Month: May 2020

The next in URGENT Need of BHRR.

Almost 18 month old special needs female Saint Bernard.

This is a hard owner surrender for us at BHRR.

We have been aware of this girl since she was a small puppy and her caring owner has reached out to us twice in the past re: her and possibly taking her in if necessary.

Early yesterday AM, her caring Owner reached out to us once more asking for our assistance as they want to give this girl the best possible chance of a quality of life.

This Owner has done all that they could to date for her, even getting a second opinion and a third opinion – this from ortho specialist Dr. Phiilibert – back in February.

This sweet girl – good with dogs plus humans and while she can get a bit excited around cats – has never hurt a soul; is all around awesomeness! – has severe HD and quite possibly bilateral cruciate issues. 

She did have a past surgery on her eyes and has been diagnosed with corneal ulcers. She is also said to have hearing issues. We will confirm this.

I have even had the absolute pleasure of meeting this gorgeous girl myself in the past.

That we were contacted once again for possible assistance as her Owner was now strongly considering humane euthanasia as they did not wish to see her suffer and could not take on the estimated $10,000+ to physically rehabilitate her; humbles us immensely.

We are forever touched to be entrusted with her welbeing.

We are working on a couple of Fundraisers to assist with her medical bills….

ETA to BHRR: Monday June 1st

We wil post more as we learn more and do keep her previous Owner in your hearts as this is not easy on them. 

**NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION**

BHRR’s Miss Lilly!
(DEAF & Visually Impaired) Great Dane
AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!

She says that she is ready to make her own special announcement!

This girl has made an absolutely amazing and almost miraculous rehabilitation journey since she first arrived into our highly specialised rescue last year.

To say that I am proud of her is a gross understatement.

She came to us doing extreme self mutilation to her body due to her severe level of anxiety which was related to her not having anyone ‘speak’ her language. She was confused, worried and in not understanding what was expected of her, that no one could understand her fears, her wants etc., made her obsessive in trying to self-soothe, self-comfort by hurting herself. She had been man-handled and that was causing further stress to her.

She was obsessive in her behaviour of fly snapping – yes, per her detailed blog, we did consider IS activity yet, that was not the case.

She was so overstimulated in some ways, unders-stimulated in other ways and was not comfortable in her own skin nor surroundings.

We placed her on Trazodone – anyone who knows me, knows how I feel about behavioural modificaion medications and how so many use them as a crutch – yet, she was given just enough to take the edge of her anxiety, to get her to focus and relax and be able to realise that we are here to help her, to show her loving hands, not hurting hands, to show her that we very much ‘speak’ her language and that we do understand her and what she needs and wants and that we are here for her for whatever she needs. We slowly worked to build her back up to being the best of dogs!

Being deaf and visually impaired, she had high anxiety going outside at night. The more that she saw other dogs going out – eventually she relaxed and trusted more and also went outside.

She came to us completely not housebroken. Now, she is 100% housebroken and also crate trained. She travels great in a car, gets along with other dogs and humans too.

What and rather ‘who’ really assisted her with feeling the best going outside at night was when BHRR’s Fred came into our Haven Program. For he, too had a worry about going outside at night and she became the ‘big girl’ and showed him that it was ok! It was so heartwarming and emotional watching her now take someone under her own paw to help!!!

I always say that as much as I do for/with these dogs, it is the dogs that do SO much more for each other than I ever could.

We have weaned her completely off of the Trazodone month ago. Yet, to any right matched personality fit loving home that is so blessed to be approved to adopt this beauty, we will be doing a transitional adoption – therefore, they cannot reside any further than 2 hours from our location – to keep things stable and consistent for her to set her up for success.

She can be approved to be adopted to a home that works ft, pt, works from home, is semi-retired or retired. Another versatile BHRR dog!

Any home that is approved to adopt her must also understand that to spend 24/7 with her is a clear set-up for failure. We have worked very hard to set her up for success, to like her own company and in fact, love her own company.

