Barkley’s weight before going to his new home last night was 41.3 KGS(90.8 pounds) and I was so happy that one of the Vets that oversaw his one obstruction in 2009 and had been part of this years obstruction situation was able to see him before he left. She had not seen him since he was with his previous owners with this obstruction on March 15th. She said ‘HE LOOKED GREAT’ and congratulated me on such an excellent job done with him. Barkley has put on almost 12 pounds of weight/muscle since he was surrendered to BHRR on the evening of March 31st. Considering how long he was laid up recovering; he and I have managed to get a lot of training and physical rehab work in once he was ready and I am so proud of him! I would like to see a few more pounds of muscle mass, yet NO more that that and he is then going to be in top notch condition. I also showed his new owners his surgical area and assured them that if Barkley was not healed, he would not have been placed up for adoption as of yet. I have invited his new owners to our place to see just what it is that we do and how unique our program(s) are here plus that our adoption success rates are second to none out there for a reason. As so many know, we live in complete harmony in a sizeable multi-dog home and my background in training/behavoural work plus medically has been of deep benefit to us operating BHRR at such a quality filled level. However; to me; the reality is that as much as the Vets and our Supporters thank myself and Sean; I keep saying over and over again; that I could not do what I do without such amazing people that give of themselves in their belief of what we do at BHRR and YOU are those strong links on that ‘chain of success’. AND thank you from my heart and soul for that. I do hope that his new owners will attend one of our upcoming BHRR Mini Open Houses to see how we operate and to meet others(they have met one couple that has adopted two Danes from us in the past) that are involved in our program(s) and to see first hand what BHRR is all about. AND Barkley, I shall be meeting you in my dreams…..

BHRR’s Barkley shall be going to his NEW ADOPTED home tonight! We will miss you Barkley so much and I look forward to hearing about how you ROCK your obedience classes!!!!

On my way to do Barkley’s hv today, I stopped by The Wag Pet Shop to drop off some things for tomorrow(all tips on May 16th will come to BHRR to help BHRR’s Ava Marie) and Barkley had a great social time there! He even met a dilute Blue Doberman puppy. From there, he went with my son(my HV partner for today)and I to PetSmart on Innes Road in East Ottawa and he just LOVED those skinny pigs there! To some people, I almost felt like I do when I have my Great Danes around some people for a few were really nervous of Barkley and made a wide berth around him and that was so unfortunate and wrong. Barkley is a loving boy and he has NOT met a person or dog he has not yet loved! After the PetSmart visit, off to do Barkley’s hv for this pending adoption and I cannot state enough how PROUD I am of Barkley. This is why I work so hard to train/rehabilitate dogs and why I have my Masters’s in Animal Behavour AND why I am currently working on my PhD in the same discipline for Barkley PROVED to be impeccable with his recall, obedience with sitting and taking treats gently PLUS sharing water bowls etc.. He did not do one grump, growl or resource moment even when one or two of the other dogs in attendance there did themselves to him. He handled the homes’ areas of hardwood floors really well. He was very ‘brave’. I had another long conversation about proper food for Barkley and why he should have a super premium kibble if he cannot be fed RAW; that he will need his HW Preventative beginning on June 1st as I gave him his May Sentinel and that his HWT was negative; the size of crate minimally he should have etc. I did receive a comment about how short Barkley’s nails are and I joked that I am a bit of a nail nazi yet also discussed the importance of why his nails should be really short – minimizes risk of injury of a nail getting caught while playing; helps get Barkley over his ‘terror’ of having them done as he gets tons of love and treats; important to be able to handle his feet should he hurt himself – especially important to those of us that work at animal hospitals and that another reason is that with very long nails; I have seen many a broken or deformed toe. We also talked more about the ‘sharing’ and NILIF training and that I do not desire to see all the hard work that not just I but Barkley has put into his training plus emotional rehab to go backwards. He proved to me yet again today HOW far he has come in such a short time and I am also just loving the muscle mass he is putting on! He is about 12 pounds or so from when he first came to BHRR and is looking really good. We do not want him fat or skinny, just right! I told the home that I felt most content with this adoption proceeding and that they could let me know what their thoughts were and I would leave to go home with Barkley to give them some privacy to discuss and they told me they want him and there was nothing to think about! 😉 Once they are all set up for Barkley’s; they will contact me and we shall co-ordinate a mutually convenient time and I indicated that they could also pay his adoption fee at that time as I was not worried in their being committed to him. I am so happy for you BHRR’s Barkley and I am sure going to miss your ‘wet nose in my ear kisses’, the bumping of my elbow as I try to type on the computer and I know that in time; you will feel most comfortable without fear of rejection in asking for that same love from your new family! I will miss rubbing your ‘special’ spot under your chin, your ‘Dobie’ whine if I walked too far away from you and I will miss seeing you just blossoming to your full potential under the right guidance and love. What I might not miss so much is your 3 AM squeaking of your CUZ toy! LOL Saying good-bye is never easy and my dear ‘Sparkly’ Barkley ‘Boo’ you have touched me really deeply! ADOPTED!

