Great Dane puppies grow incredibly fast. We recommend referencing our Great Dane puppy growth chart to learn just HOW fast you can expect your puppy to grow.
PRO TIP – Take lots of photos!!! These babies gain size at an insane rate, especially in the first 6 months of life.
Keep in mind that these numbers are all averages! Your Great Dane puppy may be above or below these numbers depending on genetics, health and the nutrition that is provided.
Great Dane Puppy Body Condition
The following are signs that your puppy may require a change in nutrition, medical attention, and/or special attention to socialization:
- Weakness & lethargy
- Diarrhea, vomiting
- Gas, soft stools
- Knuckling, growing pains
- Flat feet
- Extremely thin (spine & hip bones showing)
- Lack of muscle tone
- Extremely round (heavy or distended tummy)
- Dull coat & eyes, itching
- Fearful, timid and scared
- Painful
What are the BEST foods for Great Dane Puppies?
Great Dane puppies are surprisingly lean! This is better for their growth, joints and overall health. Your puppy should have nice fur, bright eyes, tight feet, confidence, and lots of energy when awake.
The explosive growth period in Great Dane puppies happens from 6 weeks until 6 months. They slow down around then and will eat less, but will continue to grow for much, much longer!
When do Great Danes Stop Growing?
On average, Great Dane puppies continue to grow until age 2, at which point they will fill out (develop more muscle mass and breadth of chest and hips).
Knuckling is a serious problem in Great Dane puppies that results from explosive growth, incorrect nutrition, and slick or hard surfaces. Read more about knuckling below!
Great Dane Puppy Growth Chart
When do Great Dane puppies stop growing? Below you will see a monthly Great Dane growth chart. You will notice that a two month old Great Dane puppy is, on average, 15-30 lbs. These are averages, not every puppy will fit into this chart perfectly.
| Birth | 1-2 lbs |
| 1 Week | 2-3 lbs |
| 2 Weeks | 3-5 lbs |
| 3 Weeks | 4-7 lbs |
| 1 Month | 5-8 lbs |
| 6 Weeks | 10-20 lbs |
| 2 Months | 15-30 lbs |
| 3 Months | 25-45 lbs |
| 4 Months | 45-65 lbs |
| 5 Months | 60-85 lbs |
| 6 Months | 65 – 100 lbs |
| 7 Months | 70-110 lbs |
| 8 Months | 80-120 lbs |
| 9 Months | 85-125 lbs |
| 1 Year | 95-120 lbs |
| ADULT | |
| Female | 110-145lbs |
| Male | 135-170lbs |
Bigger Is Not Better
There seems to be this fear that our Great Dane puppies just aren’t growing big enough or fast enough.
There is also a subtle competition at play to have the largest Dane, a contest that often begins with breeders who are breeding for size rather than for structure, health and type.
Adding nutrition, fat, and toppers to your Great Dane Puppies diet to ‘fill them out’ or ‘bulk them up’ is one of the worst things you can do. A Great Dane should be lean, muscular, and athletic.
It’s not a race. Slow growth and building towards an appropriate height and weight is the healthiest choice.
You may be looking for a European Great Dane growth chart. European Great Danes and American Great Danes follow breed standards that are nearly identical, and the chart we’ve included in this post is ideal for all Great Danes.
Euro Danes: A Big, Droopy Problem
What Does Euro Mean in Great Danes?
Miniature Great Danes: The Pocket Size Version
Some breeders have made it their mission to promote bulkier, heavier, droopier Danes as ‘Euro’, often at the expense of the dogs orthopedic structure, eyes and overall health. ‘Euro’ is an aesthetic preference and not actually a sign that a dog is truly ‘European’ or well bred. For more information on the great ‘Euro’ vs. ‘American’ discussion, read our post below.
Great Dane Puppy Growth
Keep in mind that our Great Dane growth chart represents the ‘average’.
Your puppy may not fall exactly into the range, and that may be ok!
