Charlotte

 
Meet sweet Charlotte! She is an 8 year old blue Dane girl who is starting to whiten up a bit. She has a sweet & gentle old soul.
 
She came into rescue when her previous owner came on hard times & had to give her to the rescue. She went into a foster home & has been great with dogs of all sizes & even cats. She still loves to play with the other dogs but mostly loves to just supervise from the porch.
 
She is house broken but does have an occasional unexpected one drop out due to her age. She is great on a leash & in the car. She does have some old age back spondylosis but is controlled with the occasional pain medication when she over does it or on cold days. C
 
harlotte’s foster home is located in Swannanoa North Carolina & she survived a mudslide to the back of her foster home, picture included of her where the mudslide was removed.
 
Charlotte deserves a forever home where she can keep your couch warm & be spoiled in her golden years. Please adopt this amazingly sweet old lady!
 
 

 

Valentino

Valentino – what a lover boy. Val is a beautiful 3 year old fawn male who adores all people and dogs. Always up for a walk, run or any type of game!

He is ok with cats but with his boundless energy he would love a cat that likes to play chase and most cats don’t appreciate that. He is being fostered in VA with horses, Great Danes, multiple cats, house tortoises and quite a few chickens and Guinea hens. He really loves having space to run and play. He even throws his toys for himself! What a great guy for a family that wants a very interactive boy.

He’s fully house trained and walks well on a leash. He loves car rides too. Val also lived with kids in his previous home. Val would do best in a home where his people are not gone for extended periods of time and with a canine companion. He came to us from a situation where his owner went to jail and he had been alone so when he arrived he was a little anxious. But after only a few weeks in his foster home with lots of friends and his foster parents not gone too much he is amazing and has gained a lot of confidence!

Valentino is being fostered in Montpelier VA. If interested in adopting Val send us an email to info@greatdanefriends.com

Gus

Gus is a sweet and spunky just under year old boy who has been in the rescue since February. He has blossomed from a scared and insecure puppy with no boundaries and has made huge progress. He is a rough and tumble player and would love a home with another dog who loves to play, but would do equally well as an only dog in an active home. He loves going on adventures and is his foster dad’s Lowe’s buddy. When he’s done playing and trying to be a little mischievous, he loves to be sweet and cuddly with his foster siblings or whichever human is nearby.

Gus will need a forever home dedicated to continuing training with him, and would do best without small children as he isn’t aware of his strength and size.

He loves all dogs and all humans, and is a very curious boy working on becoming fully confident.

Gus is a ~8 month old Dane who came in very underweight and is now living his best toddler-teen Dane life. Full of energy and mischief, he is doing his best to learn boundaries and be a polite leash walker. He is crate trained and while he does do well out and about and takes redirection well, he’s also very agile and delights in squirming into exactly the places he shouldn’t be in so continued training, awareness and ability to keep him in a safe place while you are gone (crating or otherwise) is a must.

He is a roughhouser and loves wrestling with his doggie foster siblings and playing with toys. He would do well with other dogs, or as an only dog in a home able to dedicate time to expending his high puppy energy!

Due to his rambunctious nature and rough and tumble large puppy energy, he would do best in a home with no children or older children/teens. He is very sweet and cuddly in between bursts of energy, and his quick learning is serving him well as he grows. He will be (and already is) a magnificent dog!

**Giant breed experience required and a fenced yard. If interested in adopting email us at info@greatdanefriends.com for an application

 

 

Poppy

Meet Poppy! Poppy is a 3 year old Dane that was at a local surrender as a stray. We don’t have a lot of info on her previous life but we do know she has had several litters. Poppy evaluated well at the shelter but sometimes in a shelter environment you don’t always get a good read on a dog because they are stressed. Now…don’t take that wrong…she is an amazingly sweet sweet girl! But… she is not so great with other dogs IN the home. She can go out in public and be around other dogs with a confident owner that is good at reading her signals if she is stressed. She doesn’t bark or lunge or any of that nonsense unless she is with a “soft” owner and one where she feels they are not in control or confident. But… if a dog invades her space or their energy is too much she will let them know and fire off.
 
