BHRR’s Whisper!
*She has sure taken a shine to that XL Ottoman of ours in front of the fireplace!

She had a good Vet visit on Tuesday January 19th, so much better than I thought. The Vet believes most of her issues are stemming from FAD(Flea Allergy Dermatitis). With her diet change to a high quality kibble that should also immensely help her skin. I also have special shampoo and if in two weeks, no improvement we will look at further treatment.

None of her numerous wounds are infected and they are healing well.

I had given her a Revolution on the Sunday and we shall repeat in two weeks time. We did a full blood-work-up that has come back normal(some mild elevated levels of Globulin that her Vet was not worried about right now) plus her Accuplex(Heartworm and Tickborne Disease) panel has also come back negative. YAY!

Her weight was 39.6 KGS(87.12 pounds) and that was not far off what I thought. I was thinking 90-95 pounds tops! As she gets more muscle mass plus tone, she will move up a bit in weight. She is a ‘wee’ giant! Beautifully proportioned and 100% gorgeous!

She is sleeping a ton for she had to have been so exhausted, the poor thing…. Her sleeps are more and more relaxed and restful.

As of the third night with us, she has been sleeping in her crate beautifully, no more SA and she only gets mildly worried outside of her crate when she feels she cannot get to me anytime she wishes. Bathrooms are always scary for Danes as they always think I am going to sneak out of some imaginary door! She is learning to relax, become more confident plus comfortable and to self-soothe. PROUD of you BHRR’s Whisper!

She only very rarely licks or chews at herself now for she is realizing with stability and structure that she is ‘ok’ and that she will not be abandoned again. A lot of that obsessiveness appears to be shared between the FAD, poor diet and stress. Passively ignoring undesirable behavours and rewarding proper acceptable behaviours is seeing her respond with such happiness! Clear and open communication has made her feel safe and not guessing nor confused as to what is expected of her.

She is making amazing progress and so fast!

AND she is picking up the sign language plus touch and scent training like a pro! WOW! Her startle reflex has greatly evolved too since her arrival.

Her playful side is coming out and what a goofy girl she can be!

While we can confirm that she has not had puppies recently, and, that she is not in heat right now or a false pregnancy, we cannot rule out at this time if she is getting ready to go into a heat(we may do slides to determine where she is in her cycle yet not pressing) or if she is already pregnant. We are monitoring…….

When she is able to be spayed, she shall be.

She is truly a lovely ‘wee’ giant………getting to know her is such a pleasure.

She loves the company of the other dogs yet as of yet, has not played with them, only began to play with us tonight.

She has been fully integrated with almost all the dogs also and it is like she has always been here! Hard to believe that she has not even been here a week!

THANK you again to all and any that are considering her cause to support and that Kanata Animal Hospital can be contacted directly at 613-836-2848 for any donations to her bills. She has an account ‘Whisper’ under the Birch Haven Rescue and Rehabilitation Services(BHRR) file there.

Already her skin is looking better! 🙂

Someone is settling in better than night #1. Our XL Ottoman makes a great bed….
AND with the fireplace on behind her, what comfort she is now experiencing, especially on a -30 night….inside and safe for the first time….

Sean has named her BHRR’s Whisper. For her ‘whispers’ for help are being heard and answered….

As much as I wanted to bring her to work with me yesterday for that skin especially, her stress plus anxiety levels were through the roof. So, Sean worked from home and I spent most of the evening into the wee hours with her and you could see her relaxing more and more.

What confusion and fear she must be feeling….always sleeping literally with one eye open.

Per my other post, she is not just Deaf, yet also visually impaired, and what a survivor she is to have survived on an abandoned farm…..poor thing….

She had her first pee around 1 am today and is now drinking water and eating more.

She has to learn to like herself and obtain some confidence so she is comfortable and knows she is going to be ‘OK’. She goes readily into her crate and then becomes anxious and we passively ignore and every time is better and last night when I went to bed around 3:00 am or so, she went in, cried only for about five minutes or so and settled for almost three hours. What a good girl!!

Separation anxiety can be so successfully dealt with and that is what my PhD dissertation is on yet many people ‘give in’ and that is only a set up for failure for the dog and them. Yup….I got zero sleep Sunday night and last night I had 2.5 great hours and right now, she has been having a really great rest since breakfast…not a peep.

You could tell when she finally just let it all go and really slept…..and while my heart wants to fight with common sense – yup, even 28 years later – I do not feel sorry for her – that is the worst thing I could do – and I am not going to hold her close to my chest and squeeze her tight etc….