Per BHRR’s Alberts’ blog, I was trying to take some outdoor shots of both Albert and Barkley in this rare glorious sunshine that we are having here and neither one of them wanting to be still long enough! LOL So, I went back inside and Barkley being the big ol’ suck he is, followed me and I managed to capture two shots of his head/face. He is doing much better in tackling those scary entrance ways and doorways and his face/eyes are just so darn expressive!!!! He remains under a PENDING ADOPTION at this time and hopefully, within the next few days, we shall have a better idea of this pending adoption outcome. 🙂

BHRR’s Barkley – 3 years – May 13th, 2010 *Look how shiny his coat has become!

Just before I fall into bed for a few(it is almost 2 AM right now), I wanted to post the best of things! When I got home with Tain a couple of hours ago(Tain has been away for a week+); Barkley was sooooooooooo excited to see his buddy that he stood up that right ear of his! YAY! He was so happy and comfortable that he stood it up. This is great news. Before Barkley’s surrender to BHRR; it had been some time since I had seen him at KAH; yet I remembered that he could stand the right ear. I also remember the many talks of encouragement I had tried to give his owners to keep taping that left ear when he was younger yet this is who Barkley is and I know that the right forever matched home will love him whether one stands, both or none. I was just so thrilled to see that he was comfortable enough to just be alert and excited and SOOOOOOOOOOOO interested in seeing his good bud Tain come home! This is such a huge positive step for Barkley!!!! I am also putting Barkley under a PENDING ADOPTION at this time. We shall not be accepting any more applications until such time as we can best determine if this is or is not the right matched home for him.

I have added new pictures to Barkley’s slideshow #16 – #20. I am adding two of those photos below. One of them is with Frost, a GD that we are taking care of for the next 7 months or so for a friend and they ADORE each other. Wide open crate and both can be found lying next to each other! It is such great news that Barkley is physically healed! YAY! AND as of today, he shall be placed up for adoption for we believe that his emotionally rehab can continue in his right matched forever loving home! We believe in full disclosure at BHRR and while a Doberman experienced home is preferred, it is secondary to finding that home that shall continue working with Barkley on his emotionally rehab including sharing that involves NILIF with an understanding yet firm and kind hand/approach. He is living in a large multi-dog home right now and is doing wonderfully and we wish to see him continue on this path of success! NOW AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!

BHRR’s Barkley with Frost(5 month GD Pup we are taking care of for a friend) – May 2nd & BHRR’s Barkley – May 6th, 2010

BHRR’s Barkley came to work with me last night and he was a wiggly 40.2 Kgs(88.44 pounds). I know he weighs quite a bit more yet it was hard to get him to stay still.  😛 He still needs a bit more weight and quite a bit more muscle. Those that saw him were very impressed with how amazing he now looked! What I thought was just a lump of scar tissue has been confirmed by the Vet and she agreed with me that he should still be wearing his E-collar when unsupervised so that he does not ‘lick’ at the area and cause a rash. Once he is more emotionally rehabbed, he shall be placed up for adoption. While an experienced Doberman home is preferred, it is not necessary. What is most important for Barkley is finding that right matched home that is going to continue to work on his emotional rehab and have not only an understanding of what he is needs yet can provide that continued NILIF with a firm loving approach. We have been tackling those ‘scary’ door ways plus entrance ways plus chairs and the TV. He is finally able to lie down on a dog bed while the TV is on and not feeling like he has to go into his ‘safe’ spot, his crate. We want people that are interested in BHRR’s Barkley to understand that as we believe in full disclosure that we do not desire to see Barkley set up for failure by placing him in a home that is not going to continue to work on him sharing etc. He is living in harmony with 19 other dogs right now as we set the clear expectation of what is and what is not appropriate behavour. Barkley is thriving under knowing exactly what is and is not approrpiate and he is not confused as to what he needs to do. He is such an affectionate, playful suck and in the right home is going to contiue to thrive and grow in the right positive direction. I am a ‘momma bear’ over all our BHRR dogs, yet I find myself even more so protective of Barkley with all that he has gone through. On our way home on Friday, I received the best of gifts, my very first kiss from BHRR’s Barkley and he gave me not one, but two! No words can explain how much that meant to me! THANKS so much again from our hearts to all that have contributed to his BEGGING FOR BARKLEY Fundraiser!

