Cannot wait! Not even down the block and I had to pull over to make this post!! BHRR's Shiva has just been ADOPTED!! Omg!! It was all I could do to not bawl!!
When this home first contacted me, BHRR's Shiva was my top of three possible fits and the home would have done great with either Dane(they are just that fantastic); yet; they chose BHRR's Shiva too!!
Omg!!! I think I am going to cry….. :)-
The whispers in her ear of all that I hope and want for her would fill
up ten pages AND I just know they shall come true!!
Shiva The Diva; you are now home and my heart is bursting with sheer joy and while others gave up on you; BHRR and all your fans did not! This home loves your glossy shiny black coat and your 100% byber GD stature; was incredibly impressed by your manners(bilingual too!); and was completely taken in by your charm!! Yes!!! Yes!!

Below are some photos taken by her temp foster mom back in April and her 'new' family photo! 🙂

April 2012

April 2012 & NEW ADOPTIVE Home June 21st, 2012

AND this is the last email we have from her temp foster home before she came back to BHRR re: their latest adventures – April 2012! 😀

Hi Gwen,

This update on the lovely Shiva is waaaay overdue.

As usual, things are going great if not excellent.  Her return to our household (aka Shiva's Palace) has gone without issue.  She quickly fell into our daily routine. This visit is different compared to the others.  The season/weather is a big factor.  We are spending alot of time outdoors doing yardwork, going for walks and playing in the neighborhood park.  She loves being outdoors with us.  When doing yardwork in the front yard, she is attached to a 20ft lead (no fence) and just sits (or mostly lies) there on the front lawn taking it all in.

She is doing so much better when meeting strangers, in and outside our home. I've been observing her behavior (nervous around new people) and this is slowly changing in a very positive way.  I greet everyone with a cheerful calm voice while reassuring her.  I've found that if we let Shiva go to the person (to check them out) instead of the person going to her (I believe this overwhelms her and she will not accept this person as easily), she becomes putty in their hands in no time at all.  She is becoming much more trusting of strangers.  She has fallen in love with our cleaning lady, Mimi.  The funny part is that Mimi is under 5ft tall and weighs less than Shiva.  So when Shiva leans into Mimi (her way of letting you know that she wants some "butt rub lovin'"), she almost tips her over!!!

We have discovered a neighborhood park where she is able to go off leash and romp around with the other dogs.  She is becoming quite popular with the dogs and owners.  I've received many comments on how she is "mature" and well behaved. Her new best buddies are Nala, 7yrs old Dane and Harley, 8mth old Rottie mix.

Something new I've discovered about Shiva the Diva is that she is absolutely wonderful with small dogs.  We had a playdate at our home last weekend with a coworker Liz, her son Peter and their two dogs Peanut, 5 yr old Bichon and Mason, 9 mth old ShiPoo.  When they arrived for the visit, Shiva did the usual "loud announcement" that we had company.  As soon as I opened the door and she saw them, her demeanor did a complete 180 degrees.  She instantly stopped barking and became so calm, gentle and totally accepting of them all.  Keep in mind that the little four-legged squirts who weighed in at +/-10lbs combined wanted absolutely nothing to do with this GIGANTIC black diva, LOL.  Shiva respected this and provided space.  She did not push to be friends and let them come to her on their terms.  Her patience, gentleness, caring and understanding were so apparent.  It was absolutely amazing for me!!!! We spent a whole 2+ hours together and by the end of our visit, the wee little ones were walking around Shiva with no issues whatsoever!  All was good!  She makes me so proud this one!

The beautiful black beauty has, again, totally stolen our hearts.  She is such a great dog.  It is an absolute joy to have her with us, even if it's only for a few weeks.

Thanks Gwen and I'll be giving her an extra KISS and HUG from you all at BHRR!!!!

BHRR's Shiva is going to go on another temp foster play date! She is headed to her previous temp foster awesome home from Saturday March 31st to around the 28th of April!

I know that she shall have a blast getting the special loving and spoiling that this home gives her! Once again, win-win for all as these experiences give my dogs more balance and well roundedness and the home gets to have a wonderful dog to love; giving them their own wonderful memories!

Perhaps, her right matched forever home might meet her too! 🙂

BHRR's Shiva's HWT was negative! 🙂

May your right matched forever loving home find you and SEE you & not the 'black' dog; not the small GD body and not ANY Of the other idjit reasons people have to date passed you over and not applied to adopt you! WELL, we love you and we love your beautiful brown eyes and do not think they look funny, we love your sweet pretty head and do not think it small, we love your size, your glossy healthy coat and do not see anything 'common' about you! YOU are unique, special and we LOVE you!

BHRR's Shiva; this STORY/VIDEO is for you! Just as people did not give up on Rufo in this story (the dog nobody wanted – spent 6 years in a shelter with only 2 hours a day of outside time); we shall never turn our backs on you! 325 dogs have been adopted via BHRR and your turn shall come!

In the meantime; you live the best life with us with a kingside bed,… people that adore you; kids and other dogs to romp with, 148 acres to enjoy 24/7, you are safe, not kennelled or caged, have play dates, treats and your training just keeps going to higher levels and we love you so much!

The two photos below are from her temp foster mom during her play days with her.

She had her annual Vet visit on February 11th, 2012 and was a wee bit on the pump side at just over 43 KGs. We like to see her around 90 pounds and she was close to 96. SHE clearly at a fantastic time at her temp fosters! 😉

The Vet marvelled at how well trained and behaved she was! She stood while we trimmed up nails, gave a paw, sat when asked and was just a dream!

I will post the results of her HWT when it comes in. I am not worried for the dogs are on Sentinel year round here.

BHRR's Shiva – 4 years of age (born June 10th, 2007) – photos taken in 2012
*photos courtesy of Paula

BHRR's Shiva has been scheduled to have her annual on February 11th, 2012 and here is an

Update from BHRR's Shiva's Temp Foster Home:

As for the lovely Shiva the Diva, she is doing just grand…like a true Diva, lol.  We are all having such a great time.  She has been granted total freedom when we leave the house.  The first two days of freedom were had a few minor glitches as she decided to investigate 'X's shaving kit by emptying everything within and spreading throughout the house.  I was quite surprised upon the discovery but yet impressed as she did not destroy anything.  She just needed to entertain herself to remedy her SA that day.  The other little event is tearing the head off one of my snowman decorations.  Again, nothing major and I had a little inside chuckle at this.  Since then, nothing.  A perfect house guest!!! 😉
 
Something that is cute about her is that she will not jump up on any furniture in our presence.  BUT, leave her alone and our home becomes her palace!!!!  She's been busted a few times on the couch, the bed and the futon!  She is just hilarious….I have a smirk on my face as I'm writing, lol.
 
We've been continuing our daily walks and playdates, weather permitting of course.  She is adapting more and more to the sounds of the city and meeting people on the street.  She loooooves her playdates.  We always choose a park or area that we mix up the on and off leash walks.  Everyone we meet is so impressed by her and how she behaves on and off leash.  She sure makes me proud.
 
Since the weather has been a bit less cooperative lately, we have been cooped up in the house during the cold snaps.  One of her favorite toys here is a orange ball hockey ball.  It's pretty much indestructible and we play fetch with it in the family room.  This is sooooo funny as she is limited in space but we figure it out.  She fetches and returns the ball to me, again….l'm so proud of her.  She galops and trips over herself while throwing the ball around on her own.  This is quite funny to watch.
 
Also, I due attest that doing her nails is so easy.  She is such a trooper.  She remains calm and shows no tendency to pull away.  Proud! Proud! Proud!  She rocks!!!!!
 
Well, enough for tonight.  I know that she is missed at BHRR but rest assured that she is she is doing great and very happy in her "palace", lol.
 
Have a good night Gwen!
 
  🙂
 
PS  X has been home sick for the last 2 days.  These two have become the bestest of friends during my time away.  They've finally bonded and HE is quite taken by her!!!! 😉 and vice-versa! HA!

