BHRR’s Potter is healing wonderfully from his neuter and I took of his fashionable E-Collar on Tuesday night and he has been really great about not bothering with his incision. The honeymoon period is officially over and the house has become his playground with a newly added close friend BHRR’s Dana! 🙄 We are now doing tethering training and Potter DEFINITELY DOES NOT like being asked to do things he does not want to do and when he does not want to do them. You can tell that he has had zero obedience training and is used to ‘ruling’ his own roost. His leash manners have greatly improved though. He is slowly picking up hand signals and yet still wishes to ‘act’ upon them when he wishes too. He is a very strong personality boy and Sean and I think he is totally NEAT! However; poor Potter has degenerative bone disease plus ‘dry’ joints in addition to beginning to have some of his ‘negative’ behavoural quirks come more to the surface now that the honeymoon period is over. Quirks that I am not comfortable at this time seeing him placed in a home. From the moment he walked into our home; they have been ‘there’ and I am watching them closely and being very proactive on his training. He is fairly quick to want to use his ‘mouth’ (not bite yet he will attempt to mouth you) to express himself when being taken by his collar to go to his crate or be put on a leash or being taken away from something. He is still not overly fond of his crate yet we are getting there. His housebreaking is also getting there. Nighttime is the worst. He is not comfortable going outside at that time. He truly does love everyone and everydog that he has seen and while ‘interested’ in the guinea pigs; he has not exhibited any prey drive at this time. He has shown no resourcing towards humans or dogs with food, treats and is very gentle about taking items from your hand. He will ‘bark’ if he wants a drink of water and another dog is there. He is not used to other dogs allowing him to share a bowl to drink but he will get there. We are huge on sharing at our home. He will also ‘bark’ if a dog has a toy and he wants it. Other than some ‘I am really peeved’ barking in his crate shortly after you put him in(he will be quiet the whole time I am showering or dressing) and go to leave; he is quiet. It has truly been a blast having him here and BHRR’s Potter shall remain as part of our BHRR Haven Program at this time.

Potter was neutered today plus had a nail trim and he weighed 26.90 KGs(59.18 pounds) and so is putting on weight really nicely. I am so pleased. Still a bit thin though yet getting there and he was a HUGE HUGE HUGE hit at the Hospital and went through his neuter like a ‘tough’ soul. The funny thing was that when all the anesthetic wore off; he was MAD! OMG! He was not happy in his run!!!! Too funny! He was quite vocal to all that would listen about his unhappiness about being stuck in a run! I put a collar on him for I just had this feeling and sure enough; every chance he got; he wanted to go for his incision, so he is now sporting the latest in fashionable E-Collars! 😉 He is now resting well after a small bite to eat for supper on my bed and has adjusted well to his collar BUT I am not stoooopid enough to think that he is going to ‘give’ in so gracelessly after only attempting to take it off a few times. 😉 As Sean and I shall be two ships passing in the night tomorrow afternoon; the little monkey boy might be coming to work with me to hang out, so that he can be watched by someone most of the time! He and Tain shared the back seat, snoozing away as they both had really busy days and after some brief attempts of them both wanting to play(Tain has been showing since last Friday); both settled down to snuggle and rest. HUGE congrats extended to TAIN again on such a great show day and thank you to Barry plus Amine in picking Tain up so that Sean and I could have time this AM after the children went to daycamp to lay BHRR’s KB/JB to proper rest near BLK’s Maggi. Once some time has past, I will decide which flowers or flowering bushes shall best honour our two very precious Great Danes. The past 5 days have been a huge series of ups(Tain’s very impressive wins) and crashing lows with our devastating losses. Thank you again to all that have been there for us. We are blessed! Things remain very sombre in our home as all the dogs are mourning and are confused plus ‘lost’ themselves. This next while shall be a quite time at our home and we shall be focused on the healing process for both humans plus our dogs. Mazda continues to just walk around aimlessly looking and crying for KB/JB and Dragon(our almost 8 year old Great Dane) appears to be most ‘hit’ along with our almost 10.5 year old Newfx Kona; over Maggi’s loss. It breaks our hearts to see them like this….Thank you everyone again for continuing to respect our need for time and some space to get everyone back up on their feet and moving forward with the healing of hearts, souls plus spirits.