If your puppy has health problems (including HOD or megaesophagus), comes from smaller genetics, was the ‘runt’ of the litter, failed to thrive or had a rough start they may be on the small side.
If your puppy comes from a lineage of bigger-boned dogs with a lot of substance or is provided too much nutrition too fast, they may be on the large side.
Puppy Socialization Guide
Is My Great Dane Puppy Knuckling?
How to Prevent Knuckling in Great Dane Puppies
Is My Great Dane Puppy Too Small?
How to Fix Knuckling in Great Danes
DO PUPPIES HAVE GROWTH SPURTS?
Great Dane height and weight in adults is ultimately determined by a combination of genetics, overall health, nutrition, and care given to protect joints and allow for slow growth.
| Birth | 1-2 lbs |
| 1 Week | 2-3 lbs |
| 2 Weeks | 3-5 lbs |
| 3 Weeks | 4-7 lbs |
| 1 Month | 5-8 lbs |
| 6 Weeks | 10-20 lbs |
| 2 Months | 15-30 lbs |
| 3 Months | 25-45 lbs |
| 4 Months | 45-65 lbs |
| 5 Months | 60-85 lbs |
| 6 Months | 65 – 100 lbs |
| 7 Months | 70-110 lbs |
| 8 Months | 80-120 lbs |
| 9 Months | 85-125 lbs |
| 1 Year | 95-120 lbs |
| ADULT | |
| Female | 110-145lbs |
| Male | 135-170lbs |
The Best Great Dane Puppy Food
What you feed your Great Dane puppy will matter somewhat when it comes to how slowly or quickly they grow.
We recommend choosing one of the highly recommended grain-inclusive kibble brands below. These are all formulated correctly with correct protein, fat, calcium and phosphorus levels.
A large breed puppy formula with an AAFCO statement about being ‘formulated for the growth of large breed (70lb+) dogs is ideal. Click on any to view.
When choosing other brands, we recommend looking them up in the Pet Nutrition Alliance Database first.
- Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy – any flavor!
- Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach Large Breed puppy – TOP PICK, salmon-based
- Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy (Great for active and sporting dogs)
- Purina One Large Breed Puppy (Excellent budget option)
- Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Large Breed
- Royal Canin Giant Puppy Dry Dog food (to age 12 months) – TOP PICK, PREMIUM OPTION
- Royal Canin Giant Junior Dry Dog food (8-24 months)
- Purina Large Breed Puppy Chow
Check out THE GIANT DOG FOOD PROJECT to compare brands and values.
How to Weigh a Great Dane
None of this matters if you cannot actually weigh your Great Dane and keep track of their growth scale!
Here are some tips:
- Weigh yourself first. Then reset the scale, hold your puppy and weigh again. Subtract your weight from the weight of you + the puppy combined.
- Visit the veterinarian. Make going to the vet, stepping on the scale, seeing the vet techs and leaving super fun.
- Visit your local pet store. Petsmart and some Petco stores that have an in-house veterinarian will often let you use their scale for free! Always ask first. (NOTE: we do not recommend taking young puppies into Petsmart: get those vaccines first!).
- Ask your groomer or breeder if they have a scale you can borrow.
Use lots of treats and make the process of being weighed positive! Some puppies are afraid of the slick shiny surface. You can always teach your puppy to sit on a towel, and then put the towel onto the scale to transfer the behavior.
What Age is a Great Dane Puppy Fully Grown?
Great Dane puppies experience explosive growth for the first 8 months, after which they tend to slow down. Your puppy will likely eat less and may appear to have stopped growing.
At this point, however, they are far from done!
Great Danes will grow in height until they are nearly 2 years old. It is at this age that the growth plates will close and it is appropriate to spay or neuter.
After age 2, they will continue to fill out. Do not mistake this process for getting fat! Many Great Danes are spayed or neutered at this age and become overweight because of the sudden drop in hormones.
Filling out means:
Deeper and fuller chest
Wider and more developed hips
Maturation of the head structure
Muscle development at the shoulders, hips and thighs
Coverage that reduces the lanky puppy look
Did you know that waiting to spay or neuter until your puppy is more mature may help reduce the risk of hip dysplasia, ACL/CCL tears, some cancers and poor adult structure?