Spending all of your time with any dog is not healthy, and for BHRR’s Lilly, even more so.

We would love to see her go to a home with at least one right matched personality fit dog already residing there. She is playful and higher energy than many Danes and she needs to have her doggie friendships and also that extra dog to dog physical activity connection.

She is great to do nails, easy to bathe, is very eager to please and is so happy when she understands that we ‘get her’ and that she ‘gets us’!

She will need plenty of appropriate giant sized toys to occupy her mouth and to provide great mental stimulation.

She shall not like me to say this yet, she is a ‘toy stealer & hoarder’! Yup, a thief and smuggler of toys! 

She is so happy now, just a big ball of personality into that wonderfully conformed Great Dane body!

New surroundings can make her nervous and how we handle things is how she reacts to things and we treat things as being ‘no big deal’, a calming touch, maybe a treat or two and then passively ignore.

To make a big deal out of anything new or strange – even going to the Vet – is going to set her up for failure.

Having people give her treats when they first meet her will make a friend for life!

She is soooooooo loving and lives every day as if it is her last…she packs the day with all that she can fit in and sleeps soundly – yes, she does snore too….shhh! Do not tell her that as she thinks she is very ladylike….we know her to be a wee bit of a bull in a china shop though! 

She has proven ok with cats, yet, as she is so enthusiastic, she may make cats feel overwhelmed…heck, she made BHRR’s Caramel feel overwhelmed for the longest time; yet, she won…she was determined that they would be bff’s and he really did not have a choice! She can be very determined plus persuasive!

For those early bird risers; this is the Dane to consider! She is up and at ’em between 5 AM – 6:30 AM each and every day….she does like to get in a mid AM and mid afternoon nap if her busy schedule allows for it!

This girl is a ham, a real delight and not for the faint of heart.

Her leash manners have improved significantly and she knows many sign language words. We use a combination of ASL and our made up signs to communicate with her.

She will only go to a home that has had prior special needs canine; not necessarily Great Dane experience. She will only go to a home that has significant prior canine experience for she is not a ‘starter dane’ and deserves to be with a home that can continue to help her reach her full potential and not be ‘learning off of her.’ That is way too much pressure for her to have to bear and take on. She will teach that right matched personality fit home a lot yet, that home needs to have a lot of their own experience and knowledge to bring to the table.

All of our adoption processes, policies and procedures can be found on our home website for anyone that may be interested in being considered for her. Between that and her thoroughly detailed blog, all of your questions should be answered.

Miss silly Lilly, many thought you should have been ‘killed’ and that we were wasting our time. Little did those know in re: to what we do, why we do it, why we are needed and have done for almost 25 years. Furthermore, little did they know about you and just how awesome you really are.

She carries her up head up high and proud now….her tail is happy and wagging now….she is happy and healthy now! Look at all of that muscle mass plus toning on her body!

I could continue to write a massive Gwennie novel on this girl for she is truly special!

You are living your best life every day and we could not be more delighted to help you make your special announcement!

BHRR’s Royal Blu!
 
Another uber handsome blue Great Dane in our BHRR Haven Program!
 
In seeing his photo vs. BHRR’s Fred, you can see the difference betwen the euro blood lined Danes vs. the american blood line.
*AND that is not dirt on his chest. It is his drying drool from the few moments we took to do photo’s! Those big flews of his create a lot of drool! Not for the faint of heart!*
 
He awaits patiently to have his own bilateral entropion and cherry eye surgeries, a Dental plus to also have surgery on both of his front legs. – this picture does not show the true severity of his biltateral valgus deformity as we worked to show off his beauty over his current extreme medical conditions. 
 
If you read previous blog posts; you can see the x-rays of both of his front legs that we took upon his arrival into our special needs rescue program.
 
These are the animals that you are supporting with your kindness plus generosity!
Here is our givinggrid fundraiser link as we remain in great need of your support for Ottawa just announced that no public events can be held until at least the August, therefore, our biggest annual fundraiser of the year that we host in July cannot be held. 
 