Poppy LOVES her people and wants to be as close as she can. She is a first class cuddler! You need to keep food off the counters because this girl came in hungry and even though she is now getting regular meals she can counter surf like a pro! Since Poppy was a little rough around the edges we sent this beauty off to training. While she was there they worked on her being able to be OK around other dogs in public and also worked on desensitizing her on storms. Sister has some storm anxiety but if she is in her XXL kennel will settle. If you are at home and a storm rolls up…just put her in place with her place command and she will lay down and you won’t hear a peep!
 
Did we say how incredibly smart this girl is?? She is food motivated and would be great with a family that would want to continue training and keep her mind stimulated! Her trainer had a 5 month old and she was great with them…even gave her sweet kisses! Poppy rides great in the car, house trained and good on leash.
 
Poppy is up to date on all vaccines, spayed and has had her stomach tacked to prevent gastric torsion.
 
You see when you adopt a new dog they need DECOMPRESSION time! Her new home had visitors almost immediately and lots of neighborhood kids in and out and that stressed her. She never properly got to decompress and bond and feel safe with her new family. So…she developed some guarding behaviors. She came back and is now being fostered with her trainer and he will work with and provide training to a new adopter.
 
This is what Poppy needs:
 
1. No other dogs IN the home. She can be TOTALLY fine in public with other dogs.
2. Kids 12 yrs+
3. Fenced Yard
4. Dog savvy owner that is CONFIDENT and provide structure for Poppy
SHE IS AMAZING ! She is sweet and affectionate but if she is with an owner that is a push over and not confident she will feel the need to guard. She is house and crate trained and loves to go for rides.
If interested in Poppy send us an email at greatdanefriends.com
 

 

Maya

Maya - Sanctuary Pup
Maya has been one of our long term complex medical cases. When Maya initially came to the rescue, she had a long term history of urinary incontinence since she was about 6 months old. She spent a majority of her life wearing diapers. Because of this, Maya went through at least 3 different homes before age 2 and a half before coming to GDFRL. We hoped that Maya’s issues were uti’s that would be fixed by repairing her hooded vulva, but it was found that she had a lot more going on. Maya was urinating blood and incredibly uncomfortable, although you wouldn’t have known it based on her happy go lucky demeanor. Maya came to us with a rare form of bacteria that caused a condition called Encrusting Cystitis. This bacteria was essentially a superbug that formed infection so severe, it caused plaques and “masses” throughout her urinary tract. Upon initial ultrasound, it was believed that she had bladder cancer, but after undergoing a cystoscopy procedure, they determined that it was caused by a potentially fatal infection. The infection spread to over 70% of her urinary tract which can be fatal, but thankfully, GDFRL stepped in and got her the intensive care she needed at NC state. Maya has since undergone multiple cystoscopies to scrape out the bacteria and perform multiple antibiotic infusions directly into her bladder. She has also had her hooded vulva repaired to help reduce her recurring UTIs. In addition, she had a major surgery to re-route her urinary tract that was likely formed abnormally before birth and was contributing to bacteria overgrowth. While Maya still struggles with recurring UTIs, she is now monitored very closely with regular urine cultures and trips to NCSU. She still leaks urine occasionally but has graduated from doggy diapers! Maya is the true definition of a trooper, as she has handled numerous surgeries and procedures, yet still remains a favorite (and VIP) by all of her vet staff. While she may face a lot of medical battles, she is a spunky young girl who loves to play fetch with her two-legged foster siblings, take walks, and wrestle (always gently) with her 15 lb foster fur-brother.
 

Help Us Help Maya

Please consider donating towards the medical costs of our sanctuary dogs. Their special medical needs should not keep them from a happy life that’s as pain-free as possible.
Your support makes this possible.