Essential Great Dane Care Tips & Advice

Practical care tips from my life with Great Danes. How I made training, feeding, exercise, anxiety, and everyday living easier. Learn what actually works when you’re raising giant “velcro dogs.”

Feeding

Getting feeding right helps digestion, avoids stomach upset, and reduces the risk of bloat. These are the habits that actually helped my dogs stay healthy:

• Feed multiple smaller meals daily instead of one large meal.
• Use slow-feeders to reduce gulping and air intake.
• Avoid heavy exercise before or after eating.
• Control water intake right after meals; offer smaller sips.
• Monitor how fast they eat and adjust bowl type as needed.

Stainless Slow-Feeder Bowl

Slows down vacuum-style eating, reduces mess, and is easier to clean than plastic. Worth it if your Dane inhales food like rent is due. Also, by eating or drinking too quickly can cause stomach discomfort, excessive burping, and gas. In severe cases, it can even lead to bloat (GDV), a life-threatening condition.

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Anti-Gulping Water Bowl

Eating or drinking too quickly can cause stomach discomfort, excessive burping, and gas. In severe cases, it can even lead to bloat (GDV), a life-threatening condition.

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Elevated Dog Bowls (Large)

It’s best to use elevated bowls for larger dogs. They support better digestion and save you from the chaos that happens when a big dog bends down, then snaps their head up and launches food and water across the room.

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No-Spill Dog Feeder

This bowl works great for keeping the mess contained. Remember to clean it regularly. Food and water will get beneath the bowls and if it’s not cleaned, it can get moldy.

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Training

Training Great Danes is about clear communication and positive reinforcement. They want to please, but they get overwhelmed easily. What worked for me:

• Focus on short, positive sessions—10 minutes max.
• Redirection instead of scolding. They shut down with harsh tones.
• Teach confidence: stairs, cars, slippery floors, new rooms.
• Reward calm behaviors heavily—big dogs need emotional balance.
• Practice crate training early; it becomes their safe space.
• Use high-value treats only for training.

Long Training Lead

This works great for recall training. The different length options give your dog plenty of room to move while still staying under control. Practice recall by gently guiding your dog back to you and rewarding them when they return.

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Soft Training Treats

I love these for training. They come in in long sticks, but they are soft so you can break them into little pieces. The dogs love the smell. They fit well in the Training pouch!

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Training Pouch

This is the perfect size. It has a place for doggie bags, a pouch for treats, and it comes with a clicker. I use this when walking my dogs. It is so easy to reward your dog for good behavior.

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Chew Toys

Chewing is essential for Danes. Durable, safe chews help redirect anxiety, protect furniture, and relieve stress. My go-to items:

• Bury some toys in a dirty laundry basket for a couple days.
• Put some toys in a smelly sock or shoe for a couple days.
• If the toy smells like you, your dog is going to love it!
• Rotating different textures keeps them entertained longer.
• Choose size-appropriate toys—never small enough to swallow.
• Avoid brittle chews that splinter.
• Redirect with chewing to toys instead of scolding them.
• Offer the redirection toy without speaking, once they take the toy, praise them.

Durable Rope Toy (XL)

Great for playing with your dog or puppy. Not so great if your dog is a shredder. Once these toys are torn apart and the strings are swallowed, they have to come out somehow. And yes, that usually means you, your dog, and an extremely undignified moment in the yard.

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HedgeHog

My Danes really love these. They hold up well and last a long time. The only time I’ve had to replace them was after the dogs dragged them outside and turned them into something questionable. Otherwise, these hedgehogs are a clear favorite.

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Nocciola Dog Squeaky Toys

My Danes love these. I buy the stuffing-free versions so they’re harder to destroy. They have a small squeaker inside, and once that’s gone, it’s time for a replacement. I’ve purchased these many times because they’re a definite favorite.

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White Noise & Calming Sound

White noise can reduce anxiety, especially during crate time or when leaving the house. Try to leave a background noise when leaving your pups alone in the house. If they think you are still home, they may not get as anxious. These small habits helped my Danes:

• Find a good white noise maker to break the silence.
• Leave a TV or radio on when you are not home.
• If you leave your white noise maker on when you are home, it is even less stressful for them. It’s like there’s no change when you leave.
• Play an audiobook so your dog can hear voices while you’re away.

Amazon Echo Dot Max

Echo Dot Max Alexa Speaker. These work great, you can just tell Alexa what you want to hear. Not only will it work for adding noise it comes with all of the smart features as well.

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Amazon Echo Show 8

This is a great device for “white noise.” If your going to get something to create white noise, this has so many other benefits. I am not just trying to push Amazon products, but the Echo can do so much more than create a calming atmosphere for your bestie!

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Amazon Echo Pop

Another Amazon product. The Amazon truck comes to my house on a daily basis, I think Amazon would probably go under without me. This is great because I love things with my team on them.

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Treats & Rewards

Treats help motivate Great Danes, but using the right treats matters. Here’s what helped mine:

• Use soft treats for training—they’re faster to eat.
• Scent is important when using treats for training purposes.
• Keep training treats small to avoid stomach upset.
• If training treats are large, they cannot have as many while training, this is why “training treats” need to be small.
• Use larger, crunchier treats for calm downtime moments.

Pup-Peroni

I love these for training. They come in in long sticks, but they are soft so you can break them into little pieces. The dogs love the smell. They fit well in the Training pouch! These are by far my favorite dog treat.

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Minties

I use these treats daily. They are good for their teeth and breath. Usually in the morning when I put the dogs in their pen for the day, I give them each 1 as a reward for going in the pen. The bag has a “zip-loc” so they stay fresh. I generally just give them one a day. I don’t think they enjoy them as much as the other treats.

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Double Treat Bones Peanut Butter

My dogs love these! I always get the peanut butter ones. I have a dog bed next to my desk in my office. The dogs will come and lay down while I work. I give them these treats when they do. I kind of bribe them to hang out with me!

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Good ‘n’ Fun Kabob Treats

These treats smell terrible, but my dogs absolutely love them. They come in a resealable zip-top bag, which is good because once it opens, every dog in the house appears instantly. At this point, any bag I open is assumed to contain these treats, and I’m immediately surrounded.

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