How much does a Great Dane puppy cost?
Great Dane puppies are priced by their breeders, so the figure varies from litter to litter, and the parts worth comparing are the parents' health results, the color and what comes home with the puppy. Great Dane puppies listed on Puppy Connection right now are priced from $1,070 to $3,000.
What moves the price of a Great Dane?
Start with the health screening on the parents. Hips, heart, eyes and thyroid are the four things the national breed club wants checked in breeding dogs, which lines up with the eye and heart disease, thyroid disorders and hip dysplasia AKC names for the breed. OFA certifies hips only on dogs at least 24 months old, so a parent with final hip results was screened as an adult.
Registration tells you something too, because a Dane litter gets AKC papers only when its sire and dam are both AKC registered Great Danes. A puppy sold on limited registration is registered, but its own future litters cannot be, and only the breeder can lift that.
Color matters as well, because the Great Dane standard names its accepted colors and disqualifies the rest.
Which Great Dane colors does the standard accept?
The AKC standard, effective January 1, 2019, recognizes seven colors, which are brindle, fawn, blue, black, harlequin, mantle and merle. Any other color is a disqualification, and so is merlequin, which the standard defines as a white dog with only patches of merle. Each color has its own described pattern, such as the harlequin's white base with torn black patches and the mantle's black blanket over a white neck, chest and legs.
The standard notes that merle patches are normal on a harlequin, and if a puppy's color is not one of the seven, ask the breeder what it is and whether it is priced differently.
Is there a health concern with merle Danes?
There can be, because when two dogs that each carry merle are bred together, some puppies can inherit two copies, called double merle. Hearing tests on merle dogs of several breeds found one or both ears deaf in a quarter of the double merles and in fewer than four in a hundred single merles. Ask the breeder the color of both parents and whether either is merle or harlequin, and ask whether the puppies' hearing has been checked.
What about bloat?
Bloat, or gastric dilatation-volvulus, is the leading killer of Danes in AKC's words, and owners are told to learn what it looks like. AKC also notes that many breeders and owners consider a preventive surgery called prophylactic gastropexy. Ask whether the breeder has a view on it and whether any of the parents have had it, so you can talk it through with your vet.
What comes home with the puppy?
All 8 listings here come with a microchip, and 3 come with a vet exam, 3 come with a health record, 5 come with AKC registration and 4 come with a written health guarantee. Each listing says what that puppy goes home with.
Compare listings line by line, since what a breeder includes changes the real cost of two puppies at a similar price. Ask what a written guarantee covers in this breed and for how long.
How do deposits work?
Breeders who take a deposit ask $500 to $600 to hold a puppy. The deposit terms are the breeder's own, and it is worth asking for them in writing.
Be wary of any seller who wants a gift card, a payment app transfer, cryptocurrency or a wire, which the FTC says only scammers insist on, and use a credit card where you can. Its advice also includes meeting the seller in person or by video before paying.
What should you ask a Great Dane breeder?
Ask for both parents' hip, heart, eye and thyroid results and their adult heights and weights. Ask what color each parent is and whether either is merle or harlequin. Ask what the puppy goes home with and what the deposit holds.
See Great Dane puppies
Great Dane puppies listed on Puppy Connection show the price their breeder has set. Click through to any Dane to see the puppy and message its breeder.