Sean came home from work a bit earlier than normal today so that he could try to assist me with BHRR’s Moose such that I could attempt to draw some blood to bring in for his HWT that I require to be done before he will be placed up for adoption. Moose did not make one attempt to bite either one of us BUT he sure ‘threw’ his sizeable weight around making it near to impossible to take any blood. However; I felt quite confident that if I wrestled with him for another 20 minutes, I could do his nails plus draw blood BUT we are not about giving bad experiences or causing any more stress than necessary and Moose was well aware by his tail wagging and goofy persona that he was used to getting his way by tossing his weight around. So, I had Sean hold him and I handled all legs and feet and examined them thoroughly before letting him go and then I held him and Sean did the same. So, while I was not able to draw blood and did not try to do his nails, Moose did not ‘get’ away without being handled at all and we did not get into a situation whereby his ‘not wanting to co-operate’ could have turned into stress and he was no longer having fun. I think I dropped 5 pounds in the dancing he and I did though!!!! He happily took his treat afterwards and there were no hard feelings and so, PROGRESS! What I have done is make an appointment to bring Moose in with me to work next week and with a few extra hands on him, I will get the blood for his HWT and we shall do his nails. NOW, he does not like Vet Hospitals and as I do not desire to hold up placing him for adoption(he handled himself wonderfully today with what I did do and in the right home, with patience and time, someone is going to be able to do his nails without concern BUT they must handle Moose right) by taking another month of handling by myself with Sean to be able to draw this blood myself and to do those nails; I will use the extra hands at work to just get things done; and it was discussed; doing these things on the lawn; outside of the Hospital; so that we can minimalize any stress PLUS he gets to hang out with me all day at the Hospital while I work and have a really good experience. If need be, we will mildly sedate him as I do not want him feeling any strain for he has COME a long way since he has arrived and I do not have any fear that he is going to be set up for failure when I handled his feet. THAT has taken some time to build up a measure of trust from Moose and I will not break that. So, on August 3rd, Moose will be coming to KAH with me. 😀 AND if I find that he does need another month or so or whatever X length of time is needed for Moose, then he shall be given it before he goes up for adoption. I will not rush him yet I know he is ready in many ways to be placed up for adoption and the longer he stays with me, the more bonded he has become to me and I fall in love with him more and more the big ol’ MOOSEMAN! Yet, the next step will be the Hospital experience and I shall post an update from there. I want any potential home that is looking at applying to adopt Moose to understand that he is a completely different dog outside of the Vet Hospital and the more ‘great’ visits he has at Vet Hospitals, the better he is going to be and while I shall not set him up for failure, I want him to learn that the trust he has put into me and then into his new family is not unfounded and that what we are asking of him is in his best interests and we will not allow him to be hurt. This could take a very long time BUT the process has been started at BHRR and any new home MUST understand that they must continue working with him. Moose is well aware that he is a big boy and that he can push himself around yet I do not want him feeling like he can do that or that he should do that and he certainly enjoyed trying to do that today, the goober; yet in the end; while I did not get the bw or the nails; Moose did not know that I was trying for either(he never saw nail clippers for example) and so he thinks I ‘got’ what I wanted because he thinks that he ‘let’ met get what I wanted and that works…..for now….. 😉