Divergent Great Danes is a small, family-based breeding program located on 10 acres in Central Florida, approximately 45 minutes west of Orlando and one hour north of Tampa.
Great Danes have been part of our family for more than 30 years, and we have been breeding this remarkable breed for over 20 years. Our program is intentionally small, allowing us to be selective in our breeding decisions and personally involved in the care, development, and socialization of every puppy we raise.
Our breeding program focuses on health, temperament, structure, conformation, and longevity. We produce AKC-registered Great Danes in both traditional and nontraditional colors while maintaining the same priorities in every breeding: sound structure, substantial bone, correct breed type, stable temperament, and overall health.
Our goal is not simply to produce beautiful Great Danes, but to raise healthy, well-rounded companions that families can love and enjoy for many years.
Our Color Program
Divergent Great Danes produces a diverse range of colors and patterns, including solids, Harlequin, Mantle, Merle, Brindle, Piebald, and other patterns in shades of Black, Blue, Chocolate, Fawn, Silver/ Lilac, Brindle, Blue Brindle, Chocolate Fawn, Blue Fawn and Silver Fawn. We are also especially excited to have incorporated Tan Point genetics into our program.
Nontraditional colors are not new to the Great Dane. Many of these recessive color genes have existed within the breed for generations, although historically they were often selected against in breeding programs. We believe genetic diversity can be preserved responsibly without sacrificing the qualities that should always come first in a Great Dane.
Advances in DNA color testing now allow breeders to identify specific color alleles with far greater accuracy than was possible in the past. We use genetic testing as one of many tools in making thoughtful breeding decisions, allowing us to better understand the genetics behind our dogs while continuing to prioritize health, temperament, structure, and conformation above color.
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The Great Dane — The Gentle Giant
Great Danes are a magnificent and noble breed, often affectionately known as “Gentle Giants.” Their impressive size and commanding appearance can be intimidating at first glance, but beneath it is typically an affectionate, devoted, and people-oriented companion.
Danes form exceptionally strong bonds with their families and are well known for wanting to be wherever their people are. They are intelligent, eager to please, and generally very responsive to positive, consistent training and early socialization.
Despite their enormous size, most Great Danes seem completely unaware that they are giant dogs. They would much rather be beside you, or attempting to sit in your lap, than separated from their family. Their combination of loyalty, affection, intelligence, and unmistakable personality is what makes so many people fall in love with the breed for life.
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Tan Point
Understanding Tan Point GeneticsTan Point is a recessive pattern controlled by the Agouti (A) locus and has existed within Great Dane genetics for generations. Because a Dane can carry the Tan Point allele without displaying the pattern, it could historically pass silently through multiple generations.Modern DNA color testing has changed our ability to identify these hidden recessive genes. Rather than relying solely on pedigree and visible color, breeders can now determine whether a dog carries specific color alleles and make more informed breeding decisions.For a puppy to display the Tan Point pattern, it must inherit the appropriate recessive allele from both parents, and other color loci also influence whether that pattern is actually expressed. Because the necessary genetic combination remains relatively uncommon within the Great Dane population, Tan Point Great Danes are still seen far less frequently than many traditional colors and patterns.We are excited to preserve and responsibly incorporate this historic recessive color genetics within our program while maintaining the same standards for health, temperament, structure, and quality that guide every Divergent Great Danes breeding.
Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Great Dane Colors
The Great Dane breed standard is comprised of many characteristics, including size, structure, conformation, movement, temperament, and, yes, color. However, there is an important distinction between the genetic makeup of the Great Dane and the colors people have chosen to recognize within the written breed standard.
The terms traditional or standard color refer to colors and patterns accepted by the breed standard, particularly for conformation showing. They do not represent every color allele that exists within the Great Dane gene pool. Great Danes can carry recessive color genes for generations without visibly expressing them. When the appropriate alleles are inherited from both parents, those colors can once again appear.
Modern DNA color testing has given breeders an extraordinary ability to understand what exists genetically beneath the color we see. We color test our breeding dogs, which allows us to know the alleles they carry and to make intentional, informed breeding decisions. If a Great Dane carries alleles for Chocolate, Tan Point, dilute or another color variation, those genes are part of that dog's genetic makeup regardless of whether the resulting color is recognized in the show ring.
