Great Dane appear in ancient Greece; in frescoes from Tiryns dating back to 14th�13th centuries BC. The large boarhound or Molossian hound continues to appear throughout ancient Greece in subsequent centuries right up to the Hellenistic era. The Molossian hound, the Suliot dog and specific imports from Greece were used in the 18th century to increase the stature of the boarhounds in Austria and Germany and the wolfhounds in Ireland Bigger dogs are depicted on numerous runestones in Scandinavia, on coinage in Denmark from the 5th century AD and in the collection of Old Norse poems, known in English as Poetic Edda. The University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum holds at least seven skeletons of very large hunting dogs, dating from the 5th century BC going forward through to the year 1000 AD. Hunting dog[ In the middle of the 16th century, the nobility in many countries of Europe imported strong, long-legged dogs from England, which were descended from crossbreeds between the English Mastiff and the Irish Wolfhound. They were dog hybrids in different sizes and phenotypes with no formal During the hunt for boar or bears, the Englische Dogge was used after the other hunting dogs to seize the bear or boar and hold the animal in place until the huntsman killed it. When the hunting customs changed, particularly because of the use of firearms, many of the involved dog types disappeared. The Englische Dogge became rare, and was kept only as a dog of hobby or luxury. Thanks for all the lovely comments & favs, so, so appreciated. xxx