A Different Neily Post! Did you read about the Great Dane with 19 puppies?

My foster Wrangler
Rescued February 2014

Adoption day!
Wrangler (aka Crosby) with his new fabulous fur-ever family April 2014

This post is quite different—not about nutrition like all my posts. It’s about something else that is near and dear to my heart—animals. Specifically dogs. All dogs, but most particularly Great Danes. I’ve been involved with Great Dane Rescue of North Texas for over 11 years.

Rylee Neily Rescued 2002

Rylee is my fur-ever family member. The old girl is 12 years old now—rescued in 2002 and came to me in 2003. She’s put up with quite a number of Great Dane foster brothers. Rylee proudly wears Great Dane Rescue of North Texas (GDRNT) rescue number 657 on her tag. Our current foster Shadow is GDRNT rescue number 1546. That is quite a number of Great Danes rescued through GDRNT and saved from…

Foster Shadow | Rescued May 2014 | Still with me…awaiting…. DaneRescue.net

I do my part in fostering but am not nearly as involved as all the other selfless people involved in rescue who see many disheartening things on a day to day basis. Frankly I don’t know how they do it. I couldn’t. Admittedly I’m a wuss and would be crying all the time.

Are you interested in one of the 19 Great Dane pups?

Perhaps you’ve seen the story of the 3-yo Great Dane that gave birth to a miraculous 19 puppies. Adorable. Yes. But also a bit concerning for someone in the rescue business. Those little pups are so darn CUTE— now. As a lover of Great Danes they are absolutely fabulous wonderful beautiful dogs. But there is a word in their name that people sometimes forget—Great. Yes, they grow up to be big dogs. Really big.

Great Danes are gentle giants. Those little pups are going to grow up. They’re going to go through puppyhood. They’re going to be a handful. I absolutely adore puppies and will play with them forever, but personally I don’t have the patience for a puppy to take care of myself—I leave them to the experts in rescue. They require a lot of work!

Rylee Neily and Norman | October 2011 | Adopted Dec 2011

Great Danes may grow to 115, 125, 150 pounds or more. It’s heartbreaking to rescue groups like Great Dane Rescue of North Texas when the dog gets too big for the family or they didn’t realize what they were getting into when they bought the adorable puppy. I really really hope the Terry family that is asking $850 per pup is selective to whom they sell their precious litter to.

Great Dane Rescue (and every rescue organization) has an excellent application they might consider using to weed out the serious from the oh-aren’t-they-cute crowd.

Okay, thanks for reading. Back to nutrition!

Jennifer Neily, MS, RDN, LD, FAND
NeilyonNutrition.com
@JenniferNeily

Cooper came to Great Dane Rescue Nov 2012 | adopted Feb 2013