Head - The head shall be rectangular, long, distinguished, expressive, finely chiseled, especially below the eyes. Seen from the side, the Dane's forehead must be sharply set off from the bridge of the nose, (a strongly pronounced stop). The plane of the skull and the plane of the muzzle must be straight and parallel to one another. The skull plane under and to the inner point of the eye must slope without any bony protuberance in a smooth line to a full square jaw with a deep muzzle (fluttering lips are undesirable). The masculinity of the male is very pronounced in structural appearance of the head. The bitch's head is more delicately formed. Seen from the top, the skull should have parallel sides and the bridge of the nose should be as broad as possible. The cheek muscles should not be prominent. The length from the tip of the nose to the center of the stop should be equal to the length from the center of the stop to the rear of the slightly developed occiput. The head should be angular from all sides and should have flat planes with dimensions in proportion to the size of the Dane. Whiskers may be trimmed or left natural.

Discussion

The correctly chiseled head, with the strong square jaw, broad muzzle and parallel planes of skull and foreface, all in proportion to the size and gender of the Dane, is indispensable to the achievement of true breed type.

The head is well described in the Standard and in the accompanying illustrations. Please note the requirement that the length of muzzle and skull be equal; too long a muzzle is a deviation from the desired proportion, although frequently seen; the long, narrow head is just as faulty as the short faced, blocky head. The mouth should be 'dry' without an excessive pouch in the flew to collect saliva. A loose "fluttering" lip overlapping a weak under jaw may give the appearance of the desired square muzzle, but is not correct.

Continue to "Eyes"