BHRR’s Moose has now gone home with his new adoptive family! I was so proud of him that he was trustworthy enough to allow them a glimpse into his amazing world of a great temperament and personality filled boy! He was rolling on his back, allowed them to touch his feet and wipe his drool off and was just so sweet! THAT’S my MOOSEMAN! I have added 11 new pictures from today to his slideshow #11 – #21. Going to so miss you my sweatheart of a boy! The joy you have given to us, the lessons that you have reinforced to all that have met you about patience, time, consistency, obedience/training and love are such important ones! ADOPTED!!!

BHRR’s Moose – August 14th, 2010 – 16 months of age

BHRR’s Moose had his HWT(Heartworm Test) results come back today and it is negative and we are an all go in putting him up as AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!! We are only going to look at experienced dog homes for Moose(Saint B experience not necessarily required, just experienced dog homes) and one that truly understands how important it is to be patient, yet firmly kind with him in regards to obedience(his leash manners are getting better and better too) and his worries about being at a Vet Hospital. YET, yesterday was HUGE! AND I plan on bringing him back several more times to give him good experiences.

BHRR’s Moose was weighed today and his weight ws 61.7 KGS(135.74 pounds). HE looks great! Nice and lean and full of muscle. With very minimal effort, we drew his blood(could not get a good vein in the hind leg, which is not that common and he also possesses quite the small veins there) for his HWT and under a very mild sedation; had his manicure plus pedicure. He walked in the Hospital much more relaxed than he did the last time he came in and wagged his tail and enjoyed the love he received. He was wary yet open and receptive and was a superb boy when I went to weight him. He was a bit detached after we gave him the quick reversal and unsure, yet I took him outside for a pee and to stretch his legs and he was feeling much more normal and himself. I will bring him back a few more times over the next while just to have ‘good’ Hospital experiences and his new home will have to understand the importance of Moose having these great experiences so that he is more comfortable in Animal Hospitals which also makes it easier on him when staff need to do procedures such as exams and also easier on the staff too with the being able to handle him. I was very proud of Moose today AND I was also very proud of his truck manners as he only attempted once to climb into the front seat and I had Ms SB(spray bottle) resting there and he quickly changed his mind and settled wonderfully on the back seat.

In preparation to bring BHRR’s Moose in with me tomorrow to KAH for some assistance with nails and the HWT, I set out to give him a bath. I was so thrilled with how easy I could get him into the walk in shower. Tossed a treat, he munched away and then I turned on the water! 😛 That is when things went quickly south! LOL Needless to say, while I got Moose wet, the shampoo never made it on him and though I got him back into the shower with lures of more treats, I just could not keep the big ‘ol Moose man from pushing by me to get out. He was also NONE to thrilled and let me know it yet afterwards, you could see how unsure he was of how I was going to react to his own reaction and I am going to take the success where I can and we will try again later. He is not THAT stinky and to think that he has only been here over a month; I NEVER could have even attempted this back then, so well, we both ended up wet! You did well Moose and I wuvs you….we will just keeping moving forward with baby steps like so many others that need the time and patience here at BHRR.

Sean came home from work a bit earlier than normal today so that he could try to assist me with BHRR’s Moose such that I could attempt to draw some blood to bring in for his HWT that I require to be done before he will be placed up for adoption. Moose did not make one attempt to bite either one of us BUT he sure ‘threw’ his sizeable weight around making it near to impossible to take any blood. However; I felt quite confident that if I wrestled with him for another 20 minutes, I could do his nails plus draw blood BUT we are not about giving bad experiences or causing any more stress than necessary and Moose was well aware by his tail wagging and goofy persona that he was used to getting his way by tossing his weight around. So, I had Sean hold him and I handled all legs and feet and examined them thoroughly before letting him go and then I held him and Sean did the same. So, while I was not able to draw blood and did not try to do his nails, Moose did not ‘get’ away without being handled at all and we did not get into a situation whereby his ‘not wanting to co-operate’ could have turned into stress and he was no longer having fun. I think I dropped 5 pounds in the dancing he and I did though!!!! He happily took his treat afterwards and there were no hard feelings and so, PROGRESS! What I have done is make an appointment to bring Moose in with me to work next week and with a few extra hands on him, I will get the blood for his HWT and we shall do his nails. NOW, he does not like Vet Hospitals and as I do not desire to hold up placing him for adoption(he handled himself wonderfully today with what I did do and in the right home, with patience and time, someone is going to be able to do his nails without concern BUT they must handle Moose right) by taking another month of handling by myself with Sean to be able to draw this blood myself and to do those nails; I will use the extra hands at work to just get things done; and it was discussed; doing these things on the lawn; outside of the Hospital; so that we can minimalize any stress PLUS he gets to hang out with me all day at the Hospital while I work and have a really good experience. If need be, we will mildly sedate him as I do not want him feeling any strain for he has COME a long way since he has arrived and I do not have any fear that he is going to be set up for failure when I handled his feet. THAT has taken some time to build up a measure of trust from Moose and I will not break that. So, on August 3rd, Moose will be coming to KAH with me. 😀 AND if I find that he does need another month or so or whatever X length of time is needed for Moose, then he shall be given it before he goes up for adoption. I will not rush him yet I know he is ready in many ways to be placed up for adoption and the longer he stays with me, the more bonded he has become to me and I fall in love with him more and more the big ol’ MOOSEMAN! Yet, the next step will be the Hospital experience and I shall post an update from there. I want any potential home that is looking at applying to adopt Moose to understand that he is a completely different dog outside of the Vet Hospital and the more ‘great’ visits he has at Vet Hospitals, the better he is going to be and while I shall not set him up for failure, I want him to learn that the trust he has put into me and then into his new family is not unfounded and that what we are asking of him is in his best interests and we will not allow him to be hurt. This could take a very long time BUT the process has been started at BHRR and any new home MUST understand that they must continue working with him. Moose is well aware that he is a big boy and that he can push himself around yet I do not want him feeling like he can do that or that he should do that and he certainly enjoyed trying to do that today, the goober; yet in the end; while I did not get the bw or the nails; Moose did not know that I was trying for either(he never saw nail clippers for example) and so he thinks I ‘got’ what I wanted because he thinks that he ‘let’ met get what I wanted and that works…..for now….. 😉

