There was a time in the 18th century when Great Danes were not only prestigious guard dogs of estates, but guardians of horse-drawn carriages. Great Danes accompanied so many carriages that the breed became known as the “coach dog.”  In Anecdotes of Dogs by Edward Jesse first published in 1859, Jesse said of the “‘Great Danish Dog,’ “. . . like the Dalmatian, he is chiefly used in this country as an attendant on carriages, to which he forms an elegant appendage.”

Great Danes as coach dogs, especially harlequin Great Danes, were also mentioned in the Classic Dog Encyclopedia by Vero Shaw, first published in 1879-81. The breed was referred to there as the “German Mastiff.”  Shaw shared quotes from an earlier work, Cynographia Britannica by Sydenham Edwards published in 1803 that mentioned that the dogs often took a position in front of the carriage. When the Dalmatian was introduced to England in the 18th century, they quickly became the carriage-dog breed of choice.

The Dalmatian Club of America holds road trials, and the British Carriage Dog Society organizes carriage dog trials in the UK, but who knew that in history of the Great Dane, carriage work was among the breed’s job description?

Our image? Great Danes do need to sleep! “Sleeping Beauty” by Pat Saunders-White is available in many fun formats here.