On Saturday January 14th, BHRR's Shiva went back for another blast of a time temp foster experience! This time she will be returning around February 2nd, 2012 and we are already missing her! 🙂

I know that she shall immensely enjoy herself! 🙂

BHRR's Shiva came home from her special extended Play Date last night!

She left a huge hole in our heart and home when she left for the last wee bit; and it is good to have her back!  🙂

Should she not be adopted come early January; she shall go back for another Play Date extended visit to the same home.

UPDATE: Sent from BHRR's Shiva's FosterMom on December 15th, 2011:

Hi Gwen,
 
Thought I'd send an update on the lovely Shiva.
 
She has adapted very well and is now part of our daily routine.  Our daily walks are fun and she is adapting well to the various city sounds (i.e. car, bus, kids playing, etc..).
 
One thing about her that just cracks us up is our lovely Shiva the Diva snore like a trucker!!!  X finds this most entertaining and hilarious.  I think it's cute, lol!
 
We had a walk/playdate date last Saturday which went exceptionally well.  We were joined by a doberman (10 months), border collie (3 yrs old) and a gorgeous yorkie (5 yrs old) along with the owners, of course.  We spent a good part of the afternoon at Lac Leamy park here in Gatineau.  Shiva was soooo happy and interacted great with all the dogs.  She was just the bestest gal, as usual!
 
We are so enjoying our foster experience with Shiva.  Not a day goes by that this beautiful girl doesn't make us laugh.
 
Have a great evening Gwen!
 

UPDATE from BHRR's Shiva's temp foster home:

"She is adapting very well and everyday I see a positive difference in her.  She sticks to me like velcro, lol, but yet again everyday she is less and less dependant of me.  She is slowly but surely getting comfortable with her surroundings.  She is beginning to explore our home and feels comfortable enough to wander around by herself.  She seems to have less and less of a need to have me within her sights at all times. 
 
We've been going on daily walks and these are quite comical.  She walks excellently on leash.  She was quite taken aback by the inflatable Xmas decorations on the frontyards of some homes.  I had quite the chuckle at this, because when she saw the blow up Santa, penguin and snowman, her ears went up and back and she started to walk into to me (opposite direction of the decorations) as if "What the ???".  I reassured her (while laughing inside) and we continued on our adventure.  She kept looking back and to ensure these strange looking creatures weren't following us, lol.
 
She is eating and sleeping very well.  Her appetite was not disrupted at all.
 
She has bonded with her very own Costco bed.  She loves it!
 
We've had a few people drop in throughout the week.  A girlfriend of mine came with her two young girls and she was absolutely excellent with them.  We stop and meet people and dogs on the street.  I've been using the greet with a treat trick you mentioned. She's doing great. It's been a big week for her and in my opinion, she's doing great.

We don't call her Shiva the Diva for nothing. 
 
In a nutshell, we are having a wonderful time with Shiva.  She sure has brought a bit of life to our home since the passing of X. It wonderful!"
 

BHRR's Shiva went to her temp foster home tonight. She will have an extended playdate there until December 22nd and come back to BHRR for the holidays.

She was a bit reluctant to go with her new temp foster mom yet will settle in just fine!

ANOTHER special dog shall be missed!!! When she comes back we shall do our traditional photos under the XMAS tree with her and the other doggies. 🙂

Should all go well BHRR's Shiva shall be temp fostered from December 4th to December 22nd, 2011 and then again from January 8th to February 4th, 2012 should she not be adopted. YAY! For her to have some extra time plus spoiling JUSt for her!

BHRR's Shiva's weight on Monday October 17th was 88.22 pounds.

BHRR's Shiva was a special request to attend our recent GD & Honourary GD Walk/Hike last Sunday. 🙂 She was so thrilled to hook up with BHRR's Hailey who is now in a temp foster home as of last Friday. Though, it had been less than 48 hours since they last saw each other and she was over the moon to see her BHRR black beaut sister! 🙂

She has such a great time and from the posts that I have seen of late on our new BHRR FB FAN PAGE; she is a very popular fan fav! She was so awesome with her obedience, being sure to come back to 'check in' with me on a regular basis and she makes me so burst with feelings of joy! Sean & I remain hopeful just as we did with BHRR's Mazda that her own right matched forever loving home shall come along and if that never does happen, she lives a great quality filled life at BHRR. We will not rush our adoptions and our adoption success rates speak for themselves and that right matched forever home comes along and 'finds' her, that is awesome yet we are not sad or upset if not. We committed to her welbeing when we were asked to take her in and we remain dedicated to all that is in her best interest.

We had one person email us to suggest that as it was 'clear' that no one wanted her or BHRR's Dana; that we should have them put to sleep and focus on rescuing and rehabbing more adoptable dogs. Well, my response is that this is NOT going to happen. To all that have met her, yes, she is a small and BLACK Great Dane and yes, she has been at BHRR a long time and yes, as long as she is here, we can only take in so many other Great Danes to assist BUT she is who was 'next' in need and that is what BHRR is about. AND we are not going to turn out backs on her or the amazing BHRR's Dana just because they have been in our adoption program for as long as they have.

I challenge all to look at the recent photos added to her slideshow AND look at the one below; AND; you tell me if she should be put to sleep! YOU tell me that she is not living a fantastic life. YOU look into her eyes and TELL her that she is not worthy of being alive and happy and healthy and deserving of all that life can offer.

AND let me tell you, that she is NEVER going to be pushed aside for others…….she is as much as a priority to me and my heart as she was when she first arrived at BHRR. She has no need of BHRR any longer and we hope that there is a home out there that she can be her own queen off YET until that day comes along, she is going to be a princess at BHRR.

She got along with all dogs and people as per her usual LOVING self at the walk/hike and most enjoyed teasing BHRR's Hailey when we kept BHRR's Hailey on a leash a bit longer than her before she, too could run and have zoomies! She is a wee monkey this one at times and I LOVE that about her. Sometimes, you just have to watch those silent ones! LOL YET there is nothing silent about her when she plays, vocal goob she can be! From dignified to playful, what a charming young Dane she is. 🙂

BHRR's Shiva – July 31st, 2011 – GD & Honourary GD Walk/Hike
*Photos courtesy of C. Desjardins

Honouring my 'promise!' 2 Pictures of BHRR's Shiva from February 2nd, 2011.

BHRR's Shiva with BHRR's Benjamin – Isn't she so pretty!

BHRR's Shiva is now AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION again. By collective agreement, this home is not yet ready for any animal addition, let alone a Great Dane. We have worked hard in trying to give this home some positive experiences with Giant Breeds as they have had some past bad experiences with a previous pet, not a Giant Breed, before contacting BHRR. May the time come that this home be ready for a new addition to their home, be it a Giant Breed or other size canine for having an animal in ones life is one of the truest pleasures and experiences ever to be had! It is not fair to BHRR's Shiva to remain on 'hold' any longer than necessary and for her to possibly miss out on that potential 'right' matched inquiry or application to come her way. We remain strong that should her forever loving home never come along, that she has a great place with us. This is our commitment to any animal that comes into BHRR. We accept that they might never be adopted and we are not desperate to place the animals here. She lives a grand live at BHRR and we love her as much as any other dog that has blessed our home. We wish this home the very best in the future.

BHRR's Shiva came today on one of our regular GD Walk/Hikes & Honourary GD Walks/Hikes and SHE had so much fun! We can be as few as 6 at times and we have had as many as 40+ in attendance and our distribution list for these walks are now up to 83!!!! For anyone wishing to join us; please email and we only take responsible dog owners and their dogs. In having held these walks for almost 15 years now; we have never had an incident and we are all very diligent, committed owners and there is always room for more. Nothing like seeing all of these Giants and 'honourary' giants out and about. We also regularly change up the locations so that we have different venues.  We have meet ups in areas such as Orleans, Ottawa, Kanata, Sittesville, Constance Bay, Carleton Place and even in the Kemptville area. We have another group that regularly meets up on the Brockville and Kingston areas too! Pictures below are of some that attended the walk plus one of BHRR's Shiva. BHRR's Ava Marie was also there! BHRR's Shiva remains under a "PENDING ADOPTION" at this time and things should be determined within the next couple of weeks. We know that we have put further inquiries and applications on hold at this time and we will not delay a decision on this much longer. We want what is in her best interest and we do not desire to miss out on that 'right' matched home by taking any longer than necessary in making that final decision should this not be the right personality fit home for her. This has been one of our longer 'pending' and we thank people for their patience and understanding. By the time we lift our "From Friday October 22nd to Friday November 5th inclusive, BHRR will not be open for adoptions or the intake of adoption applications. We do not adopt out around the Halloween season and many others Rescues, shelters, pounds etc. have also begun to follow a similar protocol to what we have been doing. We do not believe it is on the best interest of the animals in our program, especially for dark coloured dogs." closing we will post whether she has been adopted or if she shall be placed back up for adoption. This should be made by Saturday November 6th, 2010.

