Mantle Great Danes

Mantle Great Danes have a black and white coat pattern that is both striking and regal.

The Great Dane Club of American (GDCA) recognizes two Mantle patterns: the traditional Mantle and the Merle Mantle.

Today we are going to share photos of Mantle and Mantle Merle Great Danes!

MANTLE GREAT DANES

Below is an example of the traditional black and white Mantle pattern.

This dog has a black coat with white markings on the chest, neck, muzzle, underparts, and legs.

The GDCA standard describes the ideal Mantle as follows:

Color – Black and white with a black blanket extending over the body.

Patterns and Markings – Black skull with white muzzle; white blaze is optional; whole or partial white neck; a white chest; white on whole or part of the forelegs and hind legs; white-tipped black tail. A small white break in the blanket is acceptable. Black pigment may be seen on the skin of the white areas.

MANTLE GREAT DANE MARKINGS

MANTLE MERLE GREAT DANES

There is also a merle variety of Mantle Great Dane, which has a marbled or mottled coat with patches of black, gray, and white. The GDCA standard describes the ideal Merle as follows:

Color – A pale gray to dark gray merle base color with black torn patches within.

Patterns and Markings – May be a Solid Merle (white on chest and toes permissible) or a Merle with a Mantle Pattern ( solid merle blanket extending over the body; merle skull with a white muzzle; white blaze is optional; whole or partial white neck; a white chest; white on whole or part of the forelegs and hind legs; white tipped merle tail. A small break in the blanket is acceptable.

Black pigment may be seen on the skin in the white areas.

Many people think of merle Great Danes as having a solid coat, but the mantle coat pattern is considered ideal.

Note: a merle or a mantle merle dog is not the same as a ‘Merlequin’. Merlequin Great Danes are the result of spot-to-spot breedings and are genetically a double-merle dog.
A ‘Merlequin’ Great Dane will have a Harlequin coat pattern, but instead of torn black patches all of the patches will be merle.

MANTLE MERLE COAT PATTERN

MANTLE AND MANTLE MERLE GREAT DANES

We ADORE this image of a mantle and mantle merle Great Danes from @altitudegreatdanes in Utah. They have some of the first Champion merle Great Danes and we love seeing their gorgeous dogs!

OTHER MANTLE COAT PATTERNS

A show-marked Harlequin Great Dane is very similar to a mantle, only with torn black patches (spots), instead of the solid black. They will have a white chest, white feet and white-collar, just like a mantle!

Some breeders breed for unusual off-standard colors such as brindle mantle, blue mantle and fawn mantle. These are considered ‘off-standard’ colors and not accepted by the Great Dane Club of America.

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