At the end of a long day with her head in the books, 26-year-old grad student Whitney Krahn comes home to the Williamsburg two-bedroom that she shares with a roommate and plops down on the couch. That is, if there’s room for her.
Krahn is the proud owner of Jane, a 90-pound (and growing!) 6-month-old Great Dane who also loves to curl up on comfy furniture, her butt on the cushions and front legs on the floor. “Half on, half off — that’s a standard Great Dane position,” says Krahn.
Krahn
insists Jane’s life in the city isn’t that different from her mom’s Danes, who live in the suburbs of Jacksonville, Fla.
“When you’re home they want to be next to you. So even if I had a huge apartment, Jane would be right here, putting her head on my lap. Or if I got a king-size bed, I could still wake up with her sleeping on top of me. Which she does!”
The breed, which on average live around eight years, is intelligent, and surprisingly mellow for its 130- to 170-pound full-grown size, depending on the sex. (Females tend to weigh less.)
“Everything is bigger when you own a Great Dane,” says Dave Miller, president of the Great Dane Club of America. “They take up a lot of space and eat a lot of food.”
About $80 worth per week, to be exact, says Krahn.
“My mom was worried I couldn’t afford the upkeep,” she says, “and we probably eat the same amount!”
Then there are bones, chew toys, training classes and doggy day care. It adds up quickly. “But it’s money I’m happy to part with,” says Krahn. “I mean, she’s my child. If I thought she was bored or dissatisfied, I would feel so terrible.”
While Krahn recommends Great Danes as excellent family dogs, she stresses the need to teach them good manners at an early age. “When you have a large dog, it’s so important that she is well-behaved in public.”
Especially in a city like New York, where people actually cross the street for a closer look.
“One afternoon, we were sitting outside a restaurant in the West Village, and I counted 10 hands reaching out to touch her at once,” says Krahn. “I can’t walk my dog without hearing, ‘Scooby-Doo!’ or ‘Hey, do you keep that thing in a stable?’”
But Krahn just laughs it off. After all, a sense of humor comes with the territory of owning a Great Dane.
“The Marmaduke comics were always so true,” says Krahn. “The illustrations of the Dane with his butt in the air, the sad faces, the expressiveness — it’s all right on.”
Those comedic moments, which once appeared in over 600 newspapers nationwide, are actually making their big-screen debut in the film version of “Marmaduke,” out now. With Owen Wilson voicing the goofy giant, the movie is a mix of live-action and CGI, and, like its cartoon — and real life! — counterparts, is a comedy of pet errors, with talking animals and a big choreographed dance number.
“Great Danes really seem to get to know you and grow close to you,” says Krahn. “They transcend being a pet.”
That’s for sure.
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