Skip to Content
The Puppy Mag is an Amazon associate and earns a commission for qualifying purchases. Affiliate Disclosure

When Do Great Danes Calm Down: 6 Tips For Hyper Danes

If you’re wondering when your Great Dane will finally calm down, you aren’t alone! Who would have thought such huge lumps of physical mass could be so energetic?

This article explains what age Great Danes calm down, with additional tips to help along the way.

when do great danes calm down

When Do Great Danes Calm Down?

Great Danes typically calm down between 2-3 years of age. Most owners say that 2 years old is the key moment when Great Danes start to calm down, but for some, it’s longer.

This falls in line with the fact that Great Danes are still considered to be puppies until around 2 years of age.

Despite already being huge by this point, they are still somewhat mentally immature, as any puppy is. This explains most hyper, playful, and goofy behavior.

Important Note: Simply waiting for your Dane to calm down with age might leave you waiting longer than you really need. With additional effort on your part, you’ll be able to encourage your Great Dane to be calmer, sooner.

6 Ways To Help Calm Down a Great Dane

Let’s run through some of the most recommended tips and best practices that other Great Dane owners have suggested.

Some of the following you might already know, but with each one, I’ll explain how it will help specifically with calming down your GD.

1. Give The Correct Amount of Exercise

Exercise has to be first on the list, but please don’t skip it! it’s crucial you are giving the correct amount.

Great Danes need around 60 minutes of dedicated exercise per day up until 2 years old. There’s a delicate balance between providing as much exercise as you can, without overstressing their growing joints and bones.

Some owners assume that physical exercise is the be-all and end-all to hyperactivity. Not only is this actually incorrect, but if you suddenly start giving your GD puppy 2 hours plus of exercise per day, you could seriously impact his joint and bone health from a young age which could affect him for the rest of his life.

As I will cover next, mental stimulation (exercise) is just as important, if not more important than physical exercise for reducing hyper behavior.

2. Provide Sufficient Mental Stimulation

Mental stimulation (mental exercise) is the counterpart to physical exercise and is perhaps the most reliable path to a calmer Great Dane.

Things like basic command training, socialization with other dogs, playing puzzle games that encourage your GD to think, all act as excellent forms of mental stimulation. Pretty much anything that encourages your GD to think or actively solve a problem is considered mental stimulation.

It’s absolutely crucial that you facilitate some form of mental stimulation activity every single day. 1-2 hours is a great start.

Without this, his mind will never be tired, and regardless of how much physical activity he does, if his mind is never tired, he’ll be zooming around again after a 5-minute nap from his walk.

This is usually one of the most overlooked aspects of calming down dogs in general. If you could just do one thing from this list it should be to increase mental stimulation.


Psst! While we discuss training… So many owners are praising Brain Training For Dogs we’ve got to mention it. Owners are reporting improved obedience and behavior quicker than anything else they’ve tried. We highly recommend checking it out.


3. Tackle Some of His Energy First Thing

This is more of a preventative step to hyperactivity, and that’s to prioritize his needs every day.

This means walking him first thing in the morning… getting some form of mental stimulation in as well, even if it’s just 15 minutes of practicing basic commands…

By seeing to your Great Dane’s need first thing, you will start every day off on the right foot. Every morning he’ll be full of energy and just waiting to burst, so it’s very important that some of the energy is handled early on.

The last thing your GD wants is to wake up, and then have to wait many hours for some kind of interaction with you, exercise, or playtime… He needs an outlet early on to prevent pent up energy and frustration.

The more you can give straight away the better, but this certainly doesn’t mean he’s done for the day! He’ll need additional physical exercise, interaction, playtime, and mental stimulation later on too.

4. Creating a Calm Environment

The calmer you can make his environment, the better.

Dogs in general, especially Great Danes are very sensitive to their surroundings. There are many things that can unnerve them from loud sounds, unusual smells, and the general “mood” of their immediate environment.

Some things, like smells in the neighborhood, unfortunately, can’t be controlled… But there are some that you can, like keeping your home as quiet as possible and giving off a calm demeanor yourself.

If certain household members are always rushing around, being loud, or are just generally frantic, it can be very unsettling and cause your GD to be hyper through nerves.

5. Establish Daily Routines

Routines are massive for any dog. One sure-fire way to confuse a dog and cause nervous energy is to have no clear daily routine.

Creating schedules and routines for when he eats, plays, exercises, trains, and has downtime sounds insignificant, but it’s one of the most powerful tips you can take away from this article.

Once your Great Dane knows exactly when he’s going to get his exercise and playtime, he’ll be much more inclined to remain calm, until that moment comes. But like I said, he must know exactly when this is. And that comes with consistency on your part.

If he always receives his attention, exercise, and playtime at different times throughout the day, he’ll go through many ups and downs of getting excited for nothing, just because yesterday you did it differently…

This also works for creating periods of rest and downtime. You can make it a part of your daily routine that every evening, your Dane gets a long soothing belly rub on the couch. He will come to LOVE this, and if you do it every day, you’ve instantly established a moment where he’s guaranteed to be calm.

Routines can really help to calm down your Great Dane.

6. Embrace The Craziness

Last, but certainly not least, is to just accept and embrace his natural craziness and energy!

I’ve spoken to many Great Dane owners ahead of writing this article, and many of them mentioned that the quickest way to get over their hyper behavior, is to “kind of just accept it”, as one owner said while laughing.

Another owner went as far as saying to “cherish it because the day will come where you are reminiscing on when he had all of his crazy energy… it will go sooner than you realize.”

Great Danes have a certain buzz and happy-go-lucky nature about them, and, well, that’s just part of what makes them so amazing!

In the grand scheme of things, 2 years isn’t a long time, and the time will pass by quicker than you know.

Trending Great Dane Articles:
When Do Great Danes Stop Teething? Top Teething Tips For Danes
My Great Dane Isn’t Eating! 5 Reasons Why & What To Do

Do You Have a Hyper Great Dane?

Let me know what your thoughts are on this, and if you currently have a hyper Great Dane that won’t calm down, send me a message!

Let me know what kind of quirky behavior your Dane gets up to, send photos, and if I get enough responses, I will be able to include an additional section here in this article to help future owners!


Thank you for reading!



Disclaimer

Before making any decisions that could affect the health and/or safety of your dog, you should always consult a trained veterinarian in your local area. Even though this content may have been written/reviewed by a trained veterinarian, our advice to you is to always consult your own local veterinarian in person. Please read our full dislcaimer if you have any questions.