As I have not been able to personally thank each donator in person for their support of BHRR’s Barkley with funds being sent to Kanata Animal Hospital directly; so this is the next best thing! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! The sheer warmth, caring and kindness that has been extended to Barkley in his time of need has just touched me deeply. He is a really sweet boy that needs more emotional plus a bit more physical healing and in the right experienced and understanding approved home, he is just going to blossom! THANKS to all the wonderful generosity sent his way to help save him.

BHRR’s Barkley is healing really well and I took a new picture tonight of his incision area and will add ASAP. He has had a small ‘bump’ just on the side of his incision as it has been healing and it has not pained him yet tonight I noticed it was larger and took a closer look at it. It causes him no discomfort to examine or touch, is not red, swollen etc. yet I will feel better to have a recheck done on him and shall see about getting him in on April 30th if I can when I work that day. Probably just scar tissue inside. I also want to get an updated weight on him to see how he is doing! Tonight, Sean also held him while I did his nails. This was the first time we have done his nails for we had them done last time when he was under having his obstruction surgery. His back nails no problem at all but his front nails…not so good. He was scared and slightly peed the poor dog and he was full of ‘bluff’ growling and I had not even started doing those nails yet. A lesser experienced person would have been intimidated. It made us sad to see him that way yet Barkley had a strong constitution to try to ‘bully’ and ‘bluff’ to get us not to do his nails, yet that was not going to happen for it is clear that in the past in his own home(something his previous owners had also mentioned to me plus is in his file at KAH), this behavour had been used and he ‘won’ and got his way. He was reassured, patted and I went along calmly to get his nails done. When I was done, he wanted in his crate and we let him in as that is his ‘safe’ spot and I gave him a special treat which he took with that really cute wagging nub of a tail. This was confirmation that he had to have had some bad experience in the past, he was nervous and that by trying to be intimidating, he had been given his way. The wagging tail and willingness to take the treat proved that he is just a big sweet baby in the right hands and that the ‘bluffing’ and attempting to ‘bully’ is not going to be tolerated YET how we handled this inappropriate behavour was most important. We did not get upset, angry, panic or scared. He was given a calming word, touch and onward bound we went. NO big deal is how we handled it and to Barkley after he was in his crate, it truly was not a big deal. We shall see what next week brings when it is time to do his nails again, for I want his front feet handled often with those clippers. So, for those wanting to understand this behavour, Barkley exhibited both fear and ‘intimidation’ in regards to his nails. This boy still has some mental rehab to do before he shall be ready for adoption and he shall not go to a home that is inexperienced with Dobermans. I woud like to see him in a home with at least one other dog, male or female is of no matter as long as they are compatible with BHRR’s Barkley in respect to sociability and his playfulness level. Barkley has loved all the dogs and kids and people he has met to date. Barkley is just completely enamored with BHRR’s Porridge and he and BHRR’s Storm could walk in circles all day long as they keep trying to sniff each other’s rumps! LOL For those that have been to our home, you will most understand what I mean in regards to his comfort zone with our hardwood floors from just at Sean’s desk on the main floor to the TV on the other side and from the water bowl at the fireplace to the door to the sunroom. That is his ‘comfort’ area and he will not venture further at this time. At one point, he found himself close to the kitchen area and when he realised, he froze, did that ‘Dobie’ whine and scurried back into his comfort zone. Barkley now has a Kuranda Bed in his Crate, compliments of BHRR’s Potter lending him his as in his ‘feedback’ to me at one point when I put him into his crate for a ‘time out’, he decided to try and shred up his blankets for the first time and so, bye-bye blankets! The look on his face! LOL Dobies can be notorious for chewing and ingesting things they should not and his new home is going to have to be really careful about what Barkley has access to. When we go out, even if it is for me to put the kids on the bus; he is in his 45″ collosal crate. There shall be no opportunities for Barkley to be put into a situation of failure here to obtain another possible obstruction. He is not allowed stuffies and all toys that he is allowed to play with and he loves to playbow and play when he feels like it; are closely supervised. Barkley could eat all day if you let him and I now feeding him three times a day and he is getting his hill work every morning with me to build up muscle. He has gotten much better about sharing the water bowl and if a dog is strong enough to call his ‘bluff’, he backs down gracefully and waits his turn or shares the water bowl. GOOD boy Barkley! It is clear that he will test you and does test us, more myself than Sean and that the more guidance and consistency of training he is getting, he is becoming that much better with his own behavour stability. I cannot wait to see how things are going to be once we take the e-collar off him and he is also out of his honeymoon period! It is also going to be very revealing to see how he is when it comes to bath time for as the spring mud is drying up, the dogs are a bit dusty and with the warmer weather comes baths! YAY! We are still trying to raise another $822.78 for his BEGGING FOR BARKLEY Fundraiser and deepest thanks being sent to everyone that has believed in him to reach out to support Barkley! If all goes well, my hope is to have BHRR’s Barkley placed up for adoption within the month.  🙂 This will depend on how far he has come more with his mental rehab and his obedience for Barkley also likes to get into that ‘selective’ hearing mode. OMG! It is so funny to see yet as I have often been told ‘Gwennie invented the word stubborn’and he has more than met his match in that department!  😉 😀 I am having so much fun with Barkley in the house! He has been a real treat to have here with us! Something that I have not yet mentioned is that from the very first night he arrived, I found his ‘spot’ and it is just under his chin and he loves loves loves to have it rubbed. He will lean into you and just sigh with pleasure.  🙂

