Great Dane Color

There is quite a bit  of controversy about cross color breeding  great danes and I need to make it CLEAR that there are no RARE colors of great danes. . . only correct and incorrect colors and markings.  There  are simple explanations of why other  colors  are produced and there  are MANY "breeders" that will try to pass off certain colors as "rare", "Hard to find" or some how "special"--EVEN "Designer"  ----remember--- correct or incorrect.  Period.

It is my belief that breeders should not PURPOSELY produce incorrect colors, every breeders goal should be to produce the most correct great dane possible, this INCLUDES color.  They should NOT be ostracized for unintentionally  producing incorrect colors either , recessive colors are in just about every pedigree.  Great Dane breeders ( that breed Harlequin, Mantle, Blue or Black) that have not produced a recessive color are either LYING or have not been breeding long enough.

There is a move to improve some of the Great Dane color families by intentionally breeding to colors out side of the color family in order to bring  qualities that are hard to find in to the color group.  This is commonly done with Fawn great dane sires bred to Blue or black great dane  bitches.    This is not for the faint of heart and you need to realize that you have now introduced a color in to the family that will be there for generations to come.   This is how you produce ( through recessive genes)  Fawn and Brindle danes with dilute masking ( from the  dilution gene) and brindles that are dilute in general, chevrons being a blue color instead of the acceptable black.

In Harlequin great dane  family breeding you can have even more variation.  Instead of having harlequins with black spots (correct) you can have them with blue, fawn or brindle spots-- same rings true of Mantle color pattern, instead of the black and white "classic" boston marked great dane you can produce fawn, blue and brindle blanketed danes with white markings of various degree's. 

Fawn and Brindle  Great Dane breeding:

This is the strongest color group and most popular.  They do very well in conformation ring and breading is fairly simple.  Fawn can be bred to fawn,  brindle can be bred to brindle and collectively they can be bred to each other.  In the past the only concern (other then health related ones of course) was the amount of Shading on fawns, the chevron patterning on brindles and the presence of the masking gene.   Both Brindles and Fawns can be born with or with out a mask and can have different variations in shading and pattern.  It is possible to now test for the masking gene and identify weather or not a dog truly has a mask ( with brindles it CAN be hard to differentiate the difference in pattern and masking).  A simple swab test now lets you know at a genetic level.

Blue and Black Great Dane  Breeding:

There is a VERY small breeding group of "quality" blue and black great danes.  This is why so many of the top breeders have used fawn and brindles in there pedigree's to increase gene diversity and to add qualities that are hard to find.  As a whole the quality of this color group is increasing with time and we are seeing more and more quality blues and blacks in the ring today.   It is also possible to check for the presence of the "blue" gene ( which is a dilution gene that dilutes all pigment including nose and eye color) this test is a simple check swab.

Mantle and Harlequin Great Dane breeding:

Harlequin breeding is not a "true" color breeding.  This means that if you breed a harlequin great dane  to another harlequin great dane you will not get a litter of all harlequins.  Harlequin genetics is complicated to say the least and most times  only 50% of the PARENT colors will be represented in a litter and of that there is a great deal of variance.  The more correct the parent dogs are the greater the chance for correct colors in a litter ( or so the thought is. . .not always the truth) The preferred breeding is Mantle to Harlequin but it is also acceptable to breed to  black danes that do not carry for other colors, harlequin to harlequin or mantle to mantle.

Harlequin to harlequin breeding comes with a double negative.  You can produce double merle puppies ( puppies that carry 2 copies of the merle gene) and enutero you can have double harl puppies ( puppies that carry 2 copies of the harl gene) these puppies will never be born because the harlequin gene in a double form is a lethal gene, causing the puppies to die enutero .   Some great dane  breeders also breed harlequins to merles, but again, you are increasing the chances for double merle puppies. 

I have intentional left out piebald and white in the possible breeding pairs.  There are even MORE reasons to not breed to these color patterns.