If BHRR, operating since 1996 is going to withstand this COVID-19 pandemic and continue to help those that most other groups cannot or will not; we urgently need your help. 
 
Donations can also continue to be made via PayPal to gwen@birchhaven.org or via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com and all of those donation totals are being added to our giving grid fundraiser total….
 
With the postponing of our annual Microchip/Nail Trim/BBQ and so much more event; we have had to up the total in our givinggird fundraiser that we need in order to keep operating. 
 
Extremely difficult worrisome times.

BHRR’s Fred!

This uber handsome blue Great Dane is doing fantastic in our Haven Program!

He is such a personality filled boy who is affectionate and can be wonderfully quirky too!

He is thriving!

AND here is our givinggrid fundraiser link as we remain in great need of your support for Ottawa just announced that no public events can be held until at least the August, therefore, our biggest annual fundraiser of the year that we host in July cannot be held. 

If BHRR, operating since 1996 is going to withstand this COVID-19 pandemic and continue to help those that most other groups cannot or will not; we urgently need your help. 

Donations can also continue to be made via PayPal to gwen@birchhaven.org or via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com and all of those donation totals are being added to our giving grid fundraiser total….

With the postponing of our annual Microchip/Nail Trim/BBQ and so much more event; we have had to up the total in our givinggird fundraiser that we need in order to keep operating. 

Extremely difficult worrisome times.


This handsome young man is excited…..BHRR’s Caramel!

Why is he excited?!

Well……………he is getting closer and closer to making his own special announcement!

He has learned SO much in re: to trust, helping hands, manners, obedience and learning to understand body language cues from both people and dogs.

VERY very very very proud of this boy and I love that he throws ALL of himself into everything he commits himself to doing…he is not a half measure kind of Dane!

Recovering in post-op. Mama Gwennie stayed by her side monitoring her until she recovered….

BHRR’s Miss Volt!

She also had her own surgery, a long awaited one on Tuesday May 19th, 2020.

It is so hard to believe, utterly bittersweet too that her own incredibly amazing miraculous journey with us shall be ending as we finally near the last stages of her own successful rehabilitation.

This was the adorable Rottie puppy that had been electrocuted in her previous home, left without treatment for days, finally bought into an emergency hospital and then was surrendered to BHRR.

While many wanted to see her put to sleep, our special needs rescue & our fantastic village surrounded her with all that she needed to get better. The BHRR ‘CHAIN OF SUCCESS’ was strong for her and she has thrived!

She required multiple surgeries on her mouth and from the first day that she came into my loving hands, I noted that she also had a vulva conformity issue.

That took many months of its own treatment for infections, then waiting so patiently for her to come into heat per the recommendation of her specialist, Dr. Philibert to then having to wait for her uterus to go back to a more normal size, dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic etc….to finally being able to have this surgery which was to also address the two broken incisors she had.

On Tuesday, we also did pre-op blood work as we feel that this is incredibly important to do to be properly proactive with our care of the animals we are entrusted with. Part of the important blood work we did was to also do a screening for tick borne disease and heartworm exposure.

Despite having all of our dogs on year round preventative and doing the Lymes vaccine, nothing is 100% and sure enough, Miss Volt turned up Lymes positive. 

From there, we sent off blood for a further test – almost $155 – to IDEXX – for a Quant 6 to check her levels. Those results are now in and her level was 29. Per her Vet, she does not require treatment.

As is also the case with BHRR’s Miss Mollie – another Lymes positive dog in our program – to whomever is approved as her right matched personality fit forever loving home, a yearly heartworm/tick borne disease test shall need to be done with the understanding that she shall always show up positive for Lymes. As she will always show up positive for Lymes, a Quant 6 test shall have to be being sent to the lab to test her levels.

Equally important is for her to remain on preventative year round. As long as her results remain at a certain level and/or she remains asymptomatic, she does not require treatment.

