English Mastiff vs Great Dane comes down to shape. The Mastiff is built broad and deep, with a square head; the Great Dane is tall and elegant, and its Royal Kennel Club standard sets a minimum height of 76cm for males. In UK vet records, Danes were also the heavier breed. Mastiffs need up to an hour’s exercise a day, Danes more than two.
No breed on the Royal Kennel Club’s list is called the English Mastiff: the breed people search for under that name is simply the Mastiff, so we use that name from here on. We haven’t owned either breed, so this comparison draws on the Royal Kennel Club breed standards, Dogs Trust’s UK longevity study, PDSA’s breed guides and RVC VetCompass data.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
English Mastiff vs Great Dane at a glance
| Feature | Mastiff | Great Dane |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Kennel Club group | Working | Working |
| RKC size category | Large | Extra large |
| Height (breed standard) | Not given in the breed standard | Minimum over 18 months: males 76cm, females 71cm |
| Weight (breed standard) | Not given in the breed standard | Minimum over 18 months: males 54kg, females 46kg |
| Adult weight in UK vet records | Median: males 52.3kg, females 45.5kg | Median: males 64.9kg, females 56.0kg |
| Head | Square, with a short, broad, blunt muzzle | Long, of equal breadth throughout |
| Ears | Small and thin, lying flat to the cheeks | Triangular, set high and folded forward |
| Colours | Apricot, fawn or brindle, with a black muzzle, ears and nose | Brindle, fawn, blue, black, mantle or harlequin |
| Coat | Short and close-lying | Short, dense and sleek |
| Exercise (RKC) | Up to 1 hour a day | More than 2 hours a day |
| Grooming (RKC) | Once a week | Once a week |
| Breed Watch (RKC) | Category 3 | Category 2 |
| UK median lifespan | 9.0 years | 10.6 years |
| UK legal status | Not a banned type | Not a banned type |
Sources: the Royal Kennel Club breed standards and breed pages, Dogs Trust’s 2024 UK longevity study and RVC VetCompass vet records from 2019 (published 2026). Breed standards describe the ideal dog; individual dogs can be larger or smaller.
How to tell a Mastiff from a Great Dane
Side by side, the two breeds are easy to tell apart. Four features do most of the work: the head, the ears, the coat colour and the build.
Head and ears
The quickest tell is the head. The Royal Kennel Club standard wants the Mastiff’s head to look square from any angle, with a short, broad muzzle that is “blunt and cut off squarely”. The Great Dane’s head should give “the idea of great length and strength of jaw”, and look the same width throughout when seen from above and from the front.
The ears differ too. A Mastiff’s are small and thin, set wide apart and lying flat against the cheeks at rest. A Great Dane’s are triangular, medium-sized, set high and folded forward. Both standards describe natural ears.
Coat colours
The Mastiff comes in three colours: apricot, fawn or brindle. Whatever the colour, its standard asks for a black muzzle, ears and nose, with black around the eye rims.
The Great Dane’s standard lists six colours: brindle, fawn, blue, black, mantle (black and white, with a solid black blanket over the body) and harlequin (a pure white base with black or blue patches that look torn). It accepts no other colours, so merle isn’t one of them.
Size and build
Here the two standards take different approaches. The Great Dane’s sets minimums: over 18 months, males should stand at least 76cm and weigh at least 54kg, and females at least 71cm and 46kg. The Mastiff’s gives no height or weight at all. It says size is desirable “only if combined with quality and if absolute soundness is maintained”.
Build tells them apart as well. The Mastiff’s standard describes a broad, deep, long body on legs set wide apart. The Great Dane’s calls for “elegance of outline and grace of form”, with a deep chest reaching the elbows and the belly well drawn up.
UK vet records hold a surprise for anyone who assumes the Mastiff is the heavier breed. In an RVC VetCompass study of dogs under UK vet care in 2019, the median adult weight was 52.3kg for male Mastiffs and 45.5kg for females, against 64.9kg and 56.0kg for Great Danes.
Two features don’t help. Both standards describe a short coat and a tapering tail that reaches to about the hocks, so neither is a reliable way to tell the breeds apart.
Old English Mastiff, English Mastiff or Bullmastiff?
