Introducing Bear!

What? You already know Bear?

You're nodding that you know all about Bear who came from Oweekeno was shaved and needed major surgery, starred in a video, recovered, got adopted and came back?

That was BHR's up for adoption Bear.

This

is BHR's Forever Foster "I'mnotleavingandI'mblockingthisdoorsonobodyelseleaveseither" Bear

Yes, it's true. Bear is staying here forever and ever (and knowing the stubborn old goat, it's possible he'll live forever and ever). Due to a number of health issues, as well as the separation anxiety which he exhibited while adopted (and which he shows no signs of here with his furry buddies) BHR and the hornblower clan have decided that this is Bear's home now.

I'z blocking the door againz!

Welcome home Teddy Bear!

I can blockz back doorz too!

*outdoor photos are courtesy of our awesome photographer friend. Indoor shots are mine :-)

And here are two recent news stories about Big Heart Rescue, featuring photos of the dude himself & links to the Pepsi Refresh Everything site, where BHR needs your votes to win funding to start a mobile Spay & Neuter clinic for remote BC communities. We need to get animal population under control in all areas. With your help in promoting spay and neuter, adoption, and responsible pet ownership, the deaths of thousands of homeless pets can be prevented. Please support our work by voting, donating, volunteering and choosing to adopt a homeless pet!

Vancouver Sun

Examiner



full text of articles below the jump - for posterity, just in case they eventually get bumped off the media servers.

Magical Mystery Mutt Tour Blog Hop

Daisy is my mutt.

She's from a local SPCA. She's about 75 lb & kind of square. They listed her as husky x but she's too large and big boned to be a husky. She's 24 in tall at the shoulder.

I think she's an Alaskan malamute x German Shepherd Dog. Her coloring is agouti sable. From shoulders back she looks like a malamute. Her face is wrong for a malamute - the ears are not shaped right & are not set right.

She howls (the others often join in, like this time, but she's the most persistent & frequent singer) She has a deep bark. She has no health issues other than spay incontinence which is controlled by estradiol pills.

I have in the past blogged about her color & her resemblance to several pb agouti alaskan malamutes like these ones: 

She loves snow but doesn't want to pull a sled.

She's great with dogs once she knows them, but her initial response (except when mom is telling her to behave) is always "I'm gonna KILL you!!!! Snark! Bark! Snarl! Growl!" After that's over, she's all "OK, now let's play!"

Interestingly, malamutes are notorious for having dog issues - from snark to outright dog aggression. Who'd have guessed? I certainly didn't. I thought that dogs who had to work together in a sled would be dog social. I have since learned a fair bit about malamutes from the Alaskan Malamute Help League - and it turns out that many of them have 'issues'.

So there she is - sweet, affectionate, silly, and terribly lazy Daisy.

What do you think? See anything else in her other than mysterious northern dog mix?

This is the Magical Mystery Mutt Tour Blog Hop. If you've got a mutt, show it off! Join in!

I'll be home for Christmas

from the SPCA of Upstate New York



So everyone - can we just say No More? No more puppy mills, no more back yard breeders, no more buying animals on a whim & dumping them when they get too big/inconvenient/not so cute anymore? No more buying from pets from shops. No more purposely breeding & buying mutts when there are already thousands dying in shelters around North America.

Adopt from a shelter or a rescue or buy from a reputable breeder.
How to recognize a reputable breeder?
(hint - they don't advertise in the classifieds, they may have wait lists, their breeding program has specific goals - not just put cute poopsie together with cute mopsy because their offspring will be so... cute!)

One of the funniest (not really) things I heard recently was a woman in a vet's office proudly telling the receptionist that she got her dog from a breeder who only breeds her bitch twice a year; and she keeps the dogs in a really nice warm barn! The receptionist fortunately did not keep her mouth shut & replied "Dogs only go into heat twice a year so she's breeding that dog on every cycle. That's way too much." That, my friends, is your common garden variety BYB, raking in thousands of dollars of tax free money a year off gullible fools.

The pet over population problem is so multi faceted & there are so many things to tackle and ways to help. Fostering, donations to shelters/rescues is one way. But another way to help is to just increase awareness, to not silently nod when people announce they got their puppy from the store or some BYB who advertised in the classifieds.

Christie Keith of Petconnection suggests another thing: Stop Calling it Euthanasia

using “euthanasia” when you mean “killing” is a lie. Just stop.

Shelters - including some in the Lower Mainland - kill some of their animals, sometimes simply because the shelter is full & the animal's 'time' is up. For more remote areas of BC it's even tougher - if there's even a shelter, which there isn't in many places.There are only so many homes available, and when someone fills their home with a pet from a shop or a backyard breeder, a shelter animal suffers & many will ultimately pay the hardest price. It's tough for dogs but it's even tougher for cats (I don't know how cat rescuers stay remotely sane dealing with what they face), and the small furries like rats, hamsters and bunnies. Horses are suffering as well.