BHRR’s Barkley is healing just wonderfully from his obstruction surgery on April 1st and we continue to thank everyone who has assisted him to date with his BEGGING FOR BARKLEY Fundraiser! I am adding 2 pictures below from April 10th, 2010 and I have so many yet to put together for his slideshow. His sutures were subcutaneous yet you can see how well his incision is looking! Tonight, BHRR’s Barkley is going to help make a TON of homemade cinnamon buns; so that I can bring them into the Hospital with me tomorrow to THANK all the great staff that I work with that pulled together to save his life. It cannot be said enough, what a miracle story Barkley is! He could really use some more financial support to finish paying off his extensive Vet/Rehab Bills and on behalf of BHRR’s Barkley, I humbly thank everyone in advance for your consideration.

BHRR’s Barkley (2.5+) – April 10th, 2010

Since you have now seen the inside of BHRR’s Barkley, let me informally introduce you to the outside of BHRR’s ‘Honourary’ Great Dane, BHRR’s Barkley, the newest addition to BHRR! His coat is really dry, flaky plus dull and he needs a lot more muscle toning BUT he is one gorgeous boy. I cannot wait to see how he looks in a few weeks time! Please consider helping BHRR’s Barkley by donating to his “BEGGING FOR BARKLEY” Fundraiser.

BHRR’s Barkley(2.5+ years of age) – April 1st – post – op at BHRR with Sean & BHRR’s Barkley – April 2nd – 1st day post-op

I am posting a slideshow of Barkley’s surgergical procedures to remove the flip flop obstruction that he had inside of him since at least March 14th, 2010. Most likely somewhat earlier for when he was brought to KAH on March 15th, 2010, he was already in an anorexic state. There are a couple of those pictures that you can see the 4″ portion of his intestine removed and the flip flop that was inside of his intestine. There are also a couple of pictures that also show how close he was to perforating.

WARNING! GRAPHIC PICTURES!

There is so much to update since the urgency to save BHRR’s Barkley’s life with his emergency surgery last Thursday April 1st. Our goals are kept small and focused. To get him through the first 12 hours and then the next 12 hours and then the next 24 and then the next 24 hours. The first 5 days are going to be the most critical for BHRR’s Barkley. Please consider donating to ‘BEGGING FOR BARKLEY’S Fundraiser! We cannot continue to do what we do best without our amazing public fans of BHRR and the animals in need of BHRR! Truly, $5.00 is not too small! I am truly begging for whatever assistance we can obtain to help Barkley. He is a walking ‘miracle’!!!!

