About Us

FFGDR was founded by a small group of people dedicated to the Great Dane breed. Our goal is to help neglected, abandoned, and abused Great Danes find their forever homes while educating the public about the breed and responsible pet ownership. We believe that every animal deserves a forever family to love them unconditionally for the rest of their lives.

Currently, we accept surrenders from families and shelters and adopt to forever homes in Illinois, Indiana, St. Louis, and parts of the surrounding states. With the help of our supporters, we hope to eventually grow our group, spread our message, and rescue Great Danes from other areas. We accept Great Danes of all ages and from all types of situations. We are not a shelter; our dogs live in foster homes as part of a family until their medical and emotional needs have been met and they are ready for their forever homes.

Our Message

Our message is simple and can be summed up in three words: Conservation, Preservation, and Education.

• Conservation – our goal is to help people realize, believe in, and pass along new social ethics relating to rescue and adoption. Our hope is that people will begin to rethink where they purchase their pets from in a quest to reduce the number of puppy mills, unconscionable breeders, and the number of animals in rescues and shelters. In a sense, reuse and recycle what is already available to us as a result of over population and irresponsible pet owners. We want to be advocates for those that cannot speak for themselves.
• Preservation – as owners of Great Danes and the founders of FFGDR we hope to make our mark by not only protecting but also preserving the breed. We believe there are responsible pet owners and responsible breeders. But we exist because of puppy mills and owners that aren’t prepared for the special needs of a giant breed dog.
• Education – our job and focus is to educate the public, not only about the specific needs of Great Danes, but about our responsibilities as pet owners. Our group welcomes the opportunity to speak to children and groups about why we believe in rescue and why we love the Great Dane breed. We hope that by educating the public, people will begin to rethink, reduce, reuse, and recycle by simply choosing adoption and continuing to pass this message along.

Last year, more than 6,000,000 animals were euthanized because of over population. If FFGDR can save just a few of those dogs, we feel that we have made a difference. But if everyone we talk to decides to rescue, and everyone they talk to decides to rescue, just think of the difference we can make collectively. We need to let the puppy mills know that over breeding is no longer acceptable. Dogs should not be expendable.