Great Danes in apartments

Question
I have always wanted to get a Great Dane, but I live in a small apartment. I had read that they can live comfortably in an apartment, but I wanted to get your honest opinion on whether or not a Great Dane would be well-suited for apartment life.

Also, I had read on one of your previous posts not to feed a Great Dane a high protein diet. I met a man who had tow Great Danes whom he fed a raw diet of fresh meat and vegetables and swears by it. I wanted to get your take on this diet for Danes. Thank-you for your help.  

Answer
Mike,

Thank you very much for taking the time to actually do some research on the breed before you go out and spontaneously get a puppy. Yes, you have done good research and Great Danes can be well suited for apartment life. My only hesitation with putting a Great Dane into a home where someone does live in an apartment are whether or not they are going to actually commit to DAILY walks and exercise, and are they going to ever in the future going to be stuck in a situation where they would have to move and were unable to find ANOTHER apartment that takes XL Breed dogs.

You have to remember that just because now the apartment complex you live at, maybe pet friendly and not have a weight limit, but these types of pet friendly areas are a few and far between. If you can commit to the fact that you are taking on a dog for 8 years plus and you will need to take that into consideration whenever you are moving or relocating to a new area, that a Great Dane will do fine in apartment living.

Don't think that this breed is lazy though, as much as they love to sleep and lay around by the fireplace, they do still need exercise, and a Great Dane that doesn't get in a walk or two a day MAY become destructive in the home.

As far as your question on the raw diet, if this is your first Great Dane, I would not recommend feeding RAW, it is a science, and unless you have it down pat and do not forget essential nutrients and supplements that have to be added to the dog's diet, you can actually do more harm then good when feeding a dog RAW. There are plenty of high quality dog foods that have been designed to mimic normal food, therefore as much as people swear by the Raw Diet, it is not something I would recommend for a first time Dane owner.

Like you have probably read in my previous posts, they do need a food with a lower protein content, mainly because you do not want a young puppy growing too fast, this can cause problems in the future like HOD and Wobbler's Syndrome.

If you have any other questions please feel free to email me

Have a Happy Holidays!