OK! I know that these pictures #6-#10 are a LONG time in coming and THANKS so much to everyone for their continue patience. I feel that June and most of July has just flown by in a blur with all that has been on BHRR’s plate and also on our family’s. YET, I think you will all agree that these pictures of BHRR’s Moose are WELLLLLLLLL worth the wait! 😛 😉 They are taken from June 27th and I am adding two of them below. BHRR’s Moose has one more ‘test’ to pass and depending on how well he does; that will depend on ‘when’ he shall be placed up for adoption. AND this has to do with his nails. We are ready to tackle them and if it goes as well as I hope(not expecting perfection), then I will feel that he is finally ready to be placed him up for adoption! He will have made HUGE strides in his handling and obedience skills since he has arrived and if he is not yet ready with those tootsies, then we shall continue to just work on his comfort levels and try again in another week or so. No rush. The way Moose will just sit or lay down and look at me with those huge brown and soulful eyes just ‘grabs’ at me. The trust he has placed in me and what he will let me do already with being able to get into his mouth, take items away(he will try to hold on to them more in ‘game’ than anything and no resourcing issues whatsoever), pull at ears and tail and I can now handle all four feet really well without him becoming stressed out at all BUT he will give me a ‘look’ if I am on them to long. I then just let them go, praise him, give him a treat sometimes and we just move on to other things. OMG! He so loves the black KONG toy here and he will chase his tail sometimes and we are working on re-directing that behavour. He most likely picked that up while he was locked up in that one person’s garage yet I cannot state that in surety. He is just awesome in his crate and goes in when asked(I do not as of yet trust him 100% free roam when we are not at home) and he loves his special yummy treatie in there. He is also currently fed in his crate, more because he does not eat super fast and I do not want another faster eater – Hmmmm BHRR’s Koop! as one example – taking it from him. All dogs know that we will not allow any other dog to take any high value items away and I can have 23 dogs munching in harmony on Smoked Dino bones etc. without any issues. Some things, I do believe dogs should work out between themselves, other things, NO WAY! I am the leader female and Sean is the leader male and it is up to us to set the expectations in the pack on rules and acceptable plus appropriate levels of behavour. The other thing that I want to mention about BHRR’s Moose and his eyes is that when he looks at me, I see that he is beginning to trust me with his whole being and he makes me feel like I can accomplish big things BUT I also see some worry in his eyes and we want that to not be there before he is placed up for adoption. He also loves sharing his drool and water from the water bowl. DROOL towels a must with this boy!  😛 Sean and I agree that he could not be more aptly named with that big ‘ol ‘moose head’ and that ‘moose’ temperament. Many a day, I have to make Moose think it was ‘his’ idea about doing something I want him to do. LOVE it! I do know that I would like to see BHRR’s Moose in a home with at least one other dog, male or female as long as they are compatible for Moose loves both and his 2nd bff is BHRR’s Kingston(a neutered Newfx) and of course his first is BHRR’s Lily Belle. His new forever loving home must also realise that while he lives in harmony with 20 other dogs here, he does not exactly love my two intact blue show boyz, TAIN and the Big Blue, Bronson. He will try to bully and push them around and he is corrected and does not look one bit ashamed of himself in trying to do so! He needs an experienced dog home, not necessarily an experienced Saint B. home and at this time, it matters not if the home is a full-time working one or not.