I think we can get to a No Kill Nation, one step at a time, and that one step begins with each and every one of us. We can volunteer, donate, and adopt, but we also need to talk - talk about what happens to animals, how many homeless animals there are, & the responsible choices that each of us can make to help reduce the pet overpopulation problem. They need us to speak for them. 

Let's do it -  so one year, animals will not be dreaming of having a home for Christmas, they will BE home.

Guess what

or more precisely, I should say, guess who?

Is back, that is.

 

Ayup. Bear is back.

Bear and his new owner tried really hard but it turns out that Bear cannot be left alone, even for short periods of time.

Bear loved downtown living, was friendly with all his new buds BUT he cannot be alone. He was doing major damage to his new home, endangering himself and others. Like when he turned on the gas knobs on the stove & filled the suite with gas, enough that neighbours smelled it. Oooooops.

We suspect he's never actually been alone - all alone. With me, when left at home he's always had the other dogs and the cat to keep him company. When he was in hospital, I was worried that he'd be freaking out but he was all cool with it, & I now think that so long as other dogs and people are with him, he can cope with pretty much anything (this was an intensive care hospital which is staffed around the clock; as an aside WHY would anyone leave a dog or cat in a vet hospital overnight if there are no staff there??? Did you know that many vet hospitals don't have staff overnight? Before leaving your animal overnight, check if there are actually staff there.)

Back to Bear - it appears that if you lock him up alone, he goes into full panic/must escape at all costs mode.

So, amidst tears & heartbreak from his newly adoptive mom, he's come back into BHR's care. He trotted in, said hello to everyone & promptly went to sleep. Silly old bear.

Shelter Humor

O.M.G. Too funny.

They also gave us a unicorn; we keep it in the back where it shits bricks of gold all day long.

But he is such a sweet dog. And I'm moving.

summer dog, winter dog, good bye dog

Just when we thought it would never happen, a fabulous adopter applied for Bear, met him, loved him, had a homecheck done, met all the requirements and more ...... and 'my' big, hairy, goofy, butt-biting, talkative funny guy has gone to be a downtown dog, to live it up visiting coffee shops & making friends all over Vancouver.

It's been an honor caring for you, Bear. You are the bestest boy.

BC SPCA: Your voice is urgently needed in the fight against puppy mills

BC SPCA: Your voice is urgently needed in the fight against puppy mills

The City of Richmond is poised to become the first jurisdiction in Canada to ban the sale of puppies in pet stores, a significant step forward in the fight against puppy mills.

Take action today

Send a message to Richmond's Mayor and Council.

If you live in Richmond, please write to your local
newspapers in support of the new bylaw. Letters can be sent to
the Richmond Review or Richmond News.

Spread the word! Tell five friends about this important issue and how they can
speak for animals too.

Make a gift to the BC SPCA Monty Fund for Education & Outreach and help us to continue advocating on behalf of abused and neglected victims of puppy mills. The BC SPCA is a not-for-profit organization funded primarly by public donations. Please donate today.

For more information, visit our Truth about Pet Stores and Puppy Mills campaign.

Let's make it happen!!!!!!

Oh boy!

As if I needed something new to play with - I just discovered Picnik.



Now I can take a so-so photo, play with it & end up with awesomeness like this.

Of course, having a handsome model helps. Don't you love how Bear is starting to get fuzzy? Isn't he adorable? Can you hear him saying "Hi, I need a home."?

(No, he is not saying "pleeeeeeze can I stay here?!" He's not. Really.)

Something is missing.....

Oh hi! Where has my butt gone? I can't see it. I can feel it's itchy but I just can't see it anywhere ......

Mr. My Stitches Itch and I'll Swing My Big Plastic Cone Head Against the Walls So You Get UP and DO SOMETHING About It

He woke me up a few times last night. He didn't seem to realize that I needed some extra sleep as I'd stayed up late to make him a YouTube Star.

Yeah, yeah lady. Quit typing on that computer thing and come here to do some T-Touch.

Gotta run. Enjoy. And please, pass it on.

Better yet, make a donation & then pass it on ;-)

Bear is recovering

Ok, so he's wearing the cone of shame & he's got some happening Borg-like tubes coming out of him.....

....but he wagged his tail, and we had a good long snuggly cuddly visit last night.

He is still in hospital but so far, so good!

Cross your paws for Bear

Bear was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday but he deteriorated on the weekend and got admitted for emergency surgery today. Things were touch and go for a while - his lungs were full of fluid and the vets were worried that they'd lose him inducing anaesthesia but he made it under fine, and once dosed with Lasix & ventilated, his SO2's came to normal range. The surgery was to repair an old diaphragmatic hernia which was most likely caused by being hit by a car.

