'Doo' tell: The big deal about Great Danes

The kids love Scooby-Doo, and now they want a real Scooby all their own. Collar the compulsion to rush out and buy them a Great Dane, experts say; it may not be a great pet for you.

By THOMAS ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 15, 2002

The response could be purely Pavlovian.

See movie.

Buy dog.

On Friday, Scooby-Doo, yet another film based on a classic TV show, opened in theaters. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And if you lose a bet, you might even have to sit through it.

Putting aside the quality of the movie and the relative merits of making a film based on a Saturday morning cartoon (see Flintstones, The), there could be a dark side to this inane little footnote in American cinema.

The last time a major movie was made about a specific breed of dog was 101 Dalmatians (1996). Duly inspired, people in large numbers bought Dalmatians. Unfortunately, people in large numbers also returned said Dalmatians or tried to give them away a few weeks later. Families either weren't ready for a dog, or weren't ready for a Dalmatian, a breed that looks great as a fire engine accessory, but doesn't always make an ideal pet.

When Air Bud aired in 1997, pet breeders saw a similar, albeit smaller, run on golden retrievers.

And now, Great Danes, it's your turn as dog du jour. Beware the Scooby doofus.

"We're in a panic," said Elisa Law, who runs Orlando-based Central Florida Great Dane Rescue Inc. (www.CFGDR.org.) "If we see the same thing we saw after 101 Dalmatians . . . a major demand for puppies, people coming out of the woodwork to make money breeding them, we're in trouble."

Law, who takes in about 80 Great Danes a year, including many from the Tampa Bay area, has to turn down at least that many. With limited funds and space, she just can't care for any more.

"I don't want to be mean," she said, "but the bottom line is that there aren't enough good homes for all the Great Danes as it is. So the last thing I want is more.

"I remember my husband saying after 101 Dalmatians that if they make a Great Dane movie, we're quitting."

Don't blame the dogs when things go wrong. Most of Law's Great Danes are put up for adoption because people buy a dog without doing their homework and find they can't handle it. They don't realize how big the dogs can get.

"We just had a puppy here who was about 30 pounds at eight weeks," she said. "At six months, they can weigh 80-100 pounds. And when they're young, they're highly active. They knock over furniture, kids . . . those first couple of years can be tough.

"They're not Marmaduke.

"Truthfully," she added, "most people can't handle this dog. Not from a puppy on. What we recommend is that if you've never had a Dane, start out with a calm adult. Just because they need so much work."

Great Dane rescue groups aren't the only ones nervous about Scooby-Doo.

"We had lots of concern with Warner Bros. from the beginning," said Martha Armstrong, vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. "But we found them to be very understanding. They tried to minimize the Great Dane qualities of Scooby-Doo, and they had a Great Dane rescue group at the premier last week."

And giving Scooby-Doo the ability to talk (sort of) also makes him less Great Danish.

But, Armstrong added, Elisa Law's fears are not unfounded.

"Let's face it," Armstrong said, "these movies are geared toward kids, and there's a lot of pressure on parents. And the pet industry is quite savvy at marketing. They know months in advance if this movie is coming out with this breed in it. Then they crank out the number of breeding bitches, and it's, 'Get your own Scooby-Doo.'

"It just puts an enormous amount of pressure on parents.

"But hopefully, they'll use some sense here."

But Law has already fielded calls from parents wanting Great Danes. "One woman said her 3-year-old son wanted a Great Dane that looked just like Scooby-Doo," Law said. "And can they get one with brown spots?

"I tried to explain what these dogs are like, but she said she was going to get one anyway."

Law planned to be outside a theater with several Great Danes when the movie opened in Orlando on Friday, answering questions and handing out literature. She insisted it wouldn't be a protest.

"It's . . . uh . . . an educational event," Law said Monday. "We're going to bring some of our younger (dogs) so people will see what they can be like and maybe not be swayed not to make an impulse buy.

"You know," she added, "people find dogs so disposable anymore."

Great Danes -- what you may not know

They are notorious droolers. Don't be surprised by buckets of the stuff.

They are also leaners. Because they're so affectionate, Great Danes like to lean on you, which can cause balance problems for the leanee.

They eat about 10-12 cups of food a day. And at $15 for a 20-pound bag of dog food . . .

They are a giant breed, which means adult males typically stand 35 inches at the shoulder and weigh 150-160 pounds. A simple formula to remember is that one adult male Great Dane equals seven Calista Flockharts.

The phrase "traveling with a Great Dane" is an oxymoron.

They aren't from Denmark. No one knows where the "Dane" comes from. They were developed in Germany at least 400 years ago, and their proper name is the Deutsche Dogge or German Mastiff. The dog may be a descendant of the English Mastiff, the Irish Wolfhound, or both.

Most owners agree on this: Great Danes are friendly, dependable, sensitive, graceful, easily trained, and make great indoor pets.

Like most giant breeds, they have a shorter life span than smaller dogs -- eight years is about average.

They are called the "Apollo of dogs" because of their sleek, athletic appearance and their courage. They were originally bred to hunt wild boar, guard castles, pull carts and help soldiers fight battles.

Scooby-Doo they ain't.

And a word or two about Scooby-Doo

Scooby-Doo first aired on CBS in the fall of 1969, and was modeled partly on The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis, an early 1960s TV show about a scatter-brained teenager and his friends.

The dog's name came from the last line in Frank Sinatra's classic song Strangers in the Night. (Cue violins) "Dooby-dooby-doo. Da-da-da-dee-da ... " CBS executive Fred Silverman came up with the idea while listening to the song on a red-eye flight to Los Angeles.

The late Don Messick was the voice of Scooby-Doo, Casey (America's Top 40) Kasem the voice of Shaggy. David Coulier, who played Uncle Joey on Full House, also did voice work for the show.

The first Scooby movie, which was entirely animated, appeared in 1982 and was seen by approximately 842 people.

"He's not the perfect dog," Messick once said in an interview. "In fact, you might say he's a coward. Yet with everything he does, he seems to land on his four feet."

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