BHRR's Shiva – Sunday October 17th, 2010 – Great Dane Walk/Honourary Great Dane Walk

BHRR's Shiva is going under a 'Pending Adoption' at this time and we shall not be taking any more inquiries on her until such time as we determine if she is a right matched fit for this home. Thank you for your patience and understanding and we should know relatively soon.

BHRR's Shiva came with me to PetSmart in Kanata Centrum last night to hang out with myself, Sir Maestro(our own new GD addition) and to interact/train and socialize with someone we met up with. FANTASTIC job BHRR's Shiva!!!! She knows her 'right' and 'left' turns, focus, walking nicely, sit, loved all people – adults – men, women, hats too and kids and dogs. While I 'trust' my dogs, I do not trust all the other dogs out there and so, always tell people to proceed with caution when introducing/integrating with strange dogs. BHRR's Shiva provided this person with an excellent opportunity to work on their 'inner voice of strength' such that it comes out with authority – not bellowing, not screaming, not in a punishment type of manner but authoriatitve. Natural leaders are what dogs need and respond to and the difference was demonstrated to this individual last night. If you give a dog a reason to trust and respect you without fear and negative punishment techniques, they will respond. How we handle ourselves in situations can really travel down to the dog and they will respond to such. We want calm, in control and leadership style of approach and handling in a positive manner and the dogs will just 'give you the world' with their trust and listening abilities. BHRR's Shiva at her training level was given the opportunity to make 'good choices' and knows the '3 time' rule very well and so, she is moved to the '2 time' rule! BHRR's Shiva's tail was wagging and she was very excited to be back at PetSmart as it has been a very long while since she has last been there. She became even more excited when I asked her if she wanted to go and pick out her own 'toy' or 'treatie!' BHRR's Shiva LOVED the homemade Liver Treats that two of our Volunteers make so kindly for the animals here once in a awhile and I could not be more proud of my Shiva 'DIVA' in how she proved herself yet a 'well rounded girl' again! Thank you so much to this person for meeting up with me in the rain and also in buying BHRR's Shiva her own special goodie item. BHRR's Shiva shall have another play date this upcoming Sunday for a few hours and this shall be another fantabulous oppportunity for all involved.

BHRR’s Shiva came to work with me on September 30th, I was doing a hv that night and she weighed 39.7 KGS(87.34 pounds) yet was a wee bit wiggly on the scale; so is actually a bit more.

I have added a new picture to BHRR’s Dana’s slideshow #33 and am also adding it below. It was taken on April 10th, 2010. We are still keeping everything crossed plus remaining positive that her forever loving home will come along for her! In the meantime, she is pretty much back to her normal, active, loving self here and had healed both physically and emotionally from her June experience.

BHRR’s Shiva – April 10th, 2010

I pulled BHRR’s Shiva out of her temp foster home last night and she was so happy to see me and to come back to BHRR. Pulling her was not because Shiva might have done anything wrong for she most certainly had not done anything wrong. Humans are the ones that set themselves and the dogs up for failure and we try to work hard with all of our temp, perma-foster and adoptive homes and it is in Shiva’s best interest to come back to BHRR per several of the reasons posted in her last blog. We also work so very hard to be here 24/7 and as a resource to be tapped into for all of those that have one of our animals in their home. Shiva is so well mannered, with a strong obedience background and is such a lovely Great Dane and so many of the dogs here missed her very much! She is healing very slowly from her injuries and we will get there. She is young, healthy and strong and she most enjoyed having my 7 year old daughter ‘tuck’ her in all these blankets on a fluffy dog bed!!!! It still makes our hearts sink to think that she could have been killed June 22nd while at her temp foster home yet she is alive and she will heal in time. In driving home, she barked several times like she had done upon her first arrival to BHRR yet within moments of being positively corrected, she settled down and there was not any more fuss or sounds and she very calmly looked out the window or did some napping on our way back home. Amazing how fast some behavours can be resorted too without the proper reinforcement being done and thank goodness for such a strong background foundation she had at BHRR for it did not take too much to have her being the Shiva we know and love. We will take more trips out and about to reinforce the modified behavour we have been doing since her original surrender to BHRR and had been successful and as our next BHRR ‘EXPERIENCE’ Mini Open House is this weekend, we will have a prime opportunity to use it as a refresher for her on appropriate behavour if needed. We want success stories and we want Shiva to have her own by being adopted to a forever loving home and we want her to be the best dog she can be when that time comes and we cannot have her resorting back to things like barking when she first arrived at BHRR. We need to move forward not backward. WELCOME back to BHRR Shiva!!! We missed you. 🙂

This is not the update I would have liked to have written for BHRR’s Shiva yet as BHRR believes in full disclosure plus takes every opportunity possible to educate and impart community awareness; let the following be a ‘reminder’ to all about SAFETY! SAFETY! SAFETY! There is a reason why we say the things we do and why things need to happen the way they do and we always tell our adopters, temp fosters etc. to never let a new unbonded dog off leash and why we want the dog to sit for leashing and then open up the door. I received a call on to my way to KAH yesterday for a meeting/to work. BHRR’s Shiva has been in this temp foster home since June 18th, not long at all and is only beginning to start to bond with the family. The temp foster homes 16 year old son, did not have Shiva sitting and did not put the leash on before the door was opened and Shiva got by him and ran away. We are talking just before pre-rush hour in Kanata, Ontario(part of Ottawa) and before she was caught, she was on the 417 highway. Just a week ago, I had rescued/assessed an injured PitBull off the 416S that had been involved in a multi MVA and I am well aware of how dangerous this could have been for Shiva. From what I was told, a good samaritan had her leashed by the time the temp foster homes son was able to get to her. The home lives about 5-7 minutes from the 417 and it is amazing that she was not hit at any point during her run. The home was very responsible and had her in at KAH(I received the call after they arrived home) and all four of her feet are quite bad, with two of them really torn up. We have a sand foundation at BHRR with grass in other areas here. Our dogs are not used to pavement and their feet are not ‘tough’ like city owned animals and with the hot heat of yesterday, the pavement and how fast and how far she did get; she could barely walk. My heart was really thumping and my stomach really feeling heavy while I listened and I was very happy to hear that both Shiva and the temp fosters son were ok. I was asked to drop by her house after my work shift last night and it was a sad sight. Shiva is in considerable pain, can barely stand and definitely cannot even hobble well. She was not even able to get up to greet me. I was also worried about how thin she had become(Danes lose weight so fast and it takes forever to safely put it back on). I will be dropping off some canned food for the temp foster to mix into her kibble. We also talked about a couple of other things last night. When we adopt our animals out or they are temp fostered, we always stress to get the dog into the house routine ASAP. To stay at home for a few days around the clock is of no benefit to the dog and can create SA types of traits.  It takes so long to modify a behavour a dog has and for all Shiva fans, they know how long she has been with us and what an amazing Dane she is and why she is often passed over(small and black) for some of the other Danes in our program(s) and know that she had been a bit of a barker when she arrived. With a lot of hard work, she had been modified to having only doing some ‘alert’ excite barking and then only one or two as she sees something when we travel by car. BHRR does not approve shock ‘bark’ collars, citronella ‘bark’ colloars nor what the temp foster home was going to use a ‘sonic’ bark collar.  As BHRR’s Shiva was not immediately put into the house routine, she has resorted back to some barking and this is a great example of how fast work that is done with an animal can be undone. BHRR passes along the information we do as we know our dogs and we know what is in their best interest and now we have to go back to the beginning and I have told the temp foster home, that I might have to pull her and bring her back to BHRR. As told to the temp foster home, we are here as a resource 24/7, provide a ton of information when we place our dogs in temp foster or adoptive homes and we do not say what we do idly. What the temp foster home has done is so common and we do see it often. People are so excited about temp fostering or adopting a new addition and they are listening yet they are not truly ‘hearing’ and even though we stress over and over and over again(I sound like a broken record), we see quite a few dogs ‘set’ up for failure as the home has not really heard what we were passing along to them. As told to the temp foster home, we are here to be supportive and we want a great experience for home and dog yet we also have to ensure that what is in the dogs best interest is being done by and please do ask questions and for elaborations etc. The home just wanted to ensure that BHRR’s Shiva was settling in well yet by staying home with her round the clock those first three days; it has not benefited her at all. We discussed keeping Shiva mentally and physically stimulated and in addition to some canned food being dropped off on Thursday; I referred the home back to the homecooking link I passed along and will be bringing a KONG toy so that the home can freeze treats as Shiva is not going to be mobile for awhile. She is going to have to be even more mentally stimulated to keep her ‘busy.’ At the end of the day for me, Shiva is alive and is going to be ok and we shall move forward. Accidents happen and thank you to the temp foster home for being so prompt to get her to KAH, for calling me right after and for being responsible/accountable in taking care of her Vet Bill. The home was very visibly shaken up by this experience and I have told them, that all has worked out ok and what is taken away from this in being just that much more proactive/preventative is what is going to be so important. I know that her temp foster mom already loves Shiva, that much is obvious and hugs to all!