Night 1 & Day 1– April 1st & April 2nd:
Though Chelsea, Stephanie, myself and Tama carried Barkley into my car; he walked in to the house – he was standing up in my back seat on the way home – and he promptly peed in our ‘triage’ area instead of outside! LOL I had to manually ‘pill’ him with his Tramadol plus Clavamox as he was not yet allowed to begin to eat anything and I did not go home with hydro to inject which I normally have done in the past. The idea was to go home with two extra bags of fluid, yet we only had one left at KAH plus the one he was still on and so, if needed I would head out to OVH or Alta Vista to obtain a bag off them if needed.

I have never had an obstruction animal walk into our home post-surgery. Barkley is just incredible with how he is travelling this road to recovery.

Flushed his line on his IV, checked his surgical area, took some pictures(will also post pictures taken at KAH durning his procedure) and he settled for a few hours, took him out for a huge pee before going to bed around 1 AM.

Up just before 4 AM for he was uncomfortable, got him re-settled with Sean in the triage area and then up at 6 AM, took him out, no pee this time and no more leaking of diarrhoea since I got him home last night and changed his bag of fluids/flushed his line, offered him some gastro canned food with his Clavamox; ate wonderfully and then he went and settled down again for a couple of hours. He has really bonded with Sean as Sean was the one who spent the night in the triage area with him as I took the other dogs with me into our bedroom. My dogs have seen enough surgical cases here that they know the routine and are very respectful.

Had another huge pee around 10:30 AM and shotly afterwards I offered him more food with his Tramadol and that went well, so I pulled him off his fluid bag on April 2nd around 2:45 PM. The bag would have finished around 4 PM as is and we did not have the second extra bags to put him on to ideally keep him on the fluids for 24 hours post-op YET it if he was eating and drinking then he could be taken off the fluids. He has had two more huge pees.

Night 2 – April 2nd:
BHRR’s Barkley had a much better night. He is eating his gastro like he has been starving, which of course he had been(barely over 81 pounds when he was surrendered) yet he is not yet ready to be re-introduced to kibble.

Day 2 – April 3rd:
Barkley continues to eat really well, pee and my only one very small concern was his lack of drinking(several reasons can be found for this) and we tried wetting down the Gastro with water etc. AS of this AM, his pee was beginning to become a wee bit more concentrated. He did have a really good night of rest with Sean in the triage area too! He is taking his meds well(and I am happy that I do not have to manually pill him anymore too! LOL). GOSH! He is so bonded to Sean! HOLY! 🙂 BHRR’s Barkley is such an affectionate boy!!!!

Anyway, I did bring home from work that day a bag of Sodium Chloride in case I needed to subq him(with the temps outside, that does not help right now) yet finally later today, he had about 3 cups of water between noon and tonight for Sean while I was working at the Hospital and then training a Client SOOOOO we are still on track with moving forward! I shall recheck his surgical area again tonight.

As mentioned there are several reasons why he was most likely not drinking and just in case I have what I need on hand if I have to subq him as I like to be prepared.

From talking to another one of the Vets that I work with and with him having looked at Barkley’s surgical pictures, he is indeed one incredibly lucky boy! Truly a miracle that he survived with an obstruction like this for so long and how close he was to having a perforation.  😥

Now, we wait for ‘poop’! It can take anywhere from 3-5 days post-op. AND this is essential to his survival and knowing if his surgery is really successful.

Night 3: April 3rd:
Tonight, we put BHRR’s Barkley into a collosal crate to rest and dismantled our ‘triage’ area. BHRR’s Barkley had become so tightly bonded to Sean that we could already see small signs of S/A beginning to develop and we also did not wish to encourage any possible ‘resourcing’ for apparently Barkley has resourced over things such as high value things like Rawhides in his old home. From what I was told he had even resourced over his own vomit at one time. With Sean quickly becoming a ‘high’ value item to Barkley, we wanted to ‘nix’ that in the bud before anything developed yet we have had no issues with resourcing here right now. He has ‘grumped’ at the dogs at time when they have passed his crate yet that is not unusual. His crate is in the high traffic area of our sunroom and once he is told ‘no’, he settles down fine. This is a whole new environment for Barkley and though he lived in a home with one other dog(PitX), there are a few more here than there! 😉 Dogs can feel threatened if they are closed in, even if a person or dog approaching their crate is friendly. This does not worry me. He is acting totally normal. Also, he has been fully integrated with all but a mere handful of dogs right now, not all at once and he has been fine. Curious, tail wagging and if anything interested in possibly seeing if he has made a new friend or two. He is wearing his E-Collar for he would for certain go right for his incision as he has done at his IV line. He is great about us taking it on and off and it has not fazed him in wearing it. The second day, he did spend some time trying to get it off yet is accepting of it. It is already doctored with duct tape from him cracking it on our coffee table the first night. He was also very unsure of our hardwood floors when he first came here after surgery. He is still quite hesitant even now.