The Royal Kennel Club says the Mastiff was once known as the Old English Mastiff. None of the breeds on its list is called the English Mastiff, so that name, the one most people search for, points to the Mastiff too.
The Bullmastiff is a separate breed with its own standard. The Royal Kennel Club’s breed page says it was developed in the 19th century to help gamekeepers deter poachers, from the Bulldog and the Old English Mastiff. Because it’s a different breed, we don’t compare its figures here.
Where each breed comes from
The Mastiff
The Royal Kennel Club says Mastiff-type dogs have been present in Britain “since ancient times”. The breed was later used as a guard dog, a gamekeeper’s dog and a hunter of wolves, and for bear and bull baiting. It was also used in fighting pits until they were outlawed in 1835.
By the end of the Second World War, the RKC records, only one female Mastiff, Nydia of Frithend, was left in Britain. Mastiffs bred in North America helped to revive the breed after the war, and the RKC still lists it as a vulnerable native breed.
The Great Dane
Despite the name, the Royal Kennel Club says the breed’s origins lie in Germany, where its ancestors were heavier dogs that hunted wild boar in packs. Today’s Great Dane is taller and more elegant, and the RKC notes that it has been described as “the Apollo of dogs”.
Temperament: what the breed standards and PDSA say
The two standards describe quite different characters. The Mastiff’s asks for a dog that is “calm, affectionate to owners, but capable of guarding”, usually indifferent with strangers and never timid. The Great Dane’s is shorter: “kindly without nervousness, friendly and outgoing”.
PDSA calls Mastiffs gentle giants: calm, good-natured dogs that tend to get on well with everyone, with early socialisation important. It describes Great Danes as forming strong attachments to their families and as sensitive dogs that may not adapt well to new situations, so they shouldn’t be left alone for more than four hours.
PDSA also notes that Great Danes have a fairly strong prey drive, so they shouldn’t be left unsupervised with smaller pets. The Royal Kennel Club calls the Great Dane a wonderful family dog. No UK study compares how the two breeds behave, so we don’t rank them.
Exercise, home and grooming
Exercise is where daily life differs most. The Royal Kennel Club gives the Mastiff up to an hour a day and the Great Dane more than two hours. PDSA says adult Mastiffs need around an hour, and Great Danes a minimum of two hours, spread across the day. Dogs Trust describes Great Danes as high-energy dogs that also benefit from daily enrichment.
Go carefully with puppies of either breed. PDSA warns that too much exercise while they’re young can harm their developing bones and joints. Our large breed puppy food guide looks at feeding during that growth phase.
Both breeds need space: the RKC lists a large house and a large garden for each. A dog this size also needs a bed it can stretch out on, and our guide to the best dog beds for large dogs covers sizing.
Grooming is light. The Royal Kennel Club suggests a brush about once a week for both short coats. PDSA adds that the Mastiff’s facial wrinkles need cleaning every day, and that Great Danes are known for drooling.
Lifespan and health: what UK data shows
Mastiff vs Great Dane lifespan in the UK
Dogs Trust’s 2024 UK longevity study gives the Mastiff a median lifespan of 9.0 years and the Great Dane 10.6 years. In plain terms, Great Danes in the study lived about a year and a half longer, and the gap was large enough that it’s unlikely to be chance.
A different kind of UK data suggests some caution. A 2026 RVC VetCompass study, which looked at deaths recorded by UK vets in a single year, put the Mastiff’s median age at death at about nine and a half years and the Great Dane’s at just under nine. It measures something different and counts far fewer dogs, so it doesn’t overturn the Dogs Trust figures, but the gap between the breeds shouldn’t be overstated.
Mastiff health
PDSA lists a number of conditions Mastiffs can be prone to. These include eyelid problems (entropion and ectropion) caused by excess skin around the eyes, cherry eye, gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV, where the stomach twists), dilated cardiomyopathy (a heart muscle disease) and Wobbler syndrome in the neck. The list continues with back problems, an underactive thyroid, epilepsy, some cancers including bone tumours, hip and elbow dysplasia, skin allergies and panosteitis, a painful bone inflammation.