On Tuesday, she received the vaccines that she was due for, I microchipped her, gave her a manicure/pedicure – she is great to do this at any given time! – and the surgeon checked her mouth and could not find any broken incisors to remove.

Miss Volt weighed a lean trim solid muscled 33.1 kgs(72.82 pounds)! A wee gorgeous package of love!

She remains a HUGE hit with all that she meets, loves all people and animals and is recovering well in our home from her big spay. 

Once she is healed, she can finally make her own special announcement.

She has remained a popular inquiry for many and we stand firm that we are not taking on any completed applications to review until at least June.

We have worked so hard to keep her blog up to date and for any one interested, all they need to do is read the thorough blog plus our adoptions policies, processes and procedures. So many emails about her that are readily answered if one just takes a bit of time to read her detailed blog. 

As also mentioned, our bills on Tuesday between both BHRR’s Walter and Miss Volt came to just under $2,500 and we have more special needs giants requiring their own specialist surgeries.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it beyond a nightmare for r/q groups and the struggle for Rescue survival is a big reality….. 

We have been around almost 24.5 years and this is not how we wish things to end due to a pandemic.

Please do consider a donation to help a cause near and dear to your hearts to thrive, be it BHRR or another organisation out there! 

We will take donations via PayPal to gwen@birchhaven.org or via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com or direct to Eagleson Veterinary Clinic 613-383-8381.

All donations being sent via email transfer or PayPal are being added to our Givinggrid fundraiser donation page so everyone can see the current running total!! 

Sooooooooooo my last post of my night….

We are moving BHRR’s Percival under a PENDING ADOPTION!

AND before we become flooded with calls, emails and texts, no we remain not approving any adoptions until at least June.

Additionally, we are not accepting to review any other completed applications to consider for approved adoptions until at least June.

As we have posted several times over on facebook, on our websites including PetFinder and have explained many times on the phone to those that now state that they have ‘all of this time on their hands’ and want to adopt; we do not feel that this is the proper time for people to adopt that suddenly have time on their hands when they did not before.

We also remain practising safe social distancing.

The reason why we are moving slowly on this particular application – received back in April yet, we have been in discussion for so much longer than that – for BHRR’s Percival is that this home has taken the time to get to know BHRR, what we do, why we are needed, what we represent etc. and in turn, over time, we have also come to get to know them.

This is not a home that is a stranger to BHRR/us. This is not a home that suddenly has time on their hands and wishes to adopt. This is not a home that does not understand the lifetime commitment that each animal deserves to have. This is not a home that does not understand the extensive medical and food bills that BHRR’s Percival shall require. This is not a home that has not read in depth BHRR’s Percival’s story. They have followed his journey since Day 1. They understand that he is not perfect, that he is only perfect in his imperfections and they want to assist him in helping him reach his full potential, which he has a mountain of! 

This is a home that has has been front and present and full of honesty and openness and members of the BHRR BOD have discussed this particular situation/home and we feel 100% comfortable in proceeding further with their application.

Yes, sometimes there can be extremely rare grey area’s to some circumstances and this is a unique situation that we are sincerely looking forward in proceeding further with.

On that amazing note, from our home to all of our friends, family and supporters thank you for all that you have done and do for the animals of BHRR and we wish you the warmest of good night wishes!

We shall update on BHRR’s Percival’s status as we can!

BHRR’s Walter!

He went in for surgery on May 19th to get his new eyes! He had his much needed bilateral entropion surgery as he was finally healthy enough to have the surgery.

His weight was 147.4 pounds(67 kgs). He has now put on 15.4 pounds (7 kgs) since he first arrived to BHRR’s care in March. He still needs a bit more weight and once he has recovered from his eye surgery, our next focus is working to building up his muscle mass and strength in his hind end.

I microchipped him while he was under, he had a great manicure/pedicure and he received tons of gentle love from many of my colleagues during his time at work!

He is now on two types of pain meds, oral and eye antibiotics plus some trazodone to help keep him calm and comfortable while he heals.

