Famous Blue Great Danes: Giant George, Maverick and the Charm of the Steel-Blue Giant

There is something rather extraordinary about a Blue Great Dane.

Perhaps it is the contrast. They have the imposing height, enormous paws and unmistakable silhouette of a Great Dane, yet that soft steel-grey coat can make them look almost elegant. At least until they attempt to sit on your lap, steal your place on the sofa or gallop through the house with absolutely no appreciation of their own dimensions.

We are perhaps a little biased. Our own Great Dane, Angus, is blue, and life with her has confirmed something Great Dane people already know: it is perfectly possible for a dog to look magnificent and completely ridiculous within the same five minutes.

But Blue Great Danes have also produced some genuinely remarkable dogs.

Why are Blue Great Danes called blue?

First, the obvious question: they are grey, aren't they?

The Great Dane breed standard describes the colour as steel blue. The blue colouring is caused by dilution of dark pigment, producing the distinctive slate, charcoal and blue-grey shades we associate with Blue Danes.

Lighting makes an enormous difference. A Blue Dane can look deep charcoal indoors, soft silver-grey on a cloudy morning and surprisingly blue when the light catches the coat.

It is one of the reasons people who own blue dogs tend to be rather particular about things depicting them. A Blue Great Dane isn't simply a black Great Dane coloured grey.

Giant George: the Blue Great Dane who became a world record holder

Perhaps the most famous Blue Great Dane of all was Giant George, from Tucson, Arizona.

George weighed around 245 lb and was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest dog. He measured an astonishing 43 inches — 1.09 metres — at the shoulder. The American Kennel Club also identifies George as a Blue Great Dane.

Rather wonderfully, enormous George did not apparently see himself as particularly formidable. Accounts of his life describe a gentle character who enjoyed the comforts of home and, when travelling for one of his television appearances, was given a row of airline seats to accommodate his extraordinary size.

There is something wonderfully Great Dane about that: become internationally famous for being enormous, while at home still expecting the comforts to which you have become accustomed.

Maverick: a very different kind of Blue Great Dane hero

Then there is Maverick.

Maverick is a 150 lb European Blue Great Dane who works as a therapy dog with the USO in Missouri. In 2023 he was named the American Humane Hero Dog, chosen after hundreds of dogs were nominated across the United States.

His size is impressive, but that isn't what made him exceptional.

Maverick has spent years offering comfort and companionship to military personnel and their families, instinctively seeking out people who are having particularly difficult or emotional days. His handler describes his remarkable ability to recognise when somebody needs him and simply stay close.

For a breed sometimes noticed first because of its sheer scale, Maverick is a lovely reminder of the gentleness that so many Great Dane owners recognise immediately.

A 150 lb dog can take up an extraordinary amount of room. Sometimes that is exactly what somebody needs.

And then there are those Blue Great Dane puppy eyes…

Before Angus grew into the enormous blue-grey creature who now shares our lives, she was a Blue Great Dane puppy with the most beautiful blue eyes.

They didn't stay that way.

Her eye colour darkened as she matured, while the breed standard allows somewhat lighter eyes in adult Blue Great Danes. Looking back at photographs of Angus as a puppy, those blue eyes are one of the details that is surprisingly easy to forget once your tiny blue puppy has somehow transformed into a dog capable of looking you directly in the eye while standing on all four feet.

It is perhaps one of the loveliest parts of living with a dog: knowing all the versions of them that existed before the one sitting beside you today.

Are Blue Great Danes really the comedians of the Great Dane world?

Ask this question in a room full of Great Dane owners and you are unlikely to obtain a scientifically rigorous answer.

You may, however, start quite a conversation.

There is a certain amount of Great Dane folklore surrounding the different colours, and Blue Dane owners sometimes describe theirs as particularly goofy, sensitive, expressive and ever so slightly dramatic.

There is no established evidence that the gene responsible for a blue coat also creates a particular temperament. Individual personality is far more complicated than coat colour.

But folklore doesn't have to be science to be entertaining.

And having lived with Angus, we aren't entirely prepared to dismiss the Blue Great Dane = enormous theatrical clown theory either.

Why we love Blue Great Danes

The colour may be what you notice first.

The great steel-grey body. The huge head. The long legs. That rather aristocratic profile.

But anyone who has loved a Great Dane knows that isn't really why they become unforgettable.

It's the leaning. The expressions. The complete conviction that they are lap dogs. The ability to occupy an entire sofa while somehow looking offended that you would like six inches of it back. The enormous dignity followed, seconds later, by something spectacularly undignified.

Giant George became famous because of his extraordinary size. Maverick became celebrated because of his extraordinary capacity for comforting people.

For those of us who love them, that combination of enormous presence, gentle character and complete absurdity is rather difficult to resist.

If you share your life with one of these steel-grey giants, explore our Blue Great Dane Gifts collection, created for the people who understand exactly why a Blue Dane is so difficult to forget.