How to re-home your Great Dane - it is important that before you re-home your Great Dane that you have tried your best to find solutions for whatever the problem is that you are experiencing.

Please ask your Breed Club's Rescue Co-ordinator for help before re-homing your dog because in our experience many of the common problems as to why Danes are rehomed have simple solutions that you may not familair with.

You just have to be willing to put the work in and find the RIGHT trainer / behaviourist which we can reccomend for you - don't waste money on Trainers and Behaviours if you haven't come across them by word of mouth - many Training companies these days are simply franchises where the owners have very little experience and just read from a Manual.

Does your Great Dane need a big backyard?
Great Danes do not need big back yards or lot's of exercise, these 2 items are common mis-conceptions about Great Danes. In saying this, a small court yard may not be suitable to a Dane given that they will be toileting in very close quarters to where they eat and sleep which dogs do not like.

Dis-obedient Great Danes
If you are re-homing your Great Dane because it lacks obedience / manners / boundaries then we reccomend you head to our Great Dane Problems page.

Be honest about the Dogs Pro's & Con's
The most important thing when re-homing your Great Dane is to be honest about the reasons why. Dishonest reasons and dishonest information about the Great Dane in concern can cause many problems as well as legal problems.

Aggressive Great Danes
Do not re-home an aggressive Great Dane, to re-home such a dog is simply passing the problem on, you could also find yourself legally liable for any dangerous behaviour the dog displays in its' new home.

Contact your States Rescue Co-ordinator, they may have a Behavioural Rehab program or be able to make a reccomendation for you.

What is considered aggressive?
Any dog that bites a human with intent to injure (this does not include mouthing young dogs do if not trained out of it).

Any dog that attacks another dog unprovoked (this does not include dogs warning and telling each other off), if there is blood or punture wounds then this is considered an attack.

If you are not sure if your dog is acting in an aggresive manner or just a hyperactive manner please contact a trainer / behaviourist to assess the dog.

Please don't dump/surrender aggressive Great Danes to pounds or shelters as they will be put to sleep in a strange environment without anyone they know, if you have no other options, please do the kindest thing for your dog and take the dog to the Vet and have your Great Dane put to sleep whilst you hold it. No dog should be put to sleep in a sterile cold environment with people it does not know.

Do not re-home an aggressive dog, you will be legally liable if it attacks in its' new home, in addition you are simply passing the problem onto someone else and that is not fair - be completely honest about the dogs' behaviour - if the dog acts aggressively towards same sex dogs then this isn't terribly unusual especially in un-desexed dogs and re-homing a dog to an opposite sex dog family may still be within the moral and ethical range.

Escape Artists
If you have a dog that is getting over regular fencing i.e. 5.5-6ft colour bond fencing it is unlikely the dog will successfully rehome as it will simply escape in it's new home. Please be honest about your dogs escape abilities.

Barkers
If your dog has recieved complaints from your neighbours / Council please be honest and advise this. The Rescue Co-ordinator / New home need to make sure they understand why the dog is barking and what steps can be taken to help the problem.

Barkers may simply have to be re-homed to non-suburban families.

Rehoming undesexed Great Danes
If your Great Dane is not desexed you run the risk of people taking your dog and using it as a Breeding Machine, this is no life for pet Dane.

Contact your States Breed Rescue Co-ordinator, they may be able to cover the expense of desexing and / or advise you how to safely rehome an undesexed dog.

The easiest way to make sure your dog is desexed in its' new home is to ask an amount for the dog that will cover desexing and then desex the dog before it goes to its' new home. You can write up a contract to state that this is the case - your States Breed Rescue Co-ordinator can provide you with a de-sexing agreement.

Write a Profile
Write down a list of your Dogs Pro's & Cons - be honest! People don't mind some Cons, they understand not all Dogs are perfect.

If your dog needs 6ft fences then say so! There is no point in the dog going to a home with 5 ft fences if it is going to escape and then need to be re-homed again or be put to sleep in a pound.

Take photos/video of your dog doing different things so people can see your dog in different situations.

People will always want to know how your dog is with other dogs, be honest! If your dog barely leaves your property and hasn't come across many dogs before then you need to say this. If your dog plays happily at a dog park, mention this.

Free to a Good Home
Try not to offer a dog Free to Good Home, ask for a donation that you can give to a rescue shelter at the least, for example $50 or $100. By asking for a small amount of money you will be turning off those who just want a free dog.

At the minimum, charge whatever it costs to desex the dog and desex the dog once you have a confirmed home. If the dog is already de-sexed then you may like to consider charging around $150 and donating that money to Dane Rescue.

Screening Potential homes
Be prepared to screen the home, go to the persons home, see where the dog will sleep, eat and relax. Is the yard suitable, do they have shelter, will they be included in the family?

Trust your dogs instincts. Does the dog actually like the people?

If the people have Children, watch how the children interact with the dog - Danes can and do knock over toddlers and small children - how will the family cope with this?

NEVER be afraid to say No to people.

You can download a Questionnaire here that you can run applicants through, you can e-mail it to them or just use it as a Guide when speaking to them on the phone.

You'll need to sign your dog over to the new home, if your dog is a Pedigree with papers then these papers need to be signed over (We suggest you do not give Pedigree papers unless the dog is desexed). You'll also need to download a change of Microchip details form - you can contact your Council for this form.

Let the new owners know what activities your dogs likes and doesn't like, what commands it knows and what food it likes and dislikes and any medical problems.

Send us the photo and profile of the dog so we can list it on our website.

Make sure you contact your states Breed club to let them know you are re-homing your Great Dane as they may have someone on their wait lists.

There are other places you can advise such as your local paper, Trading Post, Petlink, Gumtree etc. Please do not advertise an undesexed dog through these websites as unethical breeders do look through these sites for undesexed dogs and have been known to lie to current owners to get their hands on the dog.

If the worst comes to the worst please surrender your dog to the RSPCA or Animal Welfare League rather than a Pound where they could be put to sleep within 24 hours - if your dogs is ok with other dogs and people it should pass the temperament test without an issues and be able to be re-homed by the RSPCA or Animal Welfare League.

Please advise Great Dane Rescue if you have surrendered your dog to a pound/shelter so we can keep an eye on it.