Day 3 – April 4th – “WE HAVE POOP!”
Barkley had a large, soft yet nicely formed poop around 8:30 AM today. There was no straining and he was not in the least bit uncomfortable nor was there any blood or debris in it. This is HUGE HUGE HUGE! Even as per his Vet that I sent an update to: “That’s fantastic. Looks like he’s out of the woods now!”

Second poop around 4:00 PM and it soft, no mucous, blood and no signs of straining or being uncomfortable. A little more gas this time. He continues to eat his Gastro like he is starving and though he still is not drinking water out of a bowl on its own, he is at least staying hydrated. We are mashing up his wet food with water to encourage him to stay hydrated. Today was the first day that Sean took him into the fenced in yard(so many smells from the other dogs there, so we had been taking him outside the fenced in yard to our front lawn to do his ‘thing’) and he handled it really well.

Night 4 – April 4th:
We have leant that BHRR’s Barkley is not comfortable going out at night to pee. So many sounds in the country that he is not used to. He just quickly voids a bit and then wants to come in. As he is here longer, he will adjust well. If he continues to eat and drink well, then I shall introduce some kibble to his food Monday night(April 5th) – Day 4. You can tell that though he is still quite painful, he is feeling a lot better and gosh, he was so excited/happy to see me Monday AM, April 5th, that he literally wanted to jump on me. 🙂 The pain that he is going through now is a ‘healing’ pain and no longer the agonizing pain he had been experiencing.  I have also noticed that neither one of his ears are standing. I know in  the past from his previous visits to KAH(has been some time since I have seen him that is for sure) that one of his ears would stand yet that was almost a year ago, I guess. No matter, he is adorable and I see no reason why he cannot be placed up for adoption once he is full healed. He makes me miss my own Dobie that I lost in 1989! Such a fantastic breed of dog!

BHRR’s Barkley is out of surgery now. In quoting the Vet, Barkley is ‘one lucky dog for within the next 24 hours, the flip flop would have perforated and most likely he would then be dead’. This would have been an excruciating painful way to die. She removed one huge piece of flip flop and had to remove 4″ of his intestine. There were 2 other areas on his intestine that had adhesions yet appeared otherwise normal enough that the Vet felt that as the flip flop had passed through that area already(most likely obstructed in those areas and then eventually worked its way through), that a perforation leading to possible peritonitis should not be a major factor for those spots so she did not go into those areas to explore more closely. This is what we were discussing last night before he came to KAH, that the flip flop had to have been obstructing his intestine, then was passed further down and then obstructed again and then moved once more and then led to this final full obstruction. I cannot imagine how agonizing this had to have been for him. Of course, there is a chance that those areas could perforate as they were damaged and have adhesions and of course peritonitis is a huge concern for the area that was operated on. His stomach was full yet no foreign or hard body material to be found. His bw did come back with a slight elevation on his WBC yet surprisingly enough, his kidneys and liver are showing no signs of damage. He is resting now and around 7:30 PM or so tonight, I shall bring him home and will set up our `triage`area for him to recoup in. He will be on Deramaxx 100 mg plus Gastro wet food for the next 4 days or so and was given a Cerenia injection last night(for vomiting). He will be coming home with Clavamox(antibiotics too). BHRR`s Barkley is one `miracle`dog, that is all that we can say. Keep him in your thoughts and if I remember, I shall bring my camera to KAH to take a picture of this flip flop and will be posting pictures of this sweet survivor! I also want to thank those that have donated funds to his `BEGGING FOR BARKLEY` Fundraiser. The next 24 hours is our `goal`for him and then our new goal shall be the next `24` hours after that and then the next `24`hours. One step at a time here for Barkley.

