Why Do Great Danes Sit Like Humans?

Some Great Danes sit like dogs. Others reverse themselves onto the sofa and look ready to discuss the mortgage.

The long back, enormous chest and unusually human-looking upright posture can make a Dane sitting on furniture look almost absurdly person-like.

Why do they do it?

Anatomy makes the pose particularly noticeable

Great Danes are tall, long-limbed dogs with a deep body. When the hindquarters are supported by a sofa or chair and the front legs remain straight, the resulting posture can look remarkably like a person perched on the edge of a seat.

A smaller dog can perform a similar manoeuvre without creating quite the same visual effect.

Furniture changes how dogs arrange themselves

Soft surfaces offer support in places a floor does not. A Dane may sit partly on a sofa, lean a hip against furniture or back up until the rear end finds something comfortable.

Once a position is comfortable and repeatedly available, it can become habitual.

Humans reinforce the funny poses

The first time a Great Dane sits upright beside somebody, everybody tends to react.

There is laughter, attention, photographs and often affection. From the dog's perspective, the strange sitting position has just produced an excellent social outcome.

Repetition is hardly surprising.

It is not evidence that the dog believes it is human

We naturally interpret animal behaviour through a human lens, especially when the pose resembles our own.

But a dog sitting on a sofa does not need a species-identity crisis. Comfort, proximity and learned habit explain the behaviour perfectly well.

Check comfort if the behaviour changes

A Dane that has always perched strangely is one thing. A sudden reluctance to sit or lie normally, stiffness or signs of discomfort are different and deserve individual attention.

Breed humour should never be used to explain away a genuine change in movement.

Why does the Great Dane version become a meme?

Because scale creates comedy.

A giant dog sitting upright beside a human makes the furniture look democratic: two residents, both apparently entitled to a cushion.

The only difference is that one of them has four legs and somehow still manages to take up more room.