BHRR’s Potter was 54.12 pounds(24.6 KGs) at the Vet’s last Wednesday and the Vet confirmed that he does have a bit of eye infection and mild entropion, with the right eye being the worst. His HWT has come back negative and I am awaiting the results of his bw plus fecal. I am moving Potter to the Haven Dog program at this time until we learn more about his hips/hind end. His housebreaking took a huge turn for the worse on Thursday yet we seem to be back on track and he is ‘getting’ it. He has also managed to dismantle and fold completely the same crate again(after we thought we had things all figured….) and I came home from the shows today(CONGRATS again to TAIN for taking WD/BOW today!); he was happy as a lark cuddled on my bed with Dyce and Dragon with crate completely dismantled plus folded up…. 🙄 We do not attempt to feed him in a crate any longer for he just will barely eat. He is eating much better from a small stool and has no resourcing towards humans or dogs. He is also very gentle about taking treats from our hands. He is truly a really neat little boy! He is still scheduled to be neutered this Wednesday and I have finished up his first round of de-worming. His best friends continue to be the ‘three P’s’ – PPSS, Porridge and Parker! He just had to figure out how to ‘work’ around Mr. Parkers’ wicked paws! LOL

BHRR’s Potter came with me to Kinsley’s soccer game Tuesday night and he spent most of his time, snuggled on my lap on the chair! He did FANTASTIC yet again! I think he is becoming a ‘soccer’ fan between Mason’s game and now Kinsley’s! His leash manners continue to improve but when he sees another dog; WOW! He just runs right to the end of the leash and then stands on his hind legs and stares. He just loves other dogs. He has been superb around the guinea pigs here too. He has not had one accident in the house today and he is eating a bit better than when he first arrived. Getting him into the crate remains a bit of a challenge yet he is settling in better and better each time. I thought I would share some new pictures of him and how BHRR’s Dana legacy of the ‘heck with the leather couch’ rule lives on…sigh!!!! 😛 I also meant to post in my last Gwennie Novel that he is quite stiff in the hind end and if need be, we shall do some X-Rays. There was one elderly gentleman at the soccer game tonight who was just positively enamored with Potter and he said that ‘he felt Potter with the whole hip thing’ going on! Those two were so much fun to watch! The man called Potter a ‘mini horse’ so I guess he never met a Great Dane before! 😉 He asked if Potter would be in attendance next Tuesday and who could resist that kind of question!!! Potter has a huge fascination with balls and that seems to be the only toy, other than a cuz that he is interested in. I would like to keep my children’s soccer balls inflated, so I shall have to buy Potter his own collection! I also want to thank Sean for staying behind tonight and not going to Kinsley’s game to fix up one part of our fencing where my perennials live. Potter is small enough to go through to that area whereas the Giant Breeds cannot and he has ‘walked about’ three times and now, it is all fixed up and his one attempt to go through was effectively thrawted!!!! THANKS Sean!!!!

BHRR’s Potter – July 14th, 2009 – hmmmm, settling in????

