I was just saying today that I did not think Ocean was putting on the weight right and was wondering what her fecal results would tell us and BINGO! Received the message that she has Giardia. I have put her on Metronidazole 250 mg(3 tabs BID) for the next 7 days. I have enough at home to begin her treatment and if more is required, I will obtain more at that time. I will re-test her fecal in a couple of weeks time once treatment has ended. She has settled in well and though is ‘weak’ and cannot play as long as the other dogs; she is very much ‘in the throes’ of the play when she can. I said to Sean that she is so much like Dana it is ‘uncanny’ and that while they are ‘close’ they will also have their moment’s with word exchanging and already we have had that twice. Dana almost does not want to let Ocean out of her site and Ocean wants some privacy and watching the dynamics unfold has been interesting. Close as two sisters these two are yet with that comes ‘ups’ and ‘down’s…LOL Ocean is so much like Dana that she even has taken to climbing on the couch as if it is her right; no matter how many pillows and foot stools I put up there! LOL She is a very smart girl. She is picking up her name and ‘sit’ has come really fast to her. Sit = many rewards with praise, her dinner/breakfast etc and some treats so that has been a fast sign for her. ‘No’ is not quite there yet and ‘watch’ me is funny with her for SHE will now watch me at times and when I signal to her; she will deliberately turn her head and walk away *if* she does not want to do what I ask her. Tethering has been a valuable training tool with her and just like Dana; she figured out really fast where the dog food is stored and has taken the rubbermaid down once already. She also is very much a ‘Kanga-Dane’ and when we had guests here on Saturday; on a standstill right beside him, she just jumped over our 38″ GD Bronson. She is ‘built’ for power, speed and I am waiting for Abbi to realise that she has such a partner in crime to play with for there is not other Dane here that can keep up with Abbi’s running/zooming outside!!!! Ocean has had no problems with her crate training and goes in readily and settles down beautifully. She has done a few whines here and there but after a some seconds, goes to sleep. She can ‘hear’ certain tones yet it could also be the vibration associated with those tones. I know that my PPSS is completely deaf but he has a nose that smells the remotest of delicious things and he can literally wake up from a dead sleep when I open up a new bag of dog food! LOL Ocean is a pleasure to have here and we are enjoying learning about her and she has most definitely ‘claimed’ me as hers. I cannot even climb into the tub without her wanting to come in with me! LOL But if one of the kids are lying on our bed watching TV, she has learned that the bed is a great place to be and can be found snuggling with them. Ocean just LOVES people of all types, sizes, shapes and ages. I want to make a public post here to thanking two of our BHRR adopters, now wonderful friends for the dog coat donated as Ocean was really in need of a coat to call her own. THANK YOU! I am still feeding Ocean about 5 small meals a day. I am most defnitely smitten with this special girl!!!! NO DOUBTS ABOUT THAT! 😀

I took Ocean to work with me tonight and she weighed 37.4 KGS(82.28 pounds). So, since she was first weighed at the Shelter, she has put on 11 pounds. SHE must have looked beyond terrible then for she is extremely thin at this time. I took in a fecal and we are running a HWT test. Her heart and lungs sound great, she was wonderfully social and very quiet at the hospital and everyone loved her! The Vet looked at her ear and is not quite sure what it is yet was not concerned. Could be a spot she created by scratching at with her foot. She cleaned it up and put some panalog on it and thinks it will be just fine. We were able to confirm that she is spayed(took two of us to lay her on her side for the Vet to look BUT she was so great about it). We will wait until she has put on more weight before giving her Rabies. She is just so friendly and everyone there could see that she is almost ‘untamed’ in her mannerisms though. She took treats very gently from everyone too. She is a lovely Great Dane that is for sure! In respect to the drinking and frequency of urination, we are going to monitor for now(as indicated, we are not sure how often she had water in the past) and if need be, will run a UA if things require it. The Vet was not worried about it right now.