What I am going to do is give her all the tools she needs to rehabilitate successfully and develop into that beautiful girl that is there yet, quite a bit of her is hidden inside. Do not misunderstand me, she receives tons of love, yet, it is not all about her….she is having to learn to share me – she bonded fast and fierce to me – and, that she can amuse herself and comfort herself and stimulate herself without me there all the time. We will teach her to like herself.

Physically and I have been taking pictures, full of bite wounds and old scars and scabs. That neck of hers is heart breaking. A nasty skin infection is going on and her body is quite bald in places and being white can be hard to see in photo’s. Her rump, lower back, under her tail and parts of her belly are the worst. Raw, some bloody area’s and red….she is licking plus chewing herself and we will rule out an UTI also. Her body shows much neglect and has taken a pounding more than once from teeth. We will look into mange and allergies and whatever she shall require to get her healthy….

She has had puppies at some point and being around 18 months herself, babies having babies. We shall also monitor to see if she is pregnant now. Per my other post it was said that she was pregnant yet no one saw any babies….

We will look into allergies and do skin scrapings and blood-work and all that she needs…she is also no longer on Ol Roy food. AND she is no longer sleeping in a garage and she will lack for nothing….

We are off to see the Vet tonight and I will post more afterwards….any considerations to her bills can be made direct to Kanata Animal Hospital 613-836-2848 under the name of ‘Whisper’ under the Birch Haven Rescue and Rehabilitation Services account.

Welcome to BHRR our newest ‘wee’ Great Dane – she is about the height of BHRR’s Raven.

BHRR’s Steam(Deaf/Visually Impaired herself AND Available For Adoption) watches over BHRR’s Whisper as she sleeps!

UPDATE: This girl is in my hands right now…..my heart is so heavy and pained for the poor shape she is in and I will make a separate post all about her tomorrow on a new thread….

She is a small ‘wee’ Great Dane…….with zero manners!

I can confirm that she is not only DEAF yet Visually Impaired…..to be running loose as such a special needs dog, had to be a feat in survival for her.

This dog is so red, bloody plus raw all over her rump, lower back and private parts plus tail, bald is putting it lightly, this dog is full of bite marks plus scabs and she has so many old bite wounds/scars on her that it makes my heart cry out in such sadness……

When she was picked up, a slightly different story was told than what was sent my way in email…..

I have to look closer at her body tomorrow, did she have babies at one point? The one story was that she was pregnant at one point yet no one saw babies, is she pregnant again now? Is she getting ready to have a heat? A false pregnancy? Does she have a UTI as she is licking and chewing herself raw? Does she have allergies? Mange? All things we will investigate further.

We were told that she was allowed to sleep in someone’s garage….well, tonight and tomorrow and onward she sleeps in MY home on her own soft dog bed and will lack for nothing…

Her nails are brutal, she lacks so much in muscle and my promise to her like all those that have come before, she will NEVER EVER have another day in her future as she has had in her past…….

Thank you to her transport angels that agreed to meet up with me(Rachel & Bernie) for the assistance with her!

Sean has named her ‘Whisper’ for he sure wishes that she would! 😉

Yet, also that shall be her name on a more serious note for her ‘whispers’ for help are being heard LOUD and Clear…..

She is also a ‘whisper’ of a Great Dane – small and compact.

Thank you to Rachel & Bernie for the photo – those ‘pink’ area’s are all red and hairless area’s on her face and body. I am trying to capture photo’s of her poor hind end etc. 🙁 On her muzzle those are all old scars. 🙁 The sides of her face has so many scabs and wounds. Her neck looks like a battle field.

BHRR’s Eve Whisper’s Helping Angels: $0 donated to date & Bills $790.78
*before paypal fees
*Rachel & Bernie – Dog Bed, Benny Bully Treats

On January 15th, I received the following email and we mobilized fast to make arrangements to get her to BHRR by the 17th. I did not know if this GD was also visually impaired yet, I strongly suspected such.

“I have recieved a 1 1/2 year old great dane. She was abandoned at a farm that a friend of mine rented, i have had her for just over 2 months now. totally deaf but knows hand gestures and listens very well.

 She is gaining weight and we have gotten rid of a bad flea infestation that had her almost bald. She looks great now. I have had a few people interested in her but I am afraid to rehome her because she is deaf. She is great on my farm she loves every animal horses, dogs, cats , chickens and goats. I just cant keep her because I already have three dogs of my own that are getting older and my landlord is upset about 4 big dogs. If I owned my own property I would keep her but I cant . Another issue is that she is not spayed and I cant afford to spay her at this point. So I am hoping that you will take her and find her a proper home where she will be safe. I dont think it would be good for her to live in a busy area or even in the town because if she gets loose she will never never hear the cars coming. I need help to find her the right place. i dont have the time it requires to do this, I am afraid I will be rushed into the wrong situation for her. Please help”

NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!