His liver and loops of bowel had migrated into his thoracic cavity - not a good place for liver & bowel to be, and definitely put a cramp in his breathing.

We had been warned that if, once they had him open, it appeared that there was a lot of damage to the lungs or the other organs, the only option would be to euthenize him on the table.

Fortunately, the surgeon didn't see a huge lot of damage, there were no major adhesions and the lungs appear to be in fair condition.

Now it's the recovery. He's in great hands at the special care hospital & he is a strong boy - so let's hope he can pull through this & have many, many days of romping.

Awww - pound dog goes to help in Haiti

"this is the first earthquake work for Zak, who was once rescued himself — from a dog pound in Abbotsford."

Full Story

Good luck to Zak and handler.

Meet my new American boy!

This is Darwin!



Darwin (it took us almost a week to come up with a name for him) is a purebred English Setter adopted by us from rescue. I had to drive to the US to get him - they're quite unusual here in the Pacific Northwest.

He's 5.5 years old and he's very sweet. He's a field English Setter which means he's a bit smaller and carries a bit less coat than the show strains. Field setters can also be more active than their show counterparts who tend to be a tad more mellow. Darwin is over his crazy adolescence and while he's very active oustide, he settles right down indoors and naps the day away.

English Setters are bird hunting dogs and Darwin is very birdy. In fact, when he goes outside, it's like a switch goes in his brain and he completely forgets there's someone holding his leash. He's all bird, bird, bird!

A hunting trainer assessed him when he was in rescue and discovered he's scared of the sight of a gun - not the sound, which is a more common problem. Since we don't hunt, it's not going to be an issue.

However, he's also scared of the camera so one of our challenges will be to get good photos of him.



Here you'll see he's noticed me pointing a camera in his direction & he decides to leave pronto.



His fur is thin, he might have allergies, and there's something not right with one of his eyes. But he's very affectionate and cheerful, he respects the cat, and he's made himself right at home. He and Daisy are still figuring each other out; there's no signs of any aggression from either of them but I think they've not quite decided yet who's top dog.

What a great dog to round out our pack! Someone's loss (he's an unclaimed stray whose owners were tracked down but refused to bail him out - this is the same story as Daisy's; after a stay at the shelter he was signed over to rescue) is our gain.

Almost exactly 13 mos later.....

Rocky "Baby" has gone to his forever home.

From the early days of barking, growling, pacing, jumping at every little sound, no leash manners, too afraid to go through doors and halls, skittish and petrified, through training, name change because I needed to speak to his inner scared child, diet change, training, management, barfing in the car, learning to play, learning to eat a bone, more training, racing him in the morning during Christmas to beat him to the tree - because if he beat me there, he'd pee on it, through more training, more hope, more love, more snuggles, cuddles, kisses, all the way to the end, to tail wags and leaning on legs for bum scritches, to mooching treats from strangers, all the way to his new home, with transition plans, scent therapy, Rescue Remedy, relaxing music.....

Thirteen months of him relentlessly fearing my husband, deliverer of bones, pizza and popcorn, giver of meals, tempter with McDonald's french fries and BaconN'Egg McMuffins - all to no avail.

What a journey, what a learning curve.

I wrote to someone last spring that I was in a limbo: I couldn't imagine him staying and I couldn't imagine him going away. She said, one day, the perfect person would come.

And she did.

Baby has gone to his new life. He's happy and already playing there.

Good boy.

Recycling bin of a dog's foster mom

From a couple months ago:



This was right after the recycling was picked up, hence the relative emptiness. It's brimming over by the end of the week.

And yes, he's stopped lifting his leg inside.

naptime!

My kids stopped napping ages ago but we still have general 'quiet time' in the mid-afternoon. Recently however, I've been pretty sleep deprived and several times in the last weeks, I've actually had to go and have a real nap.

I think my favourite nap is the caffeine nap - drink a mug of coffee (or a diet cola) & immediately go lie down & sleep for 15-30 mins, but definitely no longer than that! The caffeine takes about that long to really kick in and when I wake up, I'm doubly energized. I try to remember to drink a glass of water when I wake up and then I'm good to go for the rest of the day.

On the days the temps are starting to climb, I use Amelia's bedroom as it is cooler than mine, since it faces north. And with her bed comes a cuddling partner.

I do turn him around so I get his face near mine (yes he puts his head right on a pillow). He likes to put his front paw on my shoulder and hold me there. And he's a soft and snuggly as he looks, though he is a bit of a bed hog and I have to kind of pretzel myself to fit around him.

What about you? Do you nap?