I met Georges in Rigaud, Quebec on Thursday to pick up BHRR’s Ocean and as soon as I saw her; I found her to be ‘cute as a button’ and I have nicknamed her ‘my wee button’! The Shelter had given her a bath that AM so she was so sweet smelling too! I am positive that within the next few weeks; I am going to call her a ‘mule’ too FOR she is another survivor. The pictures I have taken(it was dark when I got home) with Sean do not show how emaciated she really is. 😥 She is as bad as BHRR’s Dana when Dana first arrived in our program last November and almost as weak too. She has absolutely not one inch of fat on her body and you can see the muscle wasting that has gone on. I just well up with such emotions over seeing such incredibly sweet creatures in this condition. The ‘story’ that we have on her is that she is an o/s(the people originally said she was a stray they found) and there seems to be some ‘question’ as to whether this home had her since she was a puppy or did get her about 8 months ago from a Breeder or a ‘friend’, who really knows. The paperwork says that she is spayed(Shelter also feels she is) and I am sure in the car when Océane(that was her name given by her previous owners and we are calling her Ocean) splayed on her back with all four feet in the air 😛 that I saw her spay incision. I will look closer at the Hospital tomorrow when I bring her in for a HWT(we learned that she was born in October 2007 – day not known – AND I did feel from looking at her pictures that she was around 1 year of age and her teeth place her about 1+ year too); do a fecal(her stool was soft yet not badly formed and smelly!) I have put her on Sentinel(The shelter has recorded that they gave her Advantage on December 19th, 2008) and I shall begin to de-worm her tomorrow as a proactive measure – The shelter did one de-worming on December 12th, 2008 but she was due for another one at the end of December); do a skin scraping on the side of her head behind one ear(not sure at this time what that is – could be any number of things and I am going to hold off posting any of my own speculations until I confer with my Vet on her own thoughts; but I am not overly worried right now); exam etc. I noticed that the Sherbrooke Shelter had given her her DHLPP and I will be holding off on any Rabies etc. until she is healthy. The weight that the Shelter had recorded back in December(no date given as to when this weight was taken) was 71.28 pounds(32.4 KGS). To put this into perspective, I did a ‘rough’ tape measurement on Ocean when I got her home(happy wiggly monster she was) and she stands 32″ at the whithers. THAT is one very painfully thin Great Dane in the height/weight ratio.  😥 Another perspective is looking at my 5 month old Great Dane that is only 27″ at the shoulder and yet weighs 80 pounds AND he is nice, healthy and properly ribby as a Great Dane should be. We will see how much she weighs tomorrow. She is quite feminine in her mannerisms(for now! LOL) and her body type is ‘typical’ of what we see come out of that province. She is not a shrinking violet either this one. She is very social with humans(men, women, kids), dogs and the Shelter says also with cats. She has proven herself to be housebroken and has asked several times to go outside yet I would not be surprised if she has an accident or two during her adjustment with us. She has been very quiet in her crate(no issues getting her in) and has been fully integrated with all but 2 dogs here at this time(No playing allowed with Lil Linus due to his head and KB/JB due to what we believe is osteosarcoma and are awaiting further testing). She has ‘no fear’ yet is almost ‘wild’ and ‘untamed’ in her manner. Handshy is not what I would say she is, just undersocialised, independent and wants the love when she wants it and at times, she really wants it but when she is ‘done’, she is done! LOL She is a little bit shy yet I believe that has more to do with her new surroundings for she has just jumped right in here as if she has always been here for the most part. She can be ‘flightly’ with some sudden movements and I can confirm that she is DEAF. Through time, we will see if she can detect ‘tones’ or some ‘sounds’ etc. The paperwork that they owners filled out for the Shelter says that she has leash manners and Georges was quick to tell me that this was not the case! LOL His message to me that he was on his way even said that Ocean was trying to drive the car with him! Georges did say that she eventually settled down and slept most of the drive to meet me. When I got her, other than one moment of trying to get in the front; she settled down with a nice meaty knucklebone and traveled great!!! She does not know her name or any other signs that I can determine at this time despite what the previous owners have stated. When you tell her ‘no’ she just looks at you and walks away and if you try to ‘call’ her; she just looks at you and walks away and if you try to tell her to ‘watch’ you, she just looks at you and walks away! LOL That does not surprise me. When we are told that people have gotten rid of dogs as the ‘issues’ with their Danes are that they ‘jump’ & ‘bark’; we pretty much know they have had little to zero of the proper obedience. Ocean loves to drink and she could drink and drink and drink some more. I limit her water intake and if need be, I will run a UA on her. She has ‘mysterious’ aura about her and I am looking forward to really getting to her ‘depths’ of which I have NO doubt she has many layers to learn more about her. She is very intriguing and ‘oozes’ inner strength, dignity and kindness. She is the type of dog that you just ‘notice’. There is just ‘something about Ocean!’ 😉 She was also very gentle in taking treats from my hand. The one thing that really makes me realise is that when she stands next to BHRR’s Lil Linus; I realise what a ‘moose’ he really is! LOL What a contrast between her feminine bone structure/frame and his ‘tank’ body and he is nice, healthy and properly ribby himself! She is just so precious……..I am so happy that she was not put to sleep that Saturday(THANKS Cindy & Georges!) and that BHRR was called to assist for I will never forget how my heart sank when I received the message that she was slated to be put to sleep that same day if we could not step up to assist. SHE deserves SO MUCH better than what she has received in life to date and my promise to her is that she is going to be taken care of now and for the rest of her life. She shall never again experience the pain and suffering she has had in the past. I cannot wait for people to meet her for she is going to just captivate the world!!!! When I look deep into her soft blue eyes; I see what Sean commented on as well; a ‘tinge’ of Snowball’s similar stength plus shining beauty and we know how special Snowball was; a one of a kind Great Dane and Ocean is the same.  I know that BHRR’s Ocean would really appreciate any/all emotional and financial supporters to her rehabilitation for it is going to be some time before she is ready to be adopted.

BHRR’s Océane(Ocean) – January 22nd, 2009

I will be getting Ocean on Thursday afternoon and I have an appointment booked with one of my Vets for Friday night. I shall bring Ocean to work with me on the Friday and it will be a great opportunity to see how she is initially with various situations, people, sounds, sights and smells.

We have someone from the Quebec Office of The Animal Alliance of Canada prepared to bring this girl half way to meet us later this week; most likely on Thursday afternoon. I will post updates as I can. THANK you Georges!

We have been asked to assist with a SN’s(Deaf) Light Marked Harlequin Great Dane in Quebec. She is young(will get a better gauge on age after she arrives), spayed, painfully thin and appears to be really sweet. We have been told that the ‘problems’ she has is that she jumps and barks. I am hoping that she will arrive by end of week and look forward in meeting her! I am attaching 2 pictures of her below that were sent my way of her and the name we are calling her is ‘Ocean’. She was scheduled to be pts on Saturday and I received a vm that day asking if BHRR could assist. They are prepared to ‘hold’ on to her until we can get her to BHRR. The drive one way for us is 4 hours and the earliest I can do this is Thursday yet I am hoping that one of our Volunteers might be able to step up and possibly help us. WE can hope!!!!  NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!!

BHRR’s Ocean