Wait! Don’t change the channel!! -Diego
COVID-19 update:
Goodness, this year been a wild one so far! Just like a Great Dane, COVID-19 has impacted us all in one way or another.
With the start of COVID-19, we experienced such a massive influx of adoption applications that we needed to emergency-train at least 10 more volunteers to help bare the load. At one point we had over 25 applications waiting in queue to just begin processing the application!!
Something else we experienced during the duration of COVID-19 was few surrender forms that have came through, which is great! Our ultimate goal is to find the best solution for every Dane that comes to us, and sometimes that means staying with their original families and helping them navigate whatever concerns they may have (behavioral, medical, finding housing that allows Great Danes, etc). With fewer dogs coming to us for surrender, we therefore have fewer dogs available for adoption. Again, this is a good thing, and a wonderful ‘problem’ any rescue can have.
Our fantastic volunteers work endlessly to keep our rescue functioning on a daily basis. We have hundreds of volunteers that help us with anything from processing applications to social media to scouring craigslist and shelters for Danes needing to be rescued, and everything in between. Without our volunteers making time to help the Great Danes (outside of their jobs, family, and personal lives), we would not have a rescue at all. Most of our volunteers work full time or more, own their own businesses, go to school full time, and have foster dogs of their own. Yet, despite their busy lives, their passion to help the Great Danes in our care pushes through. So thank you to all of our phenomenal volunteers in everything that you selflessly give the Danes in our care, and the future ones to come!
As mentioned above, with a higher number of adoption applications and a lower intake of Danes needing our rescue, we have not had many Great Danes available for adoption. At this moment, we have over 150 approved homes to adopt to!! Wow!! As you can imagine, keeping in constant contact with all 150+ homes would be more than a part time job.
We have heard our adopters’ cries! You want to adopt and give a deserving Great Dane a loving home! You are eager and excited, and we truly love and appreciate that. So please here our cries: we want to adopt to you too! However, we can only adopt out what we can rescue.
As a rescue, we do not get perfect Danes that love all dogs, cats, children of all ages, do not have separation anxiety, are free of all medical conditions, or would be a perfect fit for those who do not have giant breed experience. We wish every dog we take in is a ‘plug and play’ Dane, but that is not a reality in the rescue world. Our owner surrenders do not surrender Danes to us because they are perfect. Most of our dogs come with baggage to some degree, as most of us, as humans, do. So please keep that in mind when coming to a rescue – most of these dogs need specific situations and we do not place dogs in a home that we feel they will not thrive. Please be open and willing to take in dogs with behavioral and/or medical issues or concerns; they deserve a wonderful home that I’m sure our approved homes can provide, if they are willing. Our adoption process is lengthy, but we have had a huge success with our process of placing all of our Danes, and our nearly-perfect return rate shows that. Please trust our adoption and placement processes, because they work.
To our wonderful approved homes: please give us patience and understanding during the weird times we are all experiencing, and beyond. If you’re feeling anxious or want to know more about your approved application or a specific dog, please please please email our Placements Coordinator. Please also check your emails and spam boxes regularly- sometimes our emails end up in junk folders. There are 150+ approved homes, but only one Placements Coordinator (and boy, she is busy!!), so any help she can get would be immensely appreciated.
To all: If you’re open and willing to foster, please let us know. It is an easy transition for already approved families. We would love to have you. If you want to join a wonderful team of volunteers, we would love to have you as well. Please message us if you have any questions, we are happy to help wherever we can.
Thank you to each and every one of you for your continued support. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to save Great Danes and Great Dane mixes.