Why We Breed Non-Traditional Colors
For generations, breeders have selectively bred toward a relatively limited group of accepted colors while intentionally selecting against others. Over time, some naturally occurring recessive color traits became increasingly uncommon within the breed.
We have chosen a different approach.
We breed both traditional and non-traditional colors and believe that color alone should not determine the genetic value of an otherwise healthy, structurally sound Great Dane. Restricting breeding choices solely because a healthy dog carries a non-standard color allele can unnecessarily remove dogs and bloodlines from an already closed purebred population.
Genetic diversity is considerably more complex than coat color alone and unnecessarily excluding breeding candidates based solely upon cosmetic color can further restrict the available gene pool. We prefer to evaluate the entire dog, health, pedigree, structure, temperament, longevity, genetic testing and compatibility with the proposed mate, rather than allowing a single cosmetic trait to make that decision for us. Color diversity is genetic diversity, because coat color and pattern are determined by genetic variation. When an allele is intentionally eliminated from a breed, genetic variation has been lost. However, color represents only one portion of a dog's genome. For that reason, we believe preserving naturally occurring color alleles should be considered alongside pedigree, health, structure, temperament, coefficient of inbreeding and overall genetic diversity when making breeding decisions.
Our medical background and understanding of genetics have greatly influenced this philosophy. We view color as one visible expression of a much larger genetic picture, not as the defining measure of the quality of a Great Dane.
This does not mean that every possible color combination should be produced. Understanding color genetics also means understanding when particular combinations should not be made. Merle genetics are an excellent example. Merle-to-Merle, Merle-to-Harlequin, and Harlequin-to-Harlequin breedings should be avoided because both Merle and Harlequin Great Danes carry the Merle (M) allele. Pairing two Merle-carrying dogs can produce double-merle (MM) puppies, which have a significantly increased risk of deafness, severe eye abnormalities, and other vision or hearing impairments. Responsible breeding requires knowing what each dog carries and understanding the potential consequences of a proposed pairing.
We love the beautiful traditional colors that have long been associated with the Great Dane, but we also appreciate the Chocolate, Lilac/Silver, Blue Fawn, Chocolate Fawn, Tan Point and other less-common combinations that Great Dane genetics can produce.
Nature provided the genetic palette. People determined which colors would be included in the written standard.
At Divergent Great Danes, we have chosen to embrace both. Whether traditional or non-traditional, our priorities remain the same: health, temperament, longevity, sound structure and unmistakable Great Dane type.
American vs. European Great Danes
The terms American and European Great Dane are commonly used to describe differences that have developed among bloodlines, but they are not separate breeds. Both are Great Danes. European lines are generally associated with heavier bone, broader heads, deeper bodies and a more substantial appearance, while American lines tend to be somewhat more refined and athletic.
We appreciate qualities found in both and have incorporated both American and European bloodlines into our breeding program. We personally prefer a substantial Great Dane with a beautiful head, strong bone and impressive presence, but we also believe there is a point at which substance becomes exaggeration.
In recent years, an increasingly extreme European style has become popular in some breeding programs. Dogs are being selected for progressively heavier bodies, massive heads, excessive jowls, loose facial skin and heavily drooping eyes. When extremely heavy dogs are repeatedly bred to other extremely heavy dogs specifically to intensify those characteristics, the result can begin to resemble the mastiff-type dogs from which the Great Dane was historically refined rather than the balanced, athletic Great Dane the breed developed to become.
The ancestors of the modern Great Dane included powerful mastiff-type dogs, but generations of selective breeding produced a taller, more elegant and athletic dog, one that combined strength and substance with refinement, balance and agility. In our opinion, continually breeding toward greater and greater exaggeration risks moving away from that balance.
We want our Danes to have substance without coarseness. We appreciate heavy bone, a strong head and a powerful body, but we do not intentionally breed for excessive loose skin, oversized jowls, severely drooping eyes or extreme mass simply to achieve a particular “Euro” appearance. A Great Dane should still look and move like a Great Dane.
For us, the ideal lies somewhere between the extremes. We select individual dogs whose strengths complement one another rather than breeding according to an American or European label. Our goal is a substantial, structurally sound and athletic Great Dane that retains the elegance, balance, temperament and unmistakable presence that define the breed.