He remains on his pred plus thyro tabs along with a special fish based diet and when he is back for his recheck in 10-14 days, we will do more bloodwork at that time.

He is now sporting a very fashionable cone – 40 cm – and it was truly lovely for all to note how far he has come since we first received the urgent message that he needs rescue or that he would be killed later that same day.

He is a really sweet boy and THANKS to his foster Mama for taking excellent care of him!

Thank you’s extended from our hearts once once more to my fellow team mates @ EVC and to both Dr. G. & Dr. Ammar for giving him excellent Vet care since his arrival to BHRR.

We will make a separate post re: Miss Volt who also had surgery on the 19th!

We still await surgery dates from the specialist for both BHRR’s Coupe and BHRR’s Royal Blu for their legs – both of them have front leg concerns, requiring no less than 6 surgeries between them both & BHRR’s Royal Blu also needs his own bilateral entropion plus a cherry eye repair.

Our GivingGrid fundraiser is below and what has generously come in to date, will cover both of BHRR’s Walters and Miss Volts  – their Vet bills on Tuesday came to $2,141.41 and we are almost half way to our goal!

We remain deeply humbled, grateful, and thankful to everyone that stands strong by our special needs rescues side helping us to work hard to keep our doors open during this brutally difficult time.

We cannot do this alone and though we along with so many r/q groups are going through such dark scary times, it immensely warms our hearts to have members of our village fighting as hard as we are to be here for those in need of our highly specialised and much needed programs.

The link to our GivingGrid fundraiser is HERE and donation considerations can also continue to be sent direct to Eagleson Veterinary Clinic 613-383-8381 or via PayPal to gwen@birchhaven.org or via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com

BHRR’s Miss Silly Lily!
(Deaf / Visually Impaired)
May 17th, 2020

Sean & I did a little professional photo shoot ourselves today for this beauty…..in preparation for her to make her upcoming special announcement.

We must say that we are extremely pleased with our amateur photo efforts! 

This sweet girl has come a LONG way since she first arrived to us and we could not be more proud.

She deserves to be our Cover Girl!

STAY Tuned!

This pretty girl says that she is so close to making her own special announcement!

BHRR’s Miss Silly Lilly(Deaf/Visually Impaired)! 

BHRR’s Walter(photo) & BHRR’s Miss Volt are scheduled for Tuesday May 19th for their surgeries.

BHRR’s Walter is booked to have both of his eyes repaired for his bilateral entropion. That is the next step in his own rehabilitation program. YOU are going to feel even better after your surgery sweet boy!

BHRR’s Miss Volt is FINALLY going to have her spay and those two small incisors removed. Baby girl, your rehab journey has been long yet, we are almost there!

COVID-19 sure did not help AND we still have BHRR’s Royal Blu(eyes/2 legs) and BHRR’s Coupe(2 legs) waiting for their own specialist surgeries…..

Please know that your beautiful support enables us to keep helping dogs like BHRR’s Walter, BHRR’s Royal Blu, BHRR’s Coupe and BHRR’s Miss Volt.

To date, our givinggrid fundraiser has raised: $1,276 in 24 hours. WOW! We are 25% to our goal. We do remain in urgent need of your generosity to help BHRR stay strong.

To all that have posted supportive words and/or donated and/or shared our call for financial donations, please know how much you humble us, you honour us and we thank you for being there in our massive time of need.

Should you not wish to donate via the givinggrid – link is HERE!, donations can be sent via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com or even direct to Eagleson Veterinary Clinic 613-383-8381

As always, thank you for any and all consideration to help keep BHRR strong!

BHRR’s Percival!
Fox Red Labrador

Today is the day that he comes to bunk down with The Boerskins!

Thanks so much to his kind foster Mama for loving on him.

We have possible wonderful news too re: him. We have received an application for him that may well be that right matched forever loving adoptive home.

We now have to wait – with the COVID-19 situation – until it is safe to proceed further with the application.

What a long yet, truly amazing way you have come sweet boy in your rehabilitation journey to health plus happiness.