This is Mr. Jack playing with one of his special secret Santa pressies!
 
Thanks to his lovely foster family for the pic!
 
As most are aware, he has been having seizures, the poor wee adorable dude.

BHRR’s Bruce sends a big THANK YOU to his special secret Santa – Elaine G., for the amazing gifts!
 
He remains AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!
 
Thank you to his wonderful foster home for sharing this photo.
 

Miss Brooklyn is wearing her Earth-rated bandana!
 
Thanks to her foster home for sending a picture!
 
They will send more with the poop bag/dispenser, too so we can share with Earth Rated.
 
Miss Brooklyn is working on appropriate displays of behaviour including not being a bossy bully, barking, and sharing the humans.
 
She is an 18-month-old giant-sized brat and I was glad I had the chance to see her again this week for boot camp it is. There is no excuse for poor manners….she will learn. She will have structure, consistency, rules, routine, obedience, patience, and time.
 
She even does some inappropriate urination to express her feelings when humans do not jump and jump fast to her every wish. Yes, per a previous post, we also did a thorough exam and urinalysis. This is not medical.
 
She needs to learn that she is the dog that the humans will take care of, that she does not get all she wants when she wants, and to self-comfort, self-love, self-amuse plus to enjoy her own company.
 
The force is strong in this one! 
 

This is Miss Brooklyn.
 
She is our newest intake and was at the Vet yesterday.
 
You can see from this picture – and it is no lie – she is painfully thin, borderline emaciated.
 
She weighed barely over 90 pounds and should weigh closer to 110 – 115 pounds.
 
She also is so scared plus anxious. Lots of inappropriate displays of barking too.
 
She was given trazodone the night before her apt. and the morning of.
 
She was such a good and brave girl when I took her blood to run pre-op bloodwork along with heartworm and tickborne disease testing. Her bloodwork is normal, and she was negative for heartworm and tick-borne diseases.
 
Her foster mentioned her happy tail was bleeding, which is not infected, and she needs to keep it quiet. We have taught many a dog the ‘quiet tail’ command. If need be, and we have only ever done this once due to such a severe tail injury, amputated a small portion.
 
She is not eating anywhere near the minimum of 8 cups of food she should and is not drinking the amount she should. We have her on some wet canned food mixed with a new kibble plus water.
 
We learned that she has a supposed chicken allergy, and while we had been told she had a heart murmur, it is actually a Grade III. We cannot put her under sedation/anesthesia without knowing more.
 
The foster mentioned two nights out of three for accidents in her crate, so I advised to bring in a urine sample. Only after it was run and I was on break from surgery – did I see the text – I am at work! – that last night (night 4), there were no accidents. That would have indicated that this is not an infection, yet most likely behavioural yet, we are diligent! So a full urinalysis was done. 
The urine did not indicate any infection, yet it did confirm her dehydration.
 
We have her on flea/tick and also de-worming meds, too, plus she received her Lepto plus Lyme vaccines. She will go back for boosters in a month, and we will get a re-weigh at that time.
 
 
 
 

Mr. Bruce, a fawn merle/brindle Great Dane is settling nicely into his new foster home!
 
He has a great older foster doggie sister and he adores the pigs, cows plus horses yet chickens and roosters are scary to him! 
 
Such a solid boy who has proven to also do well with cats plus rabbits.
 
He does like his counter surfing, too, so that is a continued work in progress!
 
Thank you to his amazing foster mama for sending this beautiful picture.
 
He is AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION
 

AND Miss Brooklyn is now with us! 18-month-old female heavily marked mantle Great Dane.
 
Thank you to her wonderful fosters for picking her up & she is scheduled for her first vet visit on the 14th. We need to do some vaccines, a heartworm/tickborne disease test & pre-op bloodwork, as she is not spayed. She will have a thorough exam and be placed on monthly – at this time of year, heartworm preventative is not needed – flea/tick meds plus a proactive/preventative de-wormer.
 
For those who may not know, the spay alone for a Giant Breed is close to $1,200 at many places.
 
Theresa P., this is your special Secret Santa!
 
As she settles in, her foster will know more about what she needs and loves!

NOTICE:
 
BHRR does not adopt out during the XMAS season due to our position that it is not in the best interest of any new addition being added during such a busy, exciting, and somewhat stressful time for many.
 
Quite a few other Rescues, Shelters, Pounds, etc., have also begun to follow a similar protocol to what we have been doing for over 26 years.
 
Our XMAS Shut down period for this year is from Monday, December 19th, 2022, to Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023, inclusive.
 
Any applications received during this time will be processed/reviewed as of Wednesday, January 4th, 2023!
 
During this time, BHRR is always available 24/7 for requests for assistance of animals in need, and we shall then network accordingly as the local Great Dane/Giant Breed Rescue since 1996, the welfare of the animals is our top priority. We do not wish to see any animal end up in a disreputable place, of which, sadly, there are far too many out there.
 
Thank you for your continued understanding – The BHRR Team
 
 

As much as we try, we seem to not be able to get ahead on Vet Bills.
 
Mr. Jack was at Eagleson Veterinary Clinic tonight, as his foster informed me that he had been having some incontinence.
 
If anyone may consider donating to his Vet bills, we would be incredibly appreciative. We are trying to raise enough funds to pay for Miss Asante’s bilateral cherry eye surgery and have the newest addition to BHRR, arriving on the 11th – Miss Brooklyn. She will require her own extensive vetting.
 
Any donation considerations can be made via PayPal to gwen@birchhaven.org
 
OR via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com
 
As always, we are humbled by any support given…..
 
 
 

Thank you to Pet Valu Brockville for hosting us today!
 
Wishing Kevin, the feline an amazing 7th Birthday again & for sharing his special day with us!
 
Thank you to Richard, Carol & Katherine for the vegan chili, the baked goodies, the buns, spoons etc., all of their organisational assistance, and for being so awesome!
 
Thank you to Tanya  – the foster mama, for bringing BHRR’s Asante to this event so that people could meet firsthand who they are supporting! Thank you also for the incredible baking!
 
Thank you to each and every kind soul that came out in support, spent some time talking to us, loving on our Miss Asante, and helping us to get closer to our goal of having her bilateral cherry eye surgery!
 
Today, a heartwarming $780.30 was raised for Miss Asante, our five-month-old NewfX. 
 
We only need just over $2,500 more to repair her eyes!!! Getting there.
 
Please consider saving your Empties this holiday season to help us raise what we still need.