The Royal Kennel Club places the Mastiff in Breed Watch Category 3. PDSA explains that Category 3 breeds have been highlighted for visible conditions or conformational issues, caused by exaggerations, that can lead to pain, discomfort or health problems. For the Mastiff, judges are asked to watch for eyelids that turn in or out, excessive skin on the head or body, signs of dermatitis in skin folds, dogs that are too fat, unsound movement and poor hind conformation.
For breeders, the RKC strongly recommends hip and elbow scoring through the BVA/KC schemes as a minimum, with eye testing as best practice.
Great Dane health
PDSA’s list for Great Danes includes GDV, hip and elbow dysplasia, dilated cardiomyopathy, eye problems such as in-turning or out-turning eyelids and glaucoma, Wobbler syndrome and certain cancers. It also names inherited myopathy of Great Danes (IMGD), a muscle-wasting disease that has a DNA test.
The Great Dane is in Breed Watch Category 2. Its points of concern for judges are eyelids that turn in or out, unsound movement, poor hind conformation and a nervous temperament. The RKC’s best-practice tests for breeders are the IMGD DNA test plus hip, elbow and eye testing, and the breed also has a breed club health scheme.
GDV appears on PDSA’s lists for both breeds, and it is an emergency. PDSA’s Mastiff guide says to call your vet straight away if your dog looks bloated or keeps trying to be sick without bringing anything up. For Great Danes, it advises splitting the daily food into two meals and leaving a gap between eating and exercise.
Before you buy: Ask to see both parents’ health test results. The Royal Kennel Club strongly recommends that Mastiff breeders hip and elbow score through the BVA/KC schemes as a minimum, with eye testing as best practice. For Great Danes, its best-practice list is a DNA test for inherited myopathy (IMGD) plus hip, elbow and eye testing. Ask your vet to explain what the results mean.
Which breed suits which owner
Neither breed is a small commitment, and neither one wins outright. The right choice depends on your time, your home and your household.
A Mastiff may suit someone who wants a steadier daily routine: up to an hour of exercise a day, by the RKC’s guide, and a weekly brush, plus daily cleaning of its facial folds. You’ll still need a large house and garden, and a breeder who can show you the health test results above.
A Great Dane needs more time: more than two hours of exercise a day, and company for most of the day, given PDSA’s four-hour limit on being left alone. PDSA says it wouldn’t recommend a Great Dane for homes with younger children because of the breed’s size and strength, and that Danes should always be supervised around children.
For Great Danes, Dogs Trust suggests asking your vet about a pre-purchase consultation, which can cover possible health conditions and their likely costs. If you’re weighing up other mastiff-type dogs, our Cane Corso vs Presa Canario comparison looks at two more, and our breed guides cover many other breeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Great Dane bigger than a Mastiff?
On UK data, yes. In vet records from 2019, the median adult male Great Dane weighed 64.9kg, against 52.3kg for male Mastiffs. Height is harder to compare, because the Royal Kennel Club sets a minimum of 76cm for male Danes but gives no height for the Mastiff, which is built broader and deeper.
Do Mastiffs or Great Danes live longer?
In Dogs Trust’s UK study, Great Danes lived about a year and a half longer: a median of 10.6 years against 9.0 for Mastiffs. A smaller RVC study of deaths in a single year found both breeds dying at around nine to nine and a half years, so treat the gap with some caution.
Is the Old English Mastiff a different breed?
No. The Royal Kennel Club says the Mastiff was once known as the Old English Mastiff, so it’s an earlier name for the same breed. “English Mastiff”, the name most people search for, also points to the Mastiff, because no breed on the RKC’s list carries that name.
Is a Bullmastiff the same as an English Mastiff?
No. The Bullmastiff is a separate breed with its own Royal Kennel Club standard. The RKC says it was developed in the 19th century to help gamekeepers deter poachers, from the Bulldog and the Old English Mastiff, so the Mastiff is one of its ancestors rather than the same dog.
Are Mastiffs or Great Danes better with children?
No UK study ranks them. PDSA says it wouldn’t recommend a Great Dane for homes with younger children because of the breed’s size and strength, and advises always supervising Danes around children. It describes Mastiffs as calm, good-natured dogs that tend to get on well with everyone, with early socialisation important.