BHRR’s Moose – June 27th, 2010 – One day after arrival to BHRR

SOOOOOOO much to update on BHRR’s Moose yet for now I want to say WHAT a good boy he was when I had Sean hold him and I microchipped him tonight! YAY! MOOSE! NOW that is progress with his comfort zone in being handled and restrained. We shall see how that nail trimming will be and I am feeling much more confident that I shall be able to pull his blood myself with only Sean holding him so that I can get that HWT done before he is placed up for adoption and once I get to know him so much better. He needs more training too and we are getting there! HE gives me the best MOOSE kisses and I call him my ‘moosemouse’ and ‘mooseman’. The way he looks at me with those big brown eyes of his just melts my heart. He wants to trust and there has been huge leaps and bounds with his obedience. Vet Hospitals simply stress him out and his new adoptive home is going to have to understand and work with this and their Vet Hospital as well. His best of friends – well, in Moose’s mind at least is BHRR’s Lily Belle. HE just will not leave that poor gal alone and long after she is zonked and wanting to rest, he is right by her side, touching and kissing and drooling all over her. I also nicknamed him my ‘male Dana’ for he is one MONKEY boy at times!!! You tell him to lay down and then the next thing you see is him crawling across the floor to get back close to Lily Belle or a toy etc. WHAT a ham!!! THANKS being extended to Mary for offering to pay for his microchip as part of our 3rd ANNUAL Microchip/Nail Trim & BBQ Fundraiser that is coming up on Sunday July 18th! AND this Fundraiser is for Cats and Dogs! He is fully housebroken now and YAY! AND his feet have healed really well including the wound under his chin. POOR sweetie. Pictures and more of an update to come soon!

BHRR’s Moose was 135.30 pounds(61.50 KGs) tonight. He definitely did not want his feet touched and you could see how his stress level was escalating and we did not desire to set him up for failure. The Vet was able to take a look at the left front paw without restraining him(he lies with his feet out to the side) and could see the area that was ‘open’ and swollen above the one pad. It was decided to put him on Cephalexin 500 mg x 3 tabs BID. As for his nails and HWT, that was something I went back and forth in my mind and discussing out loud for the Vet is right, there is no rush really on the HWT right at this moment and to give him some more time to settle in yet on the other hand, he almost ‘wins’ by demonstrating certain behavour and then not having to do what is being asked of him. On the other hand, I do not desire to see him set up for failure yet on yet another hand, I ‘believe’ he is going to be funny about those feet and nails for a long time to come. Microchipping is going to come with its own share of joys I can also tell. Moose would sit when I asked and would lay down fairly well upon command and yet I knew that he would also not be very co-operative in looking under his chin near the beginning of his neck, for I found a raw, scabbed area there as well; that could be a hotspot yet could also be there from whatever it was that he cut himself on while in that person’s garage. The antibiotics will take care of it and any other spots on his feet that might be on the verge of flaring up too. He is also not a great backseat car traveller and would not settle until he had rammed himself into my front seat of my car YET my car is not equipped to take an almost 140 pound dog in the front seat! We will be working on that more. Tethering him only stresses him out, so as I will be going back for an extra set or two of hands for that HWT, microchip and nail trimming, it will give us another opportunity to work on that part. His leash manners are also very poor yet he is a very affectionate and loving boy when he has not felt like he was going to be ‘jumped’ and restrained. We will give him some more time and I will bring in one of my 40 cm E-collars if needed to help create a safe environment for him and us to do his nails and HWT plus microchip. He was also very gentle about taking treats from those that gave him some and settled down really well in the exam room plus when I put him into a run in the back as I also had BHRR’s Ava Marie at KAH tonight and had to run out to pick up some meds for her at the Human Pharmacy. Moose also had NO trouble sharing his drool with all and he even drank some water out of a persons hands from the sink! He developed a small fan club tonight I think at KAH!  😉 His Birthday is April 8th, 2009 if I have not already posted that. 😮

I have booked BHRR’s Moose in to see the Vet tomorrow night. He is limping on his left front foot and is not so co-operative in allowing me to look at the pad. 😛 I will also do his HWT and a nail trim at the same time. We have also learnt that he is not housebroken so that is a work in progress and like BHRR’s Apollo, he wants to ‘push’ my bluez boyz around, so that is also a work in progress.

BHRR’s Moose is now HERE! I met his transport for around 10:30 PM on Saturday with one of my BHRR BOD members who was up visiting from Oshawa. It was quite the ‘smile material’ sight seeing him drive up sitting like the great co-pilot int he passenger seat looking so handsome! I am attaching two pictures below from his transport taken by Michy and have put 3 into his slideshow.

BHRR’s Moose – On his transport to BHRR – Saturday June 26th, 2010 – 14 months old – BORN: April 8th, 2009
*photos courtesy of Michy

Feedback sent from his one transporter – Gloria:

“He is such a good boy.”

Feedback from another one of the Volunteer transporters – Claudia:

“I was one of the transport drivers on his journey and I thought he was wonderful. He was fine around other dogs, very friendly, let strangers come up to him without hesitation. I gave him dog