BHRR’s Shiva went to her temp foster home last night and she did not wish to stay behind when I was leaving. That is the tough part wishing that you could explain that what you are doing is truly in their best interest. She should settle in fine and I look forward to receiving regular updates on her. 🙂 I hope to get back to updating blogs/pictures within the next few days as this past week has been most stressful with some important family matters to tend too. We thank everyone for their continued support shown.

So much to write on BHRR’s Shiva’s blog! Her annual was on November 23rd, 2009 and she weighed 38.9 Kgs(85.58 pounds) and I like to see her around the 87 pound range. With the fluctuating temperatures; adjusting her food in relation to the temps plus her activity levels has been a bit of a challenge. That and she went through a very ‘picky’ food eating stage( I think she noticed the really yummy foods BHRR’s Potter was getting to get that weight back on him and she was jealous…never mind that she had portions of the same food, just not the same portions of the homecooking that Potter did!). I have added pictures from last fall all the way up to February 16th, 2010 of BHRR’s Shiva to her slideshow. There are a couple from XMAS too. I am going to share two pictures; one from a playdate and one from XMAS below. We continue to be a bit surprised that BHRR’s Shiva is still with us and remain as patient as can be(seems to be our motto with our black beauty Great Danes) for her forever loving home to come along. I just brought in blood recently for her regular Heartworm testing and it was negative. She remains on Sentinel year round and is very healthy, happy and such a wonderful Great Dane. Now that the weather looks like spring is headed our way; we shall begin to post come April; upcoming playdates available for our approved BHRR families! We also have our next BHRR’s mini Open House date set for June and if you are interested, please contact Gwen. Additionally, some will notice that our PayPal Button is no longer on our site. As we move forward to the next stage of our CRA Status registration; per their User Policy – Service Requiring Pre-Approval Contact Information Collecting donations as a charity or non-profit organization;………….. Please send contact information, business website URL and a brief business summary – we have moved proactively to obtain this approval and have submitted our URL and a BHRR summary to their compliance department and now are awaiting our meeting with our bank on Friday to obtain our new BHRR banking information to also submit to obtain this pre-approval along with all of our legal information plus CRA paperwork indicating that we are GST/HST exempt. I do not believe that most non-profit / charity Rescue Organizations realise that they are not to be collecting funds/donations via their website from PayPal unless pre-approval has been given. As BHRR is moving to the next level of registration; ‘charity’; we are wishing to ensure that we are in proper compliance with all of PayPal’s policies. These groups who are not complying will be at risk of having their accounts suspended and/or closed permanently. I know that PayPal is also doing ‘reviews’ of accounts at this time. PayPal has indicated that we can still collect funds at this time as we wait for the compliance review/pre approval and you can donate by visiting www.paypal.com and our account is gwen@birchhaven.org With BHRR’s Ava expected to arrive on Sunday; donations from our BHRR supporters will be so needed to pay for her very extensive(one estimate was $6,000+) Vet plus Rehab bills(HydroTherapy, Physio + Massage). We continue to thank our supporters for being there for the BHRR animals. We are also hoping that our SPRING FEVER BASKET RAFFLE will be successful in bringing in monies to help BHRR’s Ava. We have 18 baskets currently posted and one more on its way and we would dearly love to hit 20! You can either donate a basket – human, dog or cat or donate funds(cash, MO/Check/Bank Draft to “Kanata Animal Hospita” or via PayPal) to enable us to put a basket together. 

BHRR’s Shiva – PlayDate – Fall 2009                                             BHRR’s Shiva – December 24th, 2009
*photo courtesy of J. Higginson

BHRR’s Shiva will be going for a playdate on Friday October 30th and I know how much she just loves her special time with others! I cannot wait to obtain a current weight on her for it has been awhile. I meant to get a weight when she had her last daytrip; yet it did not happen. I have also added a new slide #25 of BHRR’s Shiva from the BHRR September Mini Open House. LOVE her facial expression! I am also going to add it below. With BHRR’s Lil Linus adoption, we have the 3 Black Beauties plus gorgeous Mazda left in our program available of adoption. We truly hope that some wonderful homes will apply to adopt one of our Black Beauties as they are going to see past the ‘black’ colour(Big Black Dog Syndrome) and notice how stunning these Danes are inside and out.

BHRR’s Shiva – September 26th, 2009 – BHRR Mini Open House
*photo courtesy of C. Desjardins

BHRR’s Shiva had a great playday with two of our wonderful BHRR Volunteers! I was jealous knowing that I was working at the Hospital and she was out having a blast! 😛 She only barked twice the whole day. Once in my ear on the drive in for she was just so excited and had to ‘share’ that excitement with me. 🙄 The other time was when she was with her human friends. She even rode in their elevator and walked in as if she had done it everyday of her life. Shiva continues to be that all around bomb proof dog and I was so proud of her. She sat when it was time to put on her leash, she had impreccable leash manners, was very gentle about taking treats and greeted everyone with her ladylike charm. I was told that the only time that she really did wag her tail was when she saw me again and that makes my heart so warm that she did ‘miss’ me some. Her human friends uplodated 38 photos from her playday with them onto our BHRR’s Facebook Group. I do wish to upload this one picture of her! DOESN’T she look just positively FANTASTIC! I have also added this one plus two others in her slideshow. There were many people that met her at the Hospital yesterday that really fell in love with her gorgeous baby brown expressive eyes. BHRR’s Shiva weighed 38.6 KGs(84.92 pounds) and is looking sooooo good! Shiva turned 2 years old on June 10th, 2009. Slides #22-24 have now been added. We continue to wait patiently for her forever loving adoptive home to come along.

BHRR’s Shiva – August 22nd, 2009 *picture courtesy of D. Ferguson & A. Bennett

BHRR’s Shiva is going on a day long playtrip tomorrow! YAY! I am so excited for her…and for the ‘humans’ too! 😉 She might not want to come home after being spoiled so rotten! 😛 She has a manicure/pedicure last night and tonight I shall give her the ‘spa’ bath!