As many are aware; I drove to New York yesterday to pick up BHRR’s Potter. I also learned some more about him; his last home was his original home and the Animal Control has known about his plight since he was weeks old and it took this long for them to get them to sign him over. They also used to call him ‘Dumbo’ thinking it was funny and because they thought he was dumb. 😥 It took two full grown women to ‘wrangle’ this boy from one vehicle to another; he is so ‘out there with no manners’! I picked him up for 11:30 AM and I have to say that by the time he came to my son’s soccer last night(Potter figured out how to dismantle the crate he was in….NOT even Dana could do that and he had it nice and folded up within half an hour of being put into it….); and based upon his personality; I knew he would be MORE than fine to go to Soccer; and his ‘out of control’ leash manners were gone and he would sit pretty much when I asked him too. He made NOT one peep at the game and either just sat or watched the kids play and he loves the soccer balls though! He could NOT get enough attention from everyone that he saw and it barely took 5 minutes before a person came up to us; and she did not ask if Potter was a ‘PitBull’; she accused me of him being a PitBull…sigh… In my attempts to correctly educate her; I knew it was falling on deaf ears; and even her friend was trying to explain about how wonderful MANY pitties are and that it is the owners/breeders… Potter has natural ears and his tail has not been docked and I have known my share of amazing PitBulls and so, she gave Potter a great compliment! 😉 Potter had been integrated with both PPSS and Abbi(MAN! Was she excited to see someone smaller than her! Potter is 26″) and after he dismantled his crate while I was putting a load of laundry in; he had made the decision that he wanted to be integrated with everyone; for I came upstairs to a nicely folded up crate and all the dogs thundering around the house and outside and inside again; with Potter leading the charge…. 🙄 😛 I knew that he had been living with 8 other dogs without any issues and in just meeting him; that tail is nonstop wagging(I cannot wait for all to meet this cutie for he is going to STEAL your heart with his charm and those deep dark brown eyes!); so I was not worried about his ‘escape’. I had never used this crate before; it was a donation; yet it is the same as one of our other smaller crates and never had an issue with it! So, we can dispell any thoughts by his previous owners about his level of intelligence, for he managed to figure out how it came apart, and pulled in just the right pressure spots to fold it down and I should have taken a picture; it was as if it had just come out of the box; he had it arranged perfectly! He is not fully housebroken at this time; yet we are working on that; he will pee outside and we will get there with the pooping. He is not a fan of his crate and so Gwennie’s Doggie Boot camp as begun in full swing. When he is quiet he gets to come out and he has certainly made himself at home by jumping up on the bed. He has really bonded with both myself and Sean and he is very pack oriented. He is most happiest when we are both together. Sean could not believe the change already in him from when he first came home to when we left the Soccer field. Potter is thriving under rules, routine and guidance and is already beginning to ‘watch’ me and he knows ‘come’ and we are working on that ‘sit’. He understands ‘no’ yet mostly disregards it and we will get there. He is so affectionate yet is hesitant about asking for it; BUT as soon as you give him some encouragement; he can put a Dane to shame with his ‘body lean’s’. He has not even been here 24 hours and I cannot imagine how my home was like before him. He has just fit in SOOOOOOOO well! He had a great night and I am so excited about working with him and learning from him. It has been years since we had a Boxer in our home and it is perfect that he is deaf; for one of the ‘Special Needs’ classes that I am currently teaching has 4 deaf boxers in it; so he is going to fit in just fine.  😎 His colouring is actually white with four brindle patches(one in each his ear and one on the base of his tail and one on his side). He is coming to the Vet with me tomorrow and I shall do his bw for neutering(I would like to see about another 10+ pounds on him right now and it is muscle that he needs; he is SOOOOOO lacking in muscle) and we will also do a HWT test. I would like to find out what his current weight is for his Vaccine certificate just says ‘over 50 pounds'(yet even I can carry him with ease). His Rescuer was just so kind as he came with all of his vaccines; his HC and they also gave him a flea treatment. I am de-worming him now and will bring in a fecal tomorrow. His is a ‘bit’ itchy and has some dry areas around his neck that if you rub just right; gets his one leg moving. We will do a skin scraping if needed and I have him on a super premium food. His left back foot has quite the ‘scar’ on it; and I have my speculations on what might have caused that. I am sure that I am missing something here yet wanted to post a ‘Gwennie’ update(I have much to do with all of the dogs blogs etc. now that our Fundraiser is over) and yes, I shall post some pictures so that people can get an idea of just how ‘heart’ pulling this sweetie is! As much as I would have liked to have brought him into BHRR before the micrcochip clinic Fundraiser; for he needs a chip and a new collar; it was not in his best interest to have done so. I now have the time that he needs of me to give him all that is necessary and more! I have been inundated with inquiries on BHRR’s Potter and I am truly just taken aback by the number of people who want him and they ‘do not know’ anything about him. We only place per best matched personality fit and even when it comes to a Foster home; if we go down that route; the home must be within the 2 hour driving distance from us. We thank all that have contacted us; yet we are not going to consider homes(if/when he should be up for adoption) that are not in align with our BHRR mandates, policies, processes plus procedures; that are clearly stated on both of our websites. Just because BHRR’s Potter is not a Giant Breed; does not change how we operate BHRR. We have rescued many a large or smaller breed canine over the years and truly; we are a bit surprised by what has been sent our way in respect to this boy. It is because BHRR is who we are that this boy is even here(so many turn their backs on the SN’s) and we are not going to compromise our standards. This boys’ future was very questionable until we were asked to step up and we shall do ‘right’ by him. Welcome to BHRR’s latest ‘honourary’ Great Dane! Besides needing a new collar and microchip; BHRR’s Potter shall also require some ‘Boxer’ size toys! He is loving the cuzes right now and his leash….  😆

BHRR’s Potter – July 13th, 2009 – Almost one year of age & 26″

My son has come up with a really great name(he had actually wanted to name Hamilton The Newf this name….) for this Boxer Boy; Potter and it is has really grown on me. The letter for signing is not going to be confused(I was almost thinking of a ‘R’ name since one had been suggested to me already) with Lil Linus’s nor Soul’s; so I think we are going to ‘go’ for it. I have learnt even more about this boy in that it has taken over a month of hard work from his current Rescuer to convince the home to surrender him to her and at one time; he apparently was running free and almost was killed by vehicles and they did not seem concerned over this. 😥 So, BHRR’s Potter is going to be his name and he is almost 1 year of age from what I have been told. He will have his Rabies before I pick him up(he needs that to cross the border) and a Valid Health Certificate. I have also scheduled an exam with the Vet for July 16th and I will do his presurgical bw at that time; barring any reason why we could not do it at that time. BHRR’s Potter would then be neutered on July 23rd. Cannot wait to meet the ‘little’ Dane! 😉 NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!

So, I shall be picking up this boy(he does not even have a name, poor thing!) on Monday around 11:30 AM in NY. He is currently being kenneled by another Rescuer at her place. He was an owner surrender. He is also not neutered, mostly white with some black spots and is a Boxer AKA now a `BHRR`s Honourary Great Dane`! 😛

BHRR has been asked to take in what I am going to refer to as an ‘honourary’ Great Dane. 🙂

He is a one year old, deaf Boxer. Assisting the Special Needs is our ‘special’ focus at BHRR and he needs help.

He will be coming from NY and when I know more, I shall post more. I would dearly love to assist this boy(the home just had no idea on how to train and work with him; so he does whatever he wants right now) and I will most likely be looking for a foster home in my area after he is here, settled, assessed and fully vetted.

If anyone is open to considering assisting BHRR with this boy(as I get more information; I will post); please contact Gwen.

THANKS!