Little Rogue Danes exists because personal experience taught us that health doesn’t fail overnight, it’s dismantled slowly by systems that ignore biology. Our why is grounded in lived truth, not theory, and in the belief that dogs deserve better than managed decline.

This breed breaks hearts. Cancer. Bloat. Heart failure. Short lifespans people are told to accept as “just part of owning a Dane.” We don’t accept that. We believe those outcomes come from modern practices that overload the body and suppress the immune system, not from weak genetics or bad luck.

This didn’t start with dogs. It started with our kids.

In April of 2006, my oldest son was diagnosed with autism. Like any parent who refuses to stop at surface level answers, I started digging. Really digging. What I found changed everything. Vaccines played a massive role in compromising his immune system. Once that door opened, there was no closing it.

At the time, we were already raw feeders. I thought we were doing everything right. But here’s the part people don’t want to hear. Raw food cannot out support a toxic load. You can feed the cleanest diet in the world, but if the immune system is constantly under attack, the body never gets a chance to do its job. That realization was our wake up call.

As we learned more, it became painfully obvious that many of the things we trusted to “protect” health were actually causing harm. So we started stripping things back.

No kibble. No vaccines. No chemical flea, tick, heartworm, or deworming products.

And the difference between our traditionally raised dogs and our naturally raised dogs was impossible to ignore.

Great Danes especially cannot afford immune suppression. They are giant dogs with rapid growth and sensitive systems. You suppress immunity in a breed like this and then act surprised when you see bloat, heart issues, cancer, and early death? That never made sense to me.

So we stopped doing it.

We don’t vaccinate.
We don’t use chemical preventatives.
We don’t feed processed food.

Not because it’s extreme. Because it’s protective.

A Great Dane raised with slow growth, clean nutrition, and an intact immune system lives a completely different life.

Less inflammation. Better digestion. A steadier nervous system. Stronger heart health. Less risk for bloat and cancer.

Lifestyle is not optional for this breed. It is everything.

We believe Great Danes are meant to thrive on a species appropriate raw diet and a low toxin lifestyle. Genetics matter, but lifestyle decides the outcome. You cannot suppress the body year after year and expect strength on the other side.

Watching dogs suffer through chronic illness or die too young is heartbreaking and expensive.

Choosing a different path takes guts, especially when it goes against the mainstream.

That’s exactly why Little Rogue Danes exists.