READ MORE:
Hi there! We have a seven and a half month old female Dane who we got from a reputable breeder. Her front paws are Easty/Westy but her right paw toes out more and she doesn’t seem to come all the way down on the foot pad as much as the other paw. She does not limp and appears to walk straight and does her zoomies in the yard. I switched her food to Canidae large breed three weeks ago. She was eating holistic select giant breed puppy but we found out the calcium as dry matter was 1.7%. We fear she may have grown too fast. She weighs 90 lbs and 30 inches at the shoulder. She is seeing an orthopedic vet in three weeks. We are giving her vit.C 1500 mg daily and glucosamine/msm. Calcium in the current food is 1.3% as dry matter. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Hi there! Gosh we understand your stress! Giant breed growth is one of the scariest parts of raising Danes. She sounds right on track weight and height was for a 7.5 month old female, so that’s the good news!
The calcium to phosphorus ratio matters more than the amount of calcium – you want to see that the phosphorus is behind the calcium (lower) and ideally close to a 1:1 ratio (which is near impossible to find). The Canidae large breed formula is 1.20% calcium to 1.0% Phosphorus, when I looked it up. That’s pretty average/good! Holistic Select puppy I think is 1.3% Calcium to 1.0% phosphorus, also average!
As far as the Easty-Westy, that can pop up even from reputable breeders that show their dogs, it happens. As far as one paw toeing out more, a couple ideas for you. Even the tiniest injury can cause damage to the growth plates that will change the structure or the way she walks. My big male Dane also toes out his left foot more than the right, and he too is from a solid pedigree.
When he was a puppy, he jumped on top of the crate and one of his toes got swollen for just a few days. That foot has never been perfect but most people don’t even notice – it doesn’t take much and even a simple jump off a couch could do that. Minor things like that are most often cosmetic, and one more reason to keep your pup lean, healthy and with nice tight feet and short round nails (https://www.hellodanes.com/5-ways-to-strengthen-your-great-danes-feet/).
The only other thing your orthopedic vet may want to rule out is an angular limb deformity; those are serious, worsen over time and have very little to do with nutrition. Those look pretty bad with time and can progress fast; they are from growth plate damage and typically require surgery. NOT to alarm you, it’s just one of those ‘rule this out’ type things.
Also keep in mind that at this age, your pup is in serious awkward mode! You’re going to see all kinds of nonsense that you may not see when she’s an adult. Feet may go flat for a day and come back. Growth plates may swell a bit and come down. She may go bum high and look underweight for a few weeks. Hang in there and keep us posted!!!
Question about how much to feed your Great Danes? We have 2 male Danes. 1 is 2.5 years old and the other is 1.5 years old. How much food should we be feeding them. I see anywhere from 5.5 cups a day to 10 cups.
Hi Sara! GREAT question, we will definitely add that as a blog post topic. Typically, the feeding chart on the bag of kibble is just a guideline. It’s a great place to start, but some dogs are more active or have slower metabolisms. Some kibbles also have more calories and nutrition per cup than others, making it even more complicated!
We recommend watching body condition more than anything else: too thin? Add food. Too big? Reduce. We like to see a defined waist, a tuck at the abdomen, and good muscle development from running and playing freely on soft, varied terrain.
Many people will do a loose ‘free feeding’ schedule as well, instead of measuring cups. This works well for dogs that don’t scarf food or have problems with resource guarding. Add a few cups morning and evening and encourage grazing and slow eating (which can reduce bloat risk). If they leave a lot in the bowl, that’s a sign you can cut them back a bit.
I hope this helps! We know it sometimes feels like ‘flying blind’ with concern that you aren’t offering enough, but a hungry dog will also let you know! They may stand by the food bowl or bag, or willingly eat a small cup of food when offered to them. Good feeding is 80% intuition, 20% science! Hope that helps!