The alternative to GGR...

[dorian]

I was initially intrigued with Gentle Giants Rescue. We applied to adopt and were accepted the same day. Living in Northern California we had to plan ahead to make the trip and bring back what we hoped would be a new family member. About a week before going down we started doing some serious research and found this site among others. When we sent GGR an email asking some pointed questions we got no response. We sent several more emails asking for a response and heard nothing. Finally we sent them a courtesy email letting them know we would not be making the planned trip.

A short time later we adopted our Great Dane from another Southern California Great Dane rescue place. We asked the guy that ran the place how he felt about GGR. He said he didn't approve of the way they handled their dogs, was disturbed by the number of puppies that were often available, and felt that their motivation was questionable. But he said something that has stuck in my mind ever since: "They fill a void. Although I am managing to do my share, I can't handle every Great Dane in Southern California. What would happen to all these large breed dogs if GGR wasn't there? Who else is going to step up to fill the void? Can you?"

So with all the angst focused against GGR on the internet, is anyone stepping up to take over the responsibility and do it right? I can only do it one Dane at a time. How about you? If we are successful in shutting down GGR, what then?

[disgusted2]

Thank you for doing you home work and adopting your Great Dane from an appropriate Reascue.

As far as if GGR was forced to out of business it would be no different than when a puppymill gets busted or raided. If they refuse to sign over the dogs they will go to the shelter and will be held till after the judge either awards them back to GGR or awards the dogs to the shelter. The Shelters work with rescues and the dogs would go to various rescues all over the USA or be adopted out right from the shelters.

Being that GGR doesn't keep the dogs in healthy conditions nor has the dogs fixed, they are far better off in a new rescue or adopted out right with proper TLC and fixed.

[osprey101]

Every GD rescue is overflowing- mainly because of nitwit, backyard breeders.

Right now, GGR has 136 dogs listed on Petfinder:

www.petfinder.com/pet-search?shelterid=CA777

Over a dozen of these are great danes. Only one is an adult. So- ask yourself: precisely where are all these puppies coming from? Ask any GD rescue: how often do you get in a litter of puppies? It doesn't happen, or at least certainly not with the frequency with which GGR would have you believe it does. "Here! Have this box of great Pyrenese/Anatolian shepherd puppies! I simply can't take care of them anymore!" 11 young Ibizian hound puppies? Really? And the press eats this stuff up because somehow it makes sense to them- that it's believable.

This is a simple supply-and-demand situation. Nobody (or, at least, nobody- I hope) turns on their TV, sees the Wards on some goofy show, and thinks to themselves, "You know, I've never owned a great Dane, but I think I'd like to start" and then buys one (not adopts- buys one). No great Danes would be euthanized because the Wards shut down; if anything, the opposite would happen because they'd be shutting down a breeder- a breeder of dubious, purpose-bred "mutts," like "Cutsie Pie," a lab/poodle mix:

www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18674672

(and his sibling, "Cutsie Patootsie")

www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18674678

Rescues are just giant overflow tanks for that great in-ground pool of dogs out there. You get rid of the overflow tank, and water continues to flow out of the pool. The difference between an in-ground pool and the pool of adoptable dogs is that dogs will always get euthanized at the shelter because people keep breeding more than everyone else is willing to adopt. More rescues help, but that doesn't stop the front-end problem of TOO MANY DOGS.

In this case, the Wards (or people they pay) continue to make the problem worse by breeding more dogs.

[jahnbull]

We just adopted from Gentle Giants and WOW!!! There seems to be A LOT of misinformation floating around. I wouldn't say that everything was perfect, but overall, it has been a positive experience so far and I promise to update if things change for the better OR worse.

We just adopted a Great Dane who is very sweet. She's 3-years-old, we're told. When we take her to our vet, we'll confirm this and let you know if this is untrue. Among the the nice qualities so far, our new dane does not beg for food. She's very loving and shows absolutey no signs of aggression. She learned where to go potty almost immediately, although the first time she was left alone for 8 hours, she pee'd in the house. She was fine the next day. Overall, she needs some basic training so we'll see how that goes.

On the somewhat negative side, our dog was a bit dirty and smelly when we picked her up a week later. We were told she had a bath prior to being spayed during that week. I'll give them the benfit of the doubt. We had rain that week and it could have been worse. Unfortunately, we can't give her a full bath until her stitches are out.

One bit of misinformation that makes absolutely no sense is that they are somehow a front to make money off of their dog food. If it were, they would certainly charge a lot more than they do. At $35, it's comprable in cost to other high-end dog foods that claim a high nutritional value. Keep in mind, large producers of dog food have the ability to produce food much cheaper than GG due to commodity price advantages, etc. Having said that, even if they make a few bucks on it, who cares? They do have a rescue to run!

On a somewhat related topic, in order to sign up to join THIS forum, I was required to enter an activation key that was tied to website sponsors. What everyone should know is important and telling, in my opinion: This website receives money for these seemingly harmless tracking clicks. Notice how many other ads there are too? Large companies, like Buy.com, serve as intermediaries. It looks like you can go ad-free, but this seems very suspect for a site that claims to be fighting, among other things, greed. Just an observation!

Again, I promise to update this post if our experience with GGR goes from positive to negative! For now, I give GGR an 9 out of 10!

[disgusted2]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but really ....Wow... how much did GGR pay you to post this Jahnbull....really? Seriously?

If that is not the case then you clearly were brought up around puppymillers and back yard breeders.