Shiva continues to do awesome! Such a well rounded girl and is looking just divine! BHRR’s Dana has been determined to ‘corrupt’ her and bring out an ‘edge’ in Shiva that Shiva has not seemed to have minded! 🙄 My two black beauties are little ‘mischief’ makers some days, especially when it comes to teasing and tormenting my Cherokee. Shiva remains 100% trustworthy in the house and should she not be adopted by the Wiggle Waggle Walk in September for the OHS; I am thinking that she might attend again this year.  🙂 I have added some new pictures of Shiva, slides # 16 – #21 that are from July 9th, 2009. She is sporting her new colour and looking quite smashing!!!  Her adoptive home will need to understand that she cannot be trusted around small animals like rabbits, hamsters or guinea pigs. She is very fixated on our guinea pigs and her home will need to be careful not to set her nor any small exotic up for failure. At the end of the day, dogs are animals with animal instincts and caution should be taken. She appears more ‘fascinated’ than actually prey driven at this time, yet we are very careful.

I wish to extend a very heartfelt thank you to Jane & Jeff for the donation to purchase a new collar for BHRR’s Shiva! We truly could not do what we do without the support.

WOW! I cannot believe it has almost been 2.5 months since Shiva’s blog was updated! ????? I am wondering if one of my updates did not ‘post’ as I thought it had for I cannot ever think that it has taken so long to update anyone’s blog…. Anyway, I have added three new slides # 13 – #15 of BHRR’s Shiva today and while I wanted some action shots; she was most comfortable on what I call the ‘prime real estate’ spot AKA our bed! 😛 As you can see in those new slides; BHRR’s Shiva is also in need of a new collar to call her own. She is a little ‘naked’ in that department right now. 😎 What to say about one of the best ‘all around’ and ‘bomb’ proof dogs I have ever seen in our program…. She ROCKS! As our Kona(who is now 10) has slowly been relinquishing the reins of ‘leader’ female in our home; BHRR’s Shiva and our own BHRR’s Cherokee have been taking up those reins. This is the first time in those 10 years that we have not had a very clear ‘leader’ female and the dynamics have been most fascinating to see and interesting to note. Many believe that there ALWAYS has to be a ‘clear’ male and a ‘clear’ female leader in a pack yet I have learnt through experiences as have several other of the behavoural experts out there that there is actually a lot more ‘fludity’ within a pack than perhaps once realised; with sometimes one or even two taking on that role at times. Our home has been without a ‘clear’ leader male for some years as our aging BHRR’s Jasper was letting go of that role. The only problems really come into play when the wrong dogs(those not mean to be true leaders) try to step up into this role. Something, I could write many a ‘Gwennie’ novel on as I work with many a home with this issue and how to handle/resolve it. All this to say is that between Cherokee and Shiva; there is a good balance in our home. Each one has taken on certain responsibilities yet I know that Shiva is already ‘testing’ Cherokee(tends to be first thing in the AM) and to date, Cherokee has handled this wonderfully and I remain a passive bystander as these two really good dogs; work together to help run our home. I am going to be very interested to see what happens as Shiva matures even more; Cherokee shall be 5 herself in June. I have just truly enjoyed watching these two fantastic dogs work together to keep order within the pack. Of course, my BHRR’s Dana/Alvin loves to put a monkey wrench into things yet Dana is most respectful and mindful of Shiva and Cherokee and I have been so impressed with seeing all of this fall into place. As those that visit us can attest; we have no dog fights in our home or lack of harmony. Everyone gets along and play and share together. This is because of many reasons(another novel that I could write) and I am truly loving what I am seeing come out of Shiva’s re-positioning in our home and how she is conducting herself. Gosh, there is nothing that I feel this Dane cannot do! She is incredible. She possesses the true and all around qualities that few dogs have to be such a calm, unimposing, patient, kind, comfortable, secure yet not cocky leader. I also could stare into her big brown eyes for days….she is just so sweet. As mentioned to someone that sent me a note not that long ago about being surprised that Shiva was still here and that it has been “SO” long since we had her; we shall only place her in the ‘right’ match home or not at all. Shiva is that oh so very famous and common colour of ‘black’ and many tend to want to overlook such a colour and not ‘see’ the true beauty that is there before them. Additionally; she has not been up for adoption since she first stepped foot in our home and while I am always happy to explain our program; I shall not defend it. Our stellar and impeccable reputation speaks for itself as does our very sucesssful; ‘second’ to none adoption statistics. I am sorry that this person feels that maybe Shiva needs to be crossposted and that it is too bad that she is still with us; yet I hold no concern for Shiva’s wellbeing. Anyone that has been to our home(and we hold regular open houses; have Volunteers here all the time; plus friends and family) can easily see with their own eyes how we take care of the animals here; Shiva included. There shall always be people out there that ‘know’ better than we or ‘feel’ that they could do better than we and as always, my response back is simple; you do what we do daily at the high standards that we do and experience all that we do in these ‘rescue’ trenches and I will be the first person standing behind you as you operate your own extremely high quality Rescue program; yet until you step in our shoes; your ‘outside’ judging holds very little value. We are an all Volunteer organization and some people just do not realise that a kind word can accomplish so much more than their ‘sitting on their couch…pointing a finger’ approach. We shall always remain open to feedback as I believe any program can improve yet as one of my Rescue Mentors told me years ago; there would come a day when I would reach a ‘zero’ tolerance on such ignorant comments being sent our way and I guess she is right….I am reaching that point. I will also always seek to educate where I can and impart knowledge and to share plus learn(for we should never stop learning) yet Rescue is a difficult and heartwrenching enough thing to do without ‘such’ things being sent to our way by people that truly should know better. So, as I have done in the past with such things that are sent our way; I post it on our site…so that people do see that we go through great, good, bad and some ugly(I have nothing to hide and am ashamed of nothing…yet am very proud of BHRR and what we respresent) every year BUT we continue to do what we do, because we know that we do make a difference out there to animals in need of us plus our programs and the success is the proof in our statistics AND the ‘before’ & ‘after’ pictures AND smiles of the adopters AND the happiness/light that is in the dogs that we do save etc. I lose enough sleep over trying to save animals that have been starved to the point that they cannot stand, have been shot, beaten, burnt, stabbed, have imbedded collars, festering infections, busted bones and teeth, diseases etc.; and that is what I and our Volunteers need to focus on.

I brought Shiva into work with me on Saturday and she had her ‘annual’ exam plus received her utd vaccines. She weighed 39.4 KGS(86.68 pounds). She is very muscled with a lovely coat and did really well. When she is adopted, her new home is going to have to understand the importance of her continued ‘social’ networking outside of the home. On the drive in and back, she only ‘alerted’ me once to the excitment she felt in seeing someone on the road….so, only had one ‘huge’ startle moment myself! LOL She was a bit stressed in the run(she is no longer crated with us) and had an accident yet was quick to tell everyone that she had one. I really like the dog. She has so much potential and she is just a great mxture of young dog and maturing Great Dane at this time! She is the best of friends with Ocean and Dana still and is a fantastic ‘puppy correcter’ to them when they get a bit too wound up. 😀

I have Shiva’s annual booked for the 31st of January. It will be nice to see how much she weighs now and I know that she will enjoy the trip to the hospital for a visit!

BHRR’s Shiva is doing awesome!!!! She is maturing into a beautiful well mannered Great Dane and is now completely crate free in our home. I was feeding her in her crate as she is not the fastest of eaters but she has adjusted really well out of the crate and eats right next to BHRR’s Abbi now. She has passed on her crate to BHRR’s Ocean! I have some new pictures that I need to add of her to really show how gorgeous she truly is. While Dana is a black, black Great Dane; Shiva has almost a really dark blue hue to her shiny black coat in just the right light. She is very social, kind, loving and gentle. She was the first Great Dane that completely ‘won’ BHRR’s Ocean over upon Ocean’s arrival to our program on Thursday and she has really managed to bring Ocean to the point of attempting to play(you can tell that Ocean has some communication problems with understanding this behavour yet being a playful, young and though weak; she still had some bursts of energy she picked it up fast!). Shiva was ‘quick’ to quietly yet effectively establish her role in the house and after that; she was Ocean’s best friend! LOL Shiva can tell that Ocean is made of ‘strong’ stuff; all those that I call ‘survivors’ are like that and she stepped right up to welcome her while at the same time saying ‘behave.’ GOOD GIRL SHIVA! She is such a great ‘leader’ female Great Dane.

