Java Danes

Welcome to Java Danes. Home of the recessive color gene in Great Danes. Fawn, Blue, lilac and Chocolate danes are all recessive genes. These are purbred Great Dane. 

If you think you have a Chocolate or Lilac great dane the 1st thing to look for is the brown/chocolate nose! If your dane does not have a chocolate nose it probably dose not carry the chocolate gene unless it is from chocolate parents. Though there are rare cases of both parents carrying the chocolate gene and throwing chocolate puppies even though they may be generations color pure, there is always a chance you puppy may carry chocolate and the best way to find out is to breed your puppy to a chocolate and see what happens. They also offer a DNA test for the chocolate gene but we are unsure how accurate it may be.

(Please NOTE: I will only breed my Chocolates to other Chocolates, or to known chocolate carriers. I will not be entering into experiments mixing colors just to see what we get. I will only breed knowing the pedigree and colors I will produce.)

Want a puppy like Scoob Doo? Sorry. It is not possible to create Scooby Doo's Chocolate Color with Black spots. Due to the Genetics you cant have a great dane with both chocolate and black. Since chocolate is a Dilute of black the chocolate will show and the black will not.

We have a small breeding program in the USA. Shipping world wide is available. 

IMPORTANT: color pure/champion bloodlined/show dogs never cross with our pet/recessive color lines. We breed the chocolate and dilute lines because of our love for the breed and we happen to love this particular shade on the breed. 

All health, confirmation and temperaments are considered and verified before breeding any of our Great Danes.

If your searching for a Chocolate, Lilac, Blue, or any combination of these recessive colors... you're in the right place.  They may not be a Rare Color but are not common colors seen in your every day Dane.

HATE MESSAGES AND MAIL HAVE CAUSED THE SITE TO BE UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN ORDER TO PROTECT MY CUSTOMERS FROM HATE MAIL. I WILL CONTINUE MY CHOCOLATE BREEDING PROGRAM NOW AND FOREVER. GDCA RECOGNIZES THE CHOCOLATE COLOR IS AROUND AND AKC ACCEPTS IT AS A REGISTERED COLOR. YOU CAN DO AGILITY, OBEDIENCE, RALLY ETC WITH YOUR CHOCOLATE DANE, JUST SIMPLY CANNOT SHOW IN CONFORMATION.

By Jane Chopson

Revised September, 1992

The Chocolate Great Dane has been observed to exist for at least 25 years. These dogs are not from only strange "hodge-podge" breedings, but are often from well-known lines. There are instances of excellent and frequently used stud dogs producing these colors. Since all too often the Chocolate is blamed on mixed-color breeding, inbreeding, or inter-breed crosses, it seems appropriate to look into the genetics of this color for the correct explanation.

The chocolate or liver gene is found in quite a few breeds; e.g., the liver Dalmatian, chocolate Poodle, the Vizsla and the liver Shorthair, to name a few. All these breeds carry the genes, although the resulting shades of red or liver vary with the different breeds.

Alternate forms of a gene, which occupy the same site on a chromosome, are known as "alleles" and are said to be members of an allelic series. An animal possesses two genes in each allelic series, one on each member of a chromosome pair. These genes may be dominant or recessive. There are two genes in the B (liver, chocolate, brown) series. The dominant member, designated B, allows the expression of full pigmentation. The recessive gene, designated b, when it occurs in duplicate, changes black pigment to liver or chocolate. A dog may have three possible combinations of genes in the B series: either BB, Bb, or bb. He must always have two genes of this pair. If a dog has two genes which are the same (BB or bb) he is said to be pure (homozygous) for the trait. If he has two different genes (Bb) he is hybrid (heterozygous) for the trait. For a recessive gene to manifest itself, the animal must be pure for that recessive gene. Hence, if an animal is Bb, he will not be chocolate because to be a chocolate a dog must be bb. BB and Bb dogs appear to be the same outwardly. A true chocolate dog, bb, has chocolate nose and leather pigment. Hence, if a dog has a chocolate coat but a black nose, it cannot be a bb dog but must derive its color from other genes. For example, the extreme recessive in the E allelic series is e. Two of these genes acting on an otherwise black dog produce the Irish Setter. He cannot be a chocolate because he has a black nose. The only time a true chocolate could have other than a chocolate nose would be in the case of a chocolate harlequin where the nose might be pink. A chocolate nose might be further lightened by the presence of dilution genes (dd). As stated earlier, bb changes an otherwise black dog to chocolate, liver or reddish brown. "A^sA^s bb CC DD EE mm SS" would be an example of the genotype for such an animal. An otherwise normal masked fawn possessing two chocolate recessives would become "a^ya^y bb CC DD E^mE^m mm SS" and would appear to be peach or apricot in color with a chocolate mask and nose leather. An otherwise normal brindle, "a^ya^y bb CC DD E^me^br mm SS", will have chocolate stripes on a lighter background and a chocolate mask and nose. If an otherwise blue dog is bb, his genetic formula becomes "A^sA^s bb CC dd EE mm SS" and he will be a dilute chocolate. Finally, a pure harlequin with bb would become "A^sA^s bb CC DD EE Mm ss" and he would be a chocolate spotted harlequin. It should be noted that there are many more possible gene combination which would produce chocolate dogs but all must possess "bb".

Since a dog may be an acceptable color and still carry a recessive for chocolate (Bb), it is possible for two non-chocolate dogs to produce chocolate offspring. Each parent contributes one gene in each series to each puppy. A chocolate puppy is produced when each parent carries a chocolate gene and contributes a chocolate gene to the same puppy. If a dog is Bb, there is a 50:50 chance that he will pass on the chocolate gene to a particular puppy. If a dog is bb, then there is 100 percent chance that he will pass on a chocolate gene to all of his puppies. If a dog is BB, he cannot pass on the gene since he does not possess one. Two non-chocolate dogs which are hybrids (Bb – non-chocolates which carry a recessive chocolate gene) when mated could produce chocolate (bb) puppies.

Here are pictures of a Chocolate Brindle with a Chocolate Nose Shown in 1971 in a Dane  Magazine! She was eventual disqualified for not having the Black nose required for a brindle. At least someone had the guts to truly show what was a beautiful dog.