I just got off the phone with Kanata Animal Hospital and it looks like BHRR’s Barkley had a good night and was out for a pee and appears to be in good enough shape for surgery in a couple of hours. I just got up myself after falling into bed close to 5 AM and even the few hours I did get were restless as I worried about Barkley. Will update his blog as I can. Please send Barkley your well wishes….

BHRR’s Barkley, another ‘Honourary’ Great Dane was surrendered to BHRR at Kanata Animal Hospital around 7:30 PM on March 31st, 2010. Barkley is a purebred Doberman(ears cropped – one ear does not stand, tail docked), neutered and will be turning 3 years on April 20th, 2010. He is in extreme urgent need of assistance and I can only hope that perhaps when someone reads even part of his story below that they might consider donating funds to help us help him. I feel that BHRR has been so kindly done by our supporting public that has allowed us since September of 2010 to help such incredible special needs animals like BHRR’s Jaxson, BHRR’s Potter plus BHRR’s Ava Marie and now we find ourselves reaching out in the hopes that someone(s) might consider helping BHRR’s Barkley. Around March 14th, 2010, Barkley apparently chewed a flip flop. The owners took him home after he was hospitalized for a few days, declining surgery and were hoping that he would pass the flip flop as he did a year previously when he ate a sock and yet this time, the object has become lodged/obstructed in his large intestine. When he was in at the Hospital the week of March 15th, he was a very anorexic 40 KGs(88 pounds) and as of March 31st upon his surrender to BHRR; he weighed only 37 KGs(81.4 pounds) and was lethargic, painful to palpate and dehydrated. The one owner told me when she called me at Kanata Animal Hospital at around 4:30 PM on March 31st that for the last few days he appeared to be going from room to room as if looking for a place to die. They asked if BHRR would consider assisting him as an ‘honourary’ Great Dane for his other options were to be put to sleep or dying at home. They did not wish to see Barkley die if there was a way to get him the help he needs. That had just hoped and wished that he would have passed his obstruction when they took him home that week of March 15th. I was very honest and said that we would need to see his condition now for over 2 weeks have passed and he might not be stable to even survive the surgery. Barkley has been barely eating and had begun to strain more often than not when he tried to poop. He appeared to be drinking some though. I wanted to be very honest that if Barkley was not stable and with so much time having past, it might be most humane to euthanize yet BHRR would step up to assist to at least further evaluate his condition and to go from there. The belief is that the object(flip flop piece(s)) are shifting and he has now gone to a possible full obstruction. Without an exploratory/obstruction surgery, we will not know if he has a necrotic bowel etc. and we did bw, X-Rays and put him on medications plus IV fluids. As so many know, I always bring my dogs home to treat overnight yet in Barkley’s situation as he had not yet been here, it would be too ‘much’ stimulation and his surgery is going to be first thing in the morning – April 1st, 2010. His exam showed him to be painful upon palpation and it was hard even getting an IV line into his leg, took two tries.

I am going to call this Fundraiser ‘Begging For Barkley’ as BHRR is so incredibly financially pinched at this time and even tonight, I put all that I had left until my own pay day on to Barkley’s current bill and tonights bill alone was around $1,000+. His Surgery/Rehab will be another $2,500+. I wish that I had pictures to post of this sweet and so very sick boy yet there really was no time nor camera for as from the moment he was surrendered, we began treatment immediately and I did not leave the hospital until almost 9 PM and HUGE thanks to Dr. Ramoutar plus Stephanie for being there with me! By the time we left work, BHRR’s Barkley was considered stable enough to be considered to have surgery on April 1st.

If anyone feels emotionally pulled in by even part of Barkley’s story; you can donate by PayPal or email transfer to gwen@birchhaven.org (just let us know the password) or you can call Kanata Animal Hospital directly at (613) 836-2848 and pay by Visa, Mastercard or even American Express. He is under the name of ‘Barkley’ under the account of ‘Birch Haven Rescue’.

Without us taking in BHRR’S Barkley, he would shortly be dead. That is a hard reality and he does not deserve to die when BHRR is prepared to try and save him. I will take and post pictures of this boy ASAP.

From deep within my heart, I thank everyone for reading this blog and for your consideration. I know this is why BHRR exists YET I also know that without our ‘chain of success’ links(ALL OF YOU!) being as strong as they have been, that we could not do all that we do and on behalf of BHRR’s Barkley, I am truly begging for more help so that we can help him get better.