Author: Heidi Chappell

Meet Sassy,

A beautiful 1.5-year-old Great Dane with a stunning chocolate-mottled coat and a big personality in a petite 115-pound frame. She came to us as an owner surrender when her person was confined to a wheelchair. This girl is house trained, friendly with strangers, and loves to be right in the middle of whatever’s going on—especially if it involves snuggling on the couch. She walks well on leash but may get a little excited if she spots a deer. She rides well in a car and is also crate trained.

Sassy gets along well with other large, playful dogs, though her exuberant play style can be too much for smaller or more reserved pups. She has been around smaller dogs and did well inside with them but when she starts playing she would be too much for small dogs. Due to her size and age, she’d do best in a home with older kids and a family ready to embrace her goofy, loving energy. Sassy will be spayed soon and ready to bring her big heart into a forever home!

Sassy is being fostered in Raleigh NC and will require a fenced yard. If interested in adopting you can email us at info@greatdanefriends.com

Meet Indi, a blue Dane with just the right amount of gray sprinkling her face!

We are not entirely sure of her age, but we think she’s around 6 years old. When she was surrendered by her owner she was a bit overweight, had not been spayed, and had bladder stones.

Since living in her foster home, she has slimmed down, and the bladder stones were removed when she was spayed. She is a happy dog feeling much better than she did! The first few days in her foster home were scary for Indi. She was easily startled and would cower away and cry (that’s the best way I can think to describe it) in uncertainty. She was never aggressive, though.

In those moments, given space, she would quickly settle down and gently seek reassurance. Indi loves her person big! Being accompanied around the house is a given. While she wants to be by your side, she will also give you some space when she’s asked to.

She’s content relaxing in her bed close by as you get some work done. She would appreciate having someone around and not being left for long workdays, but she easily goes into a crate and can be left when need be. She’s super excited with lots of tail wags and hip butts when you get home, though!

P.S. – her tail is just the right height to knock things off end tables! Indi is also crated at night but to some degree that’s by her choice. Around 8:30 – 9:00pm at night she starts looking towards the crate! She lives with cats and pays no attention to them when they get the zoomies and is respectful when they ask her to back up.

Indi is really strong and needs someone to give her a safe space and direction when away from home. She generally walks well on leash, but additional training would be advised. She will let you know when she needs to go out, but she does not want to stay outside by herself. She does not currently live with any dogs, but she has in the past. She is not food aggressive and has not shown any interest thus far in playing with toys. She barks when she’s unsure of something, including when strangers come into the home. She’s not comfortable with strangers approaching her but if you ignore her, she will typically gain the confidence to approach on her own fairly quickly.

Indi is being fostered in Charlotte, NC. To apply email us at info@greatdanefriends.com.

Meet Maple, a 2 yr old female Dane!

Well we know we JUST announced Maple as available for adoption…

but now she is on medical hold . She went in to be spayed yesterday and she had a weird gait when we got her so we had the vet do x rays of her hips and knees. She has a torn CCL of her left knee and she has severe hip dysplasia of her left hip. But she is a young girl with lots of spunk and so of course we are going to fix her! She will have an orthopedic consult soon but will most likely need a TPLO AND a hip replacement. Yep…we know what you are thinking…that is gonna be EXPENSIVE! And yes it will but we are hoping we have some generous donors and we have our Spring Medical auction coming up May 23rd!

Maple came to us when a volunteer working with animal control noticed a beautiful marble-coated Great Dane attached to a chain in the middle of a field. The volunteer approached the owners to talk to them about this pretty girl. They said they received the dog from someone else but they did not want to keep her, and they would be interested in surrendering her.

Maple was so skinny when she came into the rescue. Once Maple arrived at her foster family’s house the evaluation began.

Here is what we know about this sweet puppy: Let’s start with what she needs work on and get it out of the way. Maple had almost zero manners. When she arrived she already knew how to sit for her food. Since then, her foster family has been working on the basics. She is so much a puppy still but the vet’s best guess is that she is around two. When she moves, she moves fast and frantically. For example, the foster family allows dogs on their couch. The first time Maple was invited onto the couch she jumped up like lightning, scrambled to be as close to them as she could while smashing herself as low as she could get. When this happens, it can be a bit dramatic and you have to be ready for it to keep her from crawling all over you. Luckily for her, the foster family expects snuggles!!

She is also frantic when she is let out of her kennel, and when it’s time for food, and when she tries to follow you out the door when you leave the house. Normally, with a stern verbal correcting she will stop in her tracks. She doesn’t want to disappoint you. She does need leash training because she is a strong puller on the leash. The foster family introduced her to the Haltie and it is a game changer for the way she walks on a leash. All of this sounds like a lot, and I suppose it is, until you look at why she is acting this way: – No training, – Little to no access to people (chained in the yard), – no snuggles, – fear of being left behind, – desperately wants to make people happy but doesn’t know what is expected of her.

Now, the good: This pup has the sweetest temperament ever. She is a true wanna-crawl-in-your-pocket kinda Dane. All she wants is your attention and to make you happy. She is easily trained with food and praise, and will follow you around the house no matter where you go. She is happiest on the couch beside you snuggling, or walking to the bathroom with you, or to the kitchen, or the laundry room. She doesn’t care!! She wants to be where you are. Period.

Are you looking for a dog that likes to be outside? One you can put in the back yard and let them enjoy the great outdoors? Well Maple is NOT that dog!!

She will run to the yard, do what she needs to do and then run back to the door to go inside. This will definitely get better as she learns she isn’t going to be left outside anymore. But if you are out there with her, it changes everything. She is super sweet and affectionate. She is not food aggressive, but she does like whatever toy the other dogs are playing with. And she doesn’t like other dogs in her face until she gets to know them.

The foster family has kennel trained her and she will walk into the kennel on command (a payment in the form of a treat is required). At night the fosters leave one of their dogs in the living room with her and she sleeps quietly through the night. She also rides awesome in the car.

So in closing, if you want a dog that is a literal blank slate and is looking for you to communicate with her and tell her what you want, Maple may be the one for you. The bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, and back-door escorts are included, along with the hyper-drive dive-bombing onto the couch or human bed, and following you so closely that you can feel her wet nose on your calf muscles, at no extra charge!!

So, check out Maple and see what making her a part of your family can do. P.S. Look at those Jowls!!!! Maple is being fostered in Zebulon NC. To apply email us at info@greatdanefriends.com

Jett is a 6-7 month old pup that was found as a stray. We aren’t sure exactly what she is except TERRIFIC!

She is sweet, energetic, smart, friendly, curious, and a whole list of additional adjectives. She is crate trained and will sleep through the night, usually 8 to 10 hours. Initially she was showed a little food guarding, but that has resolved. She eats in the same room with her 2 foster dog siblings, each at their own feeding station. She knows her spot and will wait until called to come to the spot. She sits to be fed.

To say she is a lap dog is an understatement…one of her favorite places to be! She has done well walking on a harness and has been on multiple pack walks with us and with a neighborhood group of several dogs. She will need additional leash training. She tries to pull if distracted and also will wrap you up in the leash if allowed. She rides will in the car and is curious about where you are going. She wants to ride sitting on the console in our truck. She settles for riding with her front feet on the console so she can see out. We have taken her out to several different places and she has done well. She has been friendly and curious everywhere we have taken her. Small children really capture her attention and we think she would be an ideal pet for a young energetic family. She loves to play tug and to wrestle; she likes balls and will chase them some but has not showed interest in fetching.

If interested in adopting Jett email us at info@greatdanefriends.com for an application.

She is being fostering in Mt Pilot NC. A fenced yard will be required.