Wha ???

It was only five posts ago that I was moaning about time changes.

And we're doing it again???

Seriously. This has to stop. I'm a basket case.

I have had an interesting experience in the last couple weeks. I met two different dog trainers. One I was considering for Daisy. I had a one hour in person chat, asked lots of questions, got lots of answers. I'm not convinced of the wisdom of her methods, but I understand them and her underlying philosophy.

Which is more than I can say for another trainer whom the rescue organization wants to hire for Rocky Baby (who is a dog terrified of almost everyone and everything). We spent a couple weeks playing phone tag because they never answer the phone. Then finally I connected with one of the trainers & he spent an hour talking my ear off on the phone, then he came to do a 2h assessment, was late for it, had all my info wrong on his computer, saw the dog for less than 5 min during that 2h, and spent the entire time yakking about how great & original his approach is, and how all the other approaches were wrong. But. Didn't. Actually. Tell. Me. His. Approach.

Only the vaguest hints and me reading between the lines lead me to guess at his basic philosophies (rank reduction & Jan Fennell. I think. I'm guessing, still. And I'm only able to guess because over the last two years I've read probably over a hundred books on animal behaviour and dog training methods and can put together a sketch with only the smallest hints.) I guess his business model calls for this sales pitch & you slowly get reeled into his expensive program.

Which I wouldn't be paying for so I don't really care about it except I find this business model slimey. I felt like I was locked in with a combination of timeshare salesman, junior venture stock promoter and an Anthony Robbins clone. All talk, talk, talk about all the great things he's achieved and righteous indignation about the wrong paths we've been led down and apparently sincere enthusiasm for what we need to do now, but little concrete information about the detailed how's.

Well. Whatever. It's not really my decision & against all reason, there is still a part of me which is hoping that this trainer will do the equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat or a faith healing, because that's the heavy duty stuff Rocky Baby needs to get over his issues, but the reality is there is no magic and behaviour modification and emotional healing are a long and difficult process and there really are no shortcuts.

This week, because I'm a glutton for this sort of stuff, I go and check out yet another trainer for Daisy (who is a sweet girl except she likes to act like a homicidal maniac when she sees a dog she doesn't know).

At some level, I keep looking for magic.

(& that lost hour).

No fingers were hurt

in the making of this photo.


I don't know which of these lunatics did it, though it's more likely to have been Daisy as I tend to have her on my left.

As you can see, we had a whole bunch of snow - not quite the typical west coast winter. The dogs get terribly zoomie and I figure at some point on a walk someone tried to yank my arm off & the shank of my ring must have been squished by the wedding band. Not a thing I expected to have to repair as a result of "life with dogs" (carpets, yes; couches, yes. Ummm, homeschooling books which were on a book case and got peed on by a certain boy dog who once in a while decides to mark territory? No. Just how does one get out pee smell out of books and papers?)

On the other hand, if I had injured my hand I would have had a brilliant excuse for not blogging for ages. As it is, I don't. We've been busy. We're fine, though yesterday morning I was for a while thinking I'd be blogging about my knee being broken by 200 lbs of dog flying off a deck and right into me. Luckily I just had to swear and limp around for a bit and now I'm back to myself. Still swearing, no longer limping.
Daisy is sometimes so tired that she falls asleep with her head in her bowl.


Amelia finished her first sewing project - this lovely, swirly skirt. She was ably taught by my mother in law who gave her lessons in figuring out a pattern and putting it all together.


Hugo made an ice sculpture. Yes, it is actually freezing cold in this photo. Can we just pretend that we're channeling some British thing about boys in short pants, and ignore the fact that he's not appropriately dressed for the weather? (yes, those are crocs. It's what the modern British schoolboy wears with his short pants. And yes, red is SO in this year.)


And Rocky aka Baby is still here. Still waiting for his forever home.

Meet Rocky

My newest foster.

He's the one on the right. The big one. We think he's a Great Pyrenees X Maremma. He's huge. He's not neutered yet. He's been trying to water my couch. He's terrified of most people, especially men. He growls at Roo. He's stinky and I spent several hours brushing out his mats today & ended up with a pile of fur as big as he is.

He is very warm. He leans on you when he trusts you. He gave me a little kiss this morning. I think he is adorable.

Daisy is IN LOVE. He could care less and has, in fact, been telling her off in grumpy growls. His world has turned upside down and sideways and he's one confused dog who doesn't want a groupie fan girl and no, he doesn't want to play or share his food. It's OK Daisy, he'll come around. And on Friday we're cutting off his dangly bits which may mellow him out a bit. I hope it will help with the desire to spritz everything with Rocky cologne.

On the left is his girlfriend. She's still in the shelter, with their 6 week old pups. They're all still looking for a foster home.