Great Dane Rescue Story

We made it home in one piece, but Sadie was a little nervous. We didn’t have bullmastiffs at our house, but we do have five kids and
things can get a little rambunctious at times. We went to bed; Sadie went to sleep with my 15-year old daughter. Sadie didn’t sleep
well. Her tummy was upset. She was up most of the night vomiting and with diarrhea. I thought to myself, “My God, What have I
done?” Thank goodness we have hardwood floors. My husband looked at me, but didn’t say anything. I was afraid I had made a bad
decision.

After we cleaned the floor, and got the smell out of the house the best we could, we all played with Sadie and made her feel welcome.
We took her shopping for a new collar, lead, toys, treats and nametag. With her dog intuition she realized she was loved and she
knew she was home. She immediately made her self at home, bonded with all 7 of us, and became the talk of the town. She loves the
kids. The kids love her. She slept with my daughter until recently when my daughter left home. It was a hard separation for all of us.
Now Sadie sleeps beside my husband and me. She is still the talk of the town. We recently had a graduation party and of course,
Sadie was the main attraction.

After that first night, Sadie knew she was in her forever home. She helped my daughter begin to sleep again. She played ball with the
boys. She tagged along side the baby to protect her whenever we turned our heads. She is the best dog, our protector, our funny girl,
and a friend to all. She lives a good life, she is no longer underweight, and she rests on the couch all day looking out the window. She
takes walks around the neighborhood, chases squirrels, goes to visit grandma, and loves to play in the water hose. She fills in for the
third-baseman, shoots hoops (or at least think she does,) and plays catch. She knows grandma comes over with treats in her pocket,
she eats grapes off the stem, sits, shakes, and lays down. She refuses to go out in the rain. She is afraid of storms, and last night,
as the tornadoes came through, Sadie sat in the bathroom huddled in prayer with us. She is a very loved and treasured member of our
family. Yes, she drools, she passes gas, takes up the entire couch, and eats everybody’s food, but that’s OK, we LOVE her and she
LOVES us. This is definitely what pet adoption is all about.

About three years ago my 15-year old daughter asked for a dog. She had been through
a traumatic time and she wanted a big dog to “protect” her while she slept. Although I
agreed with the idea, I did not want a dog that might attack one of the smaller children
or a neighborhood child. So I put my daughter to work and told her to research dogs that
were large and protective, but not known for being vicious. She researched many options
and came up with the answer; our new family member would be a Great Dane!

We set out in search of a great dane and the very day we started our search, a free
great dane appeared in the paper (I think it was fate!). I called the owners and they
wanted to re-home Sadie due to her anxiety/tummy issues. She was at a home where
they rescued bullmastiffs and Sadie was very nervous and underweight. They thought
she would do better in a situation where there were no other giant dogs in her
environment. They emailed pictures. For my daughter and I, it was love at first sight.

We went to get her December 9, 2005. I remember because it was my birthday
and we had a snowstorm. School was closed, the roads were terrible, but I was
afraid someone else might adopt her. So I packed up the SUV, packed up the
kids and we set out for our 3-hour trudge through the snow. Well, it ended up
being more like 6 hours with all the traffic and snow, but we made it there. I
walked up to the door, knocked, and heard the biggest bark I had ever heard.
Not only was there a Great Dane, but also there were two bullmastiffs standing
there to greet me. I was certainly intimidated. I had never seen dogs this big. I
put the lead on Sadie, walked her out the front door, and put her in the back of
the truck. She went with me as if she knew I was there to take her home. She
rode very quietly. We stopped for gas and a sandwich. I bought her a
cheeseburger and she ate it in one bite.