New slide of Shiva now posted #12. She is doing well! She sleeps most nights on a dog bed in our bedroom and her and Dana have become my ‘2 Black Beauties’ AND they are extremely close now! Most people find it hard to tell them apart except for their collars! LOL She is just bombing along with her obedience and as she matures, is settling into an extremely wonderful GD. I will try to get a new height and weight on her for I know that she is taller. She still likes to express herself in welcome when we get home or people arrive and she in her crate.  🙄 She just does not want to be left out of any possible fun and that is the only time that we find that she makes any kind of ‘barking’ noises. SO PROGRESS! It is like she is saying ‘HEY! I am over here! Don’t forget me! LOOK! LOOK! I am over here!’ LOL

New pic of BHRR’s Shiva added; #11. She is doing well, goober gal all the way right now! She has just been awesome with BHRR’s Dana and in fact, I think Shiva has her nose a wee bit out of joint as Dana is the ‘new gal’ on the block and getting lots of attention from the ‘boyz.’ 😛 Sean and I had to ‘look’ at their collars sometimes when Dana first arrived for they both are very pretty black GD’s and we are so used to calling out ‘Shiva’ when we see a ‘black blur of fur’! Yet, they have different ‘shades’ of black coats and Shiva also has less white AND once you get to know them, while very similar, they are their own very unique personalities of FUN! There truly has not been a dog that Shiva has not loved and she has been a real pleasure and a riot to have around! Her obedience just continues to develop/become stronger and there is never a dull moment with this sweet GD. Whether she is lying still or playing with her friends; her personality just radiates from her.

Shiva! Shiva! Shiva! What to say about this gal! LOL She is most assuredly keeping us on our toes these days. She is such a ‘thinker’ and has been very clever in figuring out how to access the rubbermaid food bin. This girl loves loves loves still to bark in excitement and while it is only a few barks, we are still working on that. Her ‘alert’ barks have gotten very few and far between yet they still happen…’hey, look over here’….’WOW, would ya look at that’……’Holy…NO Way…..’ She is a ‘nut’, this one. Full of personality and a charmer yet with an openly honest manipulative streak for she will look positively adorable and innocent while standing right in front of a dumped out food bin almost saying ‘It was not me…honest…’. I keep telling Sean..’Don’t fall for the pretty browns…DON’T look into the brown lights’….LOL 😛 I have found a small spot on her side and while I am not really suspecting that it is a new ‘spot’; I am watching it right now. It could very well be just a ‘play’ mark with how wild these guys can get in their playing. Having so many animals here under the age of 3 is busy, that is for sure. She does love her comforts too, our bed is her prime ‘real estate’ spot for sleeping yet to keep her onboard with the continued NILIF and Gwennie’s Doggie Boot Camp; she sleeps at night in her crate. She has managed on a number of occasions to ‘open’ her crate(LORD knows how!) and has been found sleeping quite soundly on a dog bed. It is not that I do not trust her to be out at night; it is more for continued training and position placement in the house for she is a true delight with her sometimes high maintenance behavour. I want to keep her on the right track with her molding of her fantabulous personality and obedience/training in the right direction and this is just part of that whole process. When she is older and not as ‘goober’ like; she can sleep out at night. She can still be a bossy bit of goods at time yet it is done mostly in play and we could not ask for a better all around ‘bomb’ proof dog such as her. She is great will all and anyone and any dog; just like Mazda and Lil Linus and Porridge. I just love how intelligent she is and how stimulated she needs to be(she needs a job this one) and how she thinks and processes things. She is superb. Just superb! I know that Sean continues to secretly and not so secretly harbour deep affection for this one. She is a rare gem in so many ways.

I just have to get in gear and post new pics of Shiva. She is looking awesome! She is feeling very comfortable at our home now and has taken to entering what I call the ‘second idiot phase’ in growing up/maturing. She is loving to try and counter surf and has no qualms about climbing onto our deep window sills to access the rubbermaid container of food. Shiva is JUST awesome with Tain, our new blue. She is gentle when she needs to be and when she plays with the ‘big dogs’ she gets all rough and tumbly if they are playing that way. Her spot on her side is fully healed and the hair has begun to grow back in and Shiva has had no other spots appear. I will also try to get a new height posted on Shiva shortly for I believe she is taller. She is just a wonderful dog!!!!

Shiva’s ‘spot’ has healed well and the skin is slowly turning back to her normal colour tone. It has not gotten any larger and as of yet, no hair has begun to grow back and will continue to monitor. She has only had the one spot. With the new addition to our home; Shiva has taken it upon herself, the MAGNIFICENT dog she is; to take him under her wing and has been just incredible with Tain. There was never any doubt but we want to ‘toot’ her horn anyway! 😀 She is just that great ‘all around’ dog!!!! Her coat is just so shiny black now and she is full of muscle. Every time that Sean and I look at Shiva; we are just taken back by what a beautiful gal she is, inside and out. She is going to make a home very special with her presense.

I took Shiva to work with me last night to do a skin scraping on that spot and there were NSF(no significant findings) yet that does not truly mean that she does not have Demodex. She had no temperature and is eating, drinking, playing and doing everything else normal. Thursday afternoon, I noticed that the red spot was larger, more hair was missing and that it has begun to ‘ooze’ again, so in she went with me. We have put her on Cephalexin 500mg; 1.5 tabs every 12 hours for two weeks. I just plop them in her food and she just gobbles them down. Today, when the kennel manager came into the reception area shortly after I arrived, she began to bark at him. She has not done anything like that in some time(Sean says at our open house, she was a bit nervous of one man there too)and in feeling cornered; she felt quite nervous. She settled down well yet when one of the vets startled her in opening up a door or when one of the techs came around a corner too fast; she was all nervous again and began to do her ‘bark’. It is half in fear and half in ‘bluff’ of ‘step away from me…..’. She does settle down well…liver treats work well and I distract her in having to ‘work’ for her treat and her commands in French are almost flawless…in English, we are getting there! 🙂 She is quite bonded with me and loved the car and is a great traveller! She also became nervous for I did the ‘post appointment’ trip through both McDonald’s and Timmie’s for her and she did a small bark or two in the drive-through at McDonald’s yet no reaction at all at Timmie’s. It was amazing how great she was at the Wiggle Waggle and so, we shall continue to hit social settings, armed with treats and have strangers, especially men feed her. When we got home though, she could not get to Abbi(who was sitting so pretty on the lawn looking for Abbi) and Sean fast enough! She also weighed in at 38.6KGs(84.92 pounds) and I could not have been more WOOHOO! SHE looks FANTASTIC! The last thing that we did with that spot/area on her side is to measure it to see if it is going to get any bigger etc. As Shiva has had a history with demodex, it would not be overly surprising if it was something like that and I will post updates as I can.

The honeymoon period with Shiva has begun to end! LOL Last night(and as many know, I was waiting for this to happen as she is a natural female leader) she exchanged some words with our Kona, 9.5 year old Newfx who has been our leader female for her whole life with us. Today, Shiva then attempted to see if she could move up the chain and had some words with our almost 8 year old GD, Maggi. There are many trainers that will say do not interfere yet as a trainer and someone that works deep in the trenches of behavour; I do intercede where and when needed. Shiva is to be very hopefully adopted at some point; Maggi and Kona are ours. In the whole time we have operated BHRR; no one has ever tried to step up and be the natural leader female in our home, especially since Kona has been with us since 1999 and took on that role. We have had this happen with male rescues and our own males and even now, we have a very fluid male leadership going on in our home since Jasper was failing in health over the past couple of years and then crossed over this past June. Animal dynamics is very interesting and fascinating! Abbi and Mudslide are so content to let Shiva lead and to date, Shiva has not attempted anything with Mazda or Cherokee; two other females here. For people that do not understand this natural progression of animal behavour in a pack; it is neither unusual, scary, unheard of, unnatural or even wrong to have these things occur. We do not in our home set any dogs up for failure and live in harmony and the fact that two dogs exchanged a few words about things; is completely normal. What is the underlying cause is what is so interesting and I look forward to watching things develop. We have determined that Shiva can be adopted out with our BHRR’s Abbi(they are very very very close) or she needs to go to a home with at least one other dog as previously mentioned; or if there are two+ other dogs; at least one male would be great and the female must be open to having a natural and most wonderful(so very rare to see such a natural leader female in such a calm, confident without being dominant or overbearing manner like Shiva is) leader female in the home. Dogs like Abbi and Mudslide are really benefiting in having a Dane like Shiva here in helping them even more with social confidence etc. I am so loving this Dane and Sean and I have said many times over that if we did not have Kona(our own spectacular natural female leader) that Shiva would be here to stay. She is just PERFECT!!!! As long as she is continued to be molded and guilded in the right direction, this gal can do anything! Obedience, Therapy, Agility and the best family companion and asset to home/community that anyone could ever wish for. The one thing that we are going to be taking a closer look at is something on her skin. Before I left for Niagara last Friday, I noticed a ‘bump’ on her side(close to her hip) and upon touching it, it was very tender. The next morning just before I got on the road; the lump had ulcerated and was oozing and I put Shiva on antibiotics. When I got home on Sunday night; the bump was gone, the area was very dry and flat, with a small scab and it looked like some kind of skin condition. I know from reading her past vet records that she did suffer from Demodex AND it is possible that this is what this is. The area is now quite a healthy pink, no hair and has healed well. I think we might do a skin scraping on her too if need be.

On Sunday September 7th, Sean and I plus kids did the Wiggle Waggle Walk with several friends; THANKS Leesh, Suzanne, Chuck and Matt! Suzanne and Chuck took some wonderful pics(we forgot our camera) and we would like to share! We ended up taking Shiva with us. Other than some excited barking as we pulled into the parking lot and a few barks here and there throughout the event; she was awesome! She even handled the attacks from an unleashed Bernese Mountain Dog extremely well. SO, did Leesh who had been walking Shiva! Needless to say, I had a few words to say in respect to that display of unresponsible ownership by the owner of that dog. UGH! I wish I had the same ‘voice’ inside of me when I was showing in Ohio in August with Bronson when a Black Great Dane attacked him and me!!!! After how great Shiva did on this walk(yes, her leash manners NEED work and she has not yet been here all that long with us; yet the required round of at least one round of obedience classes is going to work wonders with this); I have decided to now place her up for adoption!!!! I shall be adding her to our PetFinder site later today. She is a great dog!!!! Just awesome! She handled all the noise, dogs(wanted to play with everyone!!!), people, sights, smells just beautifully! She truly is one well rounded dog! I know that Sean will be ‘ok’ should she never be adopted either for those two are well bonded!!!! 😉 AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!!!

BHRR’S Shiva & BHRR’s Linus

BHRR’s Shiva, BHRR’s Linus & BHRR’s Porridge at the OHS Wiggle Waggle Walk

First thing I want to say is that to whomever Shiva is going to be adopted to; to note that her micrcochip is NOT quite between her shoulder blades yet closer to mid-way down her back. I have put it in her file at KAH and have noted it in my records too. I took Shiva to work with me last night for her HWT and she was a great patient! She weighed 40.6 KGs(89.32 pounds) and boy! HAS she muscled out since she has been here. She also has this most wonderful shiny black hair coming in with the homecooking, yogurt and raw eggs plus shells that she is getting. The one thing that is going to delay her going up for adoption is her ‘car’ manners! LOL We are going to have to work on that. She is great in the country yet once we get to the city and poor Porridge’s ears and MINE! and goodness help us if she passed on any of this to Porridge BUT she likes to ‘bark’ and wag her tail as if to say ‘HEY! LOOK GWEN! A CAR’ ‘OH WOW! GWEN’ ANOTHER CAR’ ‘OMG! YET ANOTHER CAR GWEN’ ‘NO WAIT! LOOK AT THOSE PEOPLE! WHAT ARE THEY DOING?’ ‘ I WANNA JOIN THEM’ “WHAT IS THAT GWEN?’ “WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT ODD THING(meaning a bicycle) THAT IS BEING SAT ON AND OH KEWL! IT MOVES’ 😛 I could go on and on about all the things that she would perk up at and stand up and sometimes squish parts of poor Porridge sitting beside her(Mr. Calm)as she found new things to bark and excite over and ‘alert’ me too. I think I almost went deaf. She was so quiet when I picked her up from her previous owner(very understandable), rode great in the car and this was her first trip outside of the home in a car since she arrived. I think we are going to be going to my work a LOT over the next while! HOLY! 🙄 She was a bit skittish at the hospital, yet allowed pets and was curious BUT man! Does she love all other dogs! LOL She was very fascinated by the small Chi pup that one of the staff at KAH has and even sat as if ‘hey, is that a treat????’ She was great, once shown that it was not a treat and in fact, the Chi had a few words to say to her! LOL So, I am going to hold off on Shiva The Diva’s adoption for another few weeks for we have some ‘public’ and ‘social’ manners 101 to work on with riding in the car! Her leash manners still are not the best and we continue to forge on those and she has also become a wee bit selective when it comes to ‘sitting’ on command. Sean just adores this girl and if we were ever looking for a new ‘leader’ female in our house; she would be ‘it’ with continued right direction molding and guiding. She is playful, a flirt and she sure has Sean wrapped up in her paw! 😛 I have found her very refreshing and delightful to watch as she is like one of those flower Danes we have had in the past; with petals unfolding into the warmth of the sun/love of those around her. We have noticed that when we take out the mop to wash muddy paw prints of the floor that she just cringes and will rush to her crate to lie down. We have been very careful with working with her on that….I leave the mop/bucket out and move it from place to place and she is fine walking by it yet if you take the mop out and begin to carry it by her; she is quite nervous. I have not tried brooms as of yet BUT she is great with the vacuum and paper towel rolls. Her fav spot of late to lie is right near my computer chair and I have to admit; she has a piece of my heart now too…JUST do not tell her that! 😉 She truly is going to make someone an awesome family member! She is so neat and fun and full of personality and it is like watching a toddler explore their world in wonder as they grow up. That part of her reminds me of WinterGirl(Frost ‘T”s sister) who taught me that I really need to stop and smell those roses/flowers more than I do. Shiva is teaching me all about the same life lesson that WinterGirl did up to her death in 2004. Some things are meant to be as they say and Shiva crossing my path is something special indeed.
UPDATE: I received a call this AM from the hospital that Shiva’s HWT is negative!

BHRR’s Shiva is scheduled for her HWT on Friday September 5th and later today, we shall do her nails plus microchip. She is also now on Sentinel given monthly. Once the results of her HWT are in; she will be up for adoption soon after. SHE is a fantabulous dog!!!!! Just wonderful!!!! I took quite a few pictures yesterday and hopefully, I can get them up later today and before I leave for Albion, NY on Friday to show Bronson. I now call her ‘DIVA SHIVA’ 😆
UPDATE: 10 pictures of Diva Shiva have now been added! 😉 While not the best pictures ever, it is a start!

What an exciting update to be making on BHRR’s Shiva! I think me leaving for a few days was the BEST that could happen to her in getting over most of her skittishness with men. She had to ‘depend’ on Sean for food, cuddles, water etc. and in arriving home yesterday from Ohio, I could tell that she has become a ‘Sean’s Baby’! She will sit right back on her haunches and place both of her feet very gently on Sean’s lap and nudge him for loving. I think I am jealous! LOL She was a bit soft ‘woofy’ with me when I arrived home yet as my smells are all over the house; she settled down when asked. She has not had one accident in the house since last Wednesday and she will now run to her crate for that special treat and is great at night. She does do some low soft cries of ‘I wanna be out there with you guys’ yet calms down quickly in her crate and sleeps well. Her crate is in the main floor of our home and one busy traffic zone. She only makes these small soft few cries at bedtime. She is up like the sun around 5:00 – 5:30 AM each day and her day begins! She is now fully integrated with all and has been wonderful! At this time, we need to microchip her, do a HWT and give her much needed pedicure/manicure; possibly even tonight. From there, in another week or so; she will be put up for adoption for she is doing AWESOME! She needs much in regards to leash manners plus more public socialization and we will work on that but these are also things that her new forever loving home can work on too. We will give her those strong foundations and her new home will be required to carry through in continuing to build on those foundations. She cannot go to an inexperienced home for she is a very strong willed and minded gal and I admire her deeply for that. She is brilliant and is going to excel in things like obedience or therapy work. She really is beautiful and hopefully, I shall get some pictures posted up of her soon. I have had 702 emails to address since I got home yesterday and it has been busy! If I were to post a complaint on Shiva it is her constant desire for zooming in the house and getting the other dogs to do the same!!! 😛 Sean just loves this girl and I know that she is sure to steal someone’s heart out there! At this time, I also would like to see her in a home whereby someone is home all the time or a part-time work home. I do not feel at least at this moment in time, that it is in her best interest to go to a home whereby someone is working full-time. She needs stimulation and a ‘job’ to have in order to keep her on the ‘right’ path. She has done very little barking and absolutely no chewing at our home. She will also need a home with a very very very tall fence for she cleared ours the first day she was here. She is also a ‘rough houser’ Dane pup and ‘gentle’ is becoming a constant word in her training program! 😆

Just one more update before I get on the road to Ohio. Shiva had a good night. She did really well in her crate. I often find that the second and third night of a new animal in our home is the most ‘upsetting’ to all, so we will see what the next few nights brings for everyone. She seems to be having a problem understanding that she can drink water inside as she will drink outside from one of the bowls yet not inside. She also peed and pooped in the house, despite an open door. She has now been integrated with all but two of the dogs(Mazda who is one of KB/JB’s closest buds and keeps him ‘calm’ & KB/JB as we continue to keep KB/JB’s excitement and stress down to avoid a possible bloat situation). We will wait a few more days before that meeting so that KB/JB is used to the sight and smell of her before a physical introduction. I know that Mazda and he are also going to love Shiva just as all the other dogs do. She is a very playful sort and you can see that she definitely is enjoying being the ‘centre’ of attention plus has a strong ‘leader’ personality. We need to ensure that it is shaped in the proper direction for already she wants to try and ‘boss’ some of the other dogs around to get their toys etc. She is very gentle about taking treats and has already managed to figure out how to get out of the fenced in yard. She is a jumper too. Busy, busy, busy girl this one. It is interesting to watch how even our Cherokee ‘submits’ to Shiva. Yesterday, Shiva could not get enough of outside. Today, she is very reluctant to even put a toe outside. She wants to play and zoom inside and though she will stand just in the open door and watch the outside, she is not keen on taking one step out there. She is a really nice girl and full of life!

Shiva’s owner met me at the hospital today and you could tell just how much she loves this girl. She sent with Shiva, her favourite toys, a blanket and some food. She even gave BHRR a donation. I promised to send her updates and pictures and she has our website to follow Shiva’s progress. I brought Shiva into the hospital and she weighed 39.4 KGs(86.68 pounds) and we also verified her spay(she has a noticeable incision). She is a good weight(a wee bit plump) yet looks wonderful and though a bit skittish, settled down well. Once she has had time to get used to being with us, we will micrcochip and do her nails. Shiva sat on the scale beautifully(she knows her commands in french really well) and was a model passenger on the way home. She lied down and other than looking about her; was very content to lie there and at one point just flopped right on her side and stretched out! When I arrived home; Sean had put all the dogs away and she was a bit growly in the car at him and her hackles went up slightly. She is suppose to be better with women than men and with me leaving tomorrow for Ohio; this will be a great oppotunity for her and Sean to get better acquainted. Once I brought her out of the vehicle, she was less stressed with Sean being there and after a few moments of her looking a bit nervous, I handed over the leash with some calming words/a touch and went to our car to get some things out. She was very calm and no longer worried. She pulls a bit on the leash, so we will be working on that. She came into the house without any worry and I had Sean keep her on a leash while I let the 4.5 month old Porridge out of his crate. He was so funny…he was all over ‘mom’ first and once he felt that he got enough of the ‘mom’ AKA ME; he greeted Shiva. She was a little wary yet within seconds was fine and I took her off the leash. Abbi, who was in her crate in the sunroom, was making all of these sounds and play bowing in her crate and tail was wagging a mile a minute. After about 10 minutes and Porridge trying to bring Shiva every toy in the house to play with him; LOL; I let Abbi out and WOW! WOW! WOW! Abbi took to Shiva like one of her DBB sisters. She was playbowing, following her and trying to get Shiva to play and Shiva began to play! I opened up the front door when things began to get a bit rambunctious and out the three of them scooted to go romp in the yard. Shiva has been doing a lot of exploring and Abbi is staying close to her and playing with her and doing a lot of playbowing….Abbi LOVES Shiva and Porridge has a crush! LOL They have now been in and out of the house several times and things have gone beautifully. I will not integrate Shiva with the whole herd in one day and will soon crate her to give her some ‘safe’ & ‘quiet’ time. She has not gone to the bathroom since she arrived nor drank anything yet she has shown a lot of curiousity in her surroundings and has done a lot of investigations. Even with the rest of the ‘mob’ LOL barking and whining throught the ensuite windows; she has shown no fear, just curiousity at everything. She does love the outside, that is for sure…..I wanted to give a bit of an update after her arrival and before I left as to how she is doing. She is not much bigger in height to Abbi either! I have also learned that her birthdate is June 10th, 2007, so she is 14 months old now. A pretty wee thing, just like Abbi! You can tell that this girl has spunk and pesonality and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead as we get to learn each other and progress to Shiva being that great asset to home and community. I can tell already that she is going to keep me on my toes! LOL Her vaccines are not due until January 3rd, 2009. I also promise to get some pictures of this beauty up soon! I honestly do not feel that it is going to be long before this sweetie will be available for adoption. We will have to work through that ‘honeymoon’ period and do a thorough temperament and behavoural assessment BUT I am loving what I am seeing. She is going to deeply benefit from some detailed obedience classes and we will see how the crate training goes and how anxious she might become upon being left alone plus any housebreaking, barking and/or chewing issues she might have in relation to that. Like any new addition to our program, the first few nights are the hardest on all of us and we will take it one day at a time with her. I do know already that she should really be in a home with at least one other dog and whether she needs to be in a home with someone there all day or part-time or can go to a full-time working home; that remains to be seen. Right now, the three monkeys are tearing in and out of my house……LOL and she has already added her signature to our newly re-finished hardwood floors with some scratches from those nails of hers! 😛 WELCOME to our home Shiva! LOL NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!!

If all goes well, Shiva will be arriving on Tuesday August 19th. We have requested a copy of all of her vet records for the o/s form sent back to us, indicated that no records would be coming with her. We really would like and need to know about vaccine history, her spay, any heartworm testing, heartworm preventative. etc. She sounds like a really sweet and wonderful GD and we look forward in meeting her.

BHRR’s Shiva – Black female Great Dane, 1 year of age, spayed and what we have been told is that the woman wants and feels she needs to give her up as she is a single working mom and works all day. We have been told that it is believed that Shiva suffers from SA(Separation Anxiety) and we were contacted as the contact for the SPCA Monteregie would like to keep her out of a shelter environment. We have been told (trying to make a connection with the woman who owns Shiva) that she can keep her until August 18th as she is on vacation so she is at home with her; yet I received a message from this woman that would like to drop her to us tomorrow. We will need to connect for BHRR cannot take her until the 18th and would dearly love to assist. Shiva is apparently good outside yet if she is left alone in the house; will chew, go to the bathroom and bark non-stop. When there are people home; Shiva is supposedly; obedient, calm, social, friendly with children, visitors etc. We have also been told that the woman has contacted a trainer, tried anxiety medication(we will be asking for vet records as we also need to know if Shiba is utd on shots, HWT, HWpreventative etc.) and yet when Shiva is alone she gets very upset. This woman got the Dane at 6 months of age from someone else and has never owned a dog before. We will update Shiva’s blog as we can and I am hoping that I can make direct contact soon for as mentioned above; we would love to help Shiva. NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!