I was walking in my front yard with my Boxer mix innate when I noticed the Golden retriever on the side of the road. Luckily the dog got the bit before I could get to him. I am so glad that the dog (usteds name is III) came out of the gate a little bit faster than the 75 lb dog. I seriously thought the dog was going to be hit by a truck. Yet, the dog might if it had gone in a different direction taken by a different set of eyes. The owner of the Great Dane Rescue group brought shame to the breed and the owners. She was so upset with the incident that she posted on their Facebook page: “So this is the end of Great Dane rescue in scratching and threatening people who see fit to assist an evil deed.” She added, “We cannot possibly return him, for the safety of his people and other pets he may encounter.”
The end. I genuinely felt like the face of shame was injected into the world. shame for the breed, shame for the owners who allowed an evil deed to happen, and shame for the actions of the people who turned the good breed into monster.
So what to do now? Hopefully, this article will encourage you to never judge a book by its cover (or clip, oraniel, or whatever) but to work from the inside out. Obviously, you never want to make excuses for the behavior of others because that could create more problems in your own life. But, you should also realize that the dog changed because of you. You caused him to become what he is now – whether he’s Great or not. So, you can distill the situation:
- The Great unrelated dog
- The Great Dane Rescue Group
- The title of the article
- The sad state of the dog at the time
- You prevent the dogs pain and suffering
- Steps you take to be a better Great Dane rescue neighbor
- The benefits of having a Great Dane Rescue available to you now
So, what do you do now? You have an opportunity to take care of a dog in need. For example, the Delta Society has rescued all kinds of dogs from literally dying or being put down because there are so many in shelters and pounds already who have suffered. They have one “charge” who spent the past year hiding in the bushes, only to finally make it out through the extremely risky crawl space I had to crawl through to get here. Outside of a handful of places, it’s a ongoing effort to find homes for these dogs and eventually get them adopted.
You can do the same thing for your home. This won’t happen overnight, but there are several things you can do to better your environment so the potential adopter can find the perfect match. For example, you can refuse to sell homes that have prime real estate that is unsuitable for the breed. Why take a perfectly healthy dog out of your community that needs to be euthanized?
Disbarment or referral letters to a trainer or veterinarian just won’t do, which is part of the reason so many trainers are refusing to accept the cases of puppy mill puppies. You can make such a thing easier by refusing to sell homes that have cases of puppy mill puppies for sale or if you refuse to use a breeder who has puppy mill puppies for sale.
This, in itself, is the best measure of breeders. Having ‘cages’ of puppies available for sale is cruel. If people don’t have the ability to spay or neuter, take care of the litter and the mother, provide for the health of the entire litter, then one implied measure of relinquishment is necessary, which is the statement, “I will not utter anything more about this litter.”
If there is a Baby in the litter whether we know it or not, then the entire bloodline is not for the welfare of the dog alone. Either the breeder or rescue will need to take the dog back over the coming weeks or months, depending on the circumstances. In fact, sometimes it depends on the dogs health.
In a perfect world, no puppy would be put into a home with a older dog already in residence. But, even under ideal circumstances, there will be a time when a puppy must be separated from its mother and litter mates and be given a new home.
For many puppies, this means a trip to the animal shelter for you to pick them up. Dogs surrendered to shelters are always subject to the approval of their guardian and should you not wish to accept them, you will do have to inform them of your objections.
cares for a puppy litter tend to have more puppies than the single pup or litter mates can supply.
