UPDATE: $810 Donated To Date

This is 5 month old Kenai. He is an extremely special needs German Shepherd.

He is who we have been working behind the scenes to help.

Thank you to all that did bring him to our attention and to the OHS who did reach out to us and I picked him up on Thursday.

He has severe OCD & Separation Anxiety, is self-mutilating plus has resource and leash reactivity. He was being kept heavily sedated at the OHS.

We reviewed all of the medical records on him and the x-rays done and our own Vet Team including specialists have agreed that nothing deeply abnormal was found. Neuro exam has also not presented with anything alarming.

A MRI and/or CT scan were recommended as next steps as possible trauma was also on the table.

AND of course behavioural was very much being considered.

I watched several videos plus the reports and clearly his condition was deteriorating from when he first entered the shelter to when I picked him up.

My pick up of him could have gone more smoothly as he has not been given any afternoon meds and one person told me that the Trazodone and Gabapentin being given to him does not work. I stated that giving him something was better than nothing as now as a stranger I am taking out this puppy who has stimulation issues, reactivity, anxiety issues etc., into a car in bright sunshine, in rush hour traffic across town. Someone went to get some meds for him. The shelter also had him on ACE, which my Vet team took him off of as it is such a short acting med.

I also asked for a cone as he did not have one and was attacking his tail and I was told that it only exacerbated the issue. I stated that by not providing one that his tail would be a wreck by time I got him to work as he was attacking it viciously. I was still denied a cone for him and yes, by the time I got him to work, his tail was wounded further, raw and bleeding profusely.

I then struggled to put my leash on him – for he was constantly spinning, inflicting self-harm on himself – as the harness he was wearing was almost completely chewed through in two spots – one spot can be seen in the posted picture – and also enabled him open access to his back legs and tail. I was informed by the same individual that he walks fine on the harness and I explained why I was also hooking him up on my own leash to his collar. I wanted safety for him. Having control over his head also enabled me to reduce how much he was attacking/biting his hind end and tail.

As he was in a quick release collar, he easily broke it off and one handed I had to work to get it back on and him leashed.

In almost 24 years of picking up a dog, I have never had this level of difficulty and it was a lesson for me that not only shall I come with my own leash to pick up a dog yet, always a martingale(had one in the car) but also a cone and a basket muzzle. I had neither a cone or a basket muzzle to prevent him further self mutilating on the whole drive to work.

I am truly so grateful to the OHS for responding to my email of concern over how rough this pick up was on him. They were quick to respond and to revise pick up protocols on dogs like him moving forward!  THANK YOU!

At EVC, we immediately gave him sedation – I have videos of how he is even after sedation – and put a basket muzzle on him. The basket muzzle prevented him from actually causing more damage to his body. Once he had quiet time in a lights off run to de-compress, we examined him.

Poor boy was so scared he even had peed himself. 

I want to extend a huge thank you to the Vets and team that were there and to the Specialists that have stepped up to see him.

We cannot rule out trauma. There is believed to not be any brain or spinal tumours – rare in puppies, and x-rays taken are normal. His does not have any broken tail or pelvis and his hips are good. He has some mild sacrum displacement yet, should not be this level of alarming. Spine looks ok in x-rays also and therefore we need the MRI and/or CT scan to help provide more information to help put his story together.

The move forward plan is to keep him on 150 mg Trazodone and increase to three times daily.

He will remain on Gabapentin 300 mg and increase to three times daily.

AND we will be putting him on a 80 mg of Clomicalm daily. If he responds really well, reduce to 40 mg daily. This medication has to be special ordered and will not be in until next week.

We are going to focus on the behaviours as a priority too, get him settled in – he has had so many people and changes of hands(we know of at least four homes prior to our rescue) and then he ended up at the OHS and now us. No wonder he is a neurotic hot mess.

He needs to have stability and consistency and patience and a home and he needs to have time….He has had so much sensory overload that he needs peace and quiet for now. He needs time…..time to be able to get him to de-escalate of this emotional high level he is on, to begin to come back to the land of the living, to re-focus and gain some self-control.

We will move towards a MRI and/or a CT and rule out congenital and/or trauma.

His eye exam was normal – he menaces, he reacts to light, he can track things. However, unless you are right in his face, close up, he is so stressed that he really is not seeing what is there.

When I say that this puppy is hurting emotionally, he is. His mental pain is devastating. Just heartbreaking and as I always state, feeling sorry for him is the worst thing we can do. That is not going to help him. Yet, your heart feels very heavy for what this 5 month old puppy has gone through to date and has endured…..

Have we rehabilitated much worse, yes. However, his situation is high with level of severity. As stated to the OHS, we are not miracle workers and we do not put any pressure on him or our rescue as to making him ‘normal’. What we can and have promised is to give him everything and work to give him a quality of life that is his normal.

We never will see any animal suffer and we know that the OHS informed us that euthanisa was one of the options being considered for him and as told them, I trust that they would do best and remain beyond grateful that we have this opportunity to assist him.

Already, we have glimpses of improvement – inches are like miles for him right now in rehab – and per a previous post, we know he has been a high profile dog to many and ask that for anyone that is considering helping us raise money for his cause – trust me he is so so so worthy! – please donate direct to:

PayPal: gwen@birchhaven.org
Email Transfer: contactbhrr@gmail.com

OR direct to Eagleson Veterinary Clinic 613-383-8381 – he has an account there

Please do not donate to any independent fundraisers that we are not sharing on our page for we cannot guarantee or warrant that those funds will be sent for his care. If something is not posted here on our page, it is not SANCTIONED by BHRR. Once again, we do not want to see anyone’s generosity and caring hearts taken advantage of.

He has an ever increasing team of Vets and Specialists stepping up and examining him and reviewing all of his records and assisting with where to go from here medically.

All of them are 100% in agreement with myself in respect to his behavioural program.

His Bills To Date: $1,989.78

A CT scan is almost $2,500
A MRI is almost $3,000

We thank all of you for your patience as we waited to post about this gorgeous boy for we needed to know what we were looking at for him to then post what his needs are…..

Our mandate is to be here for dogs like him – horses too. We do not do it for exposure, pats on the back etc. We do it as this is what we do, 24/7, every day of the year and we sincerely hope that his BHRR village will surround him with all that he is going to need. I am hunkered down for the not days yet weeks and possibly many many many months as with our July rescue intake BHRR’s Lily’s own self mutilation, SA plus OCD to be there for him. The sleepless nights and the one small step forward to only then take three backwards. I am committed and this is what we do and please keep him in your best thoughts…..he needs your well wishes as much as he needs your financial consideration! 

When was driving to EVC, I was already putting a custom plan in place for him and we will share his journey with all of you….

Please do consider donating even $5 to him…..thank you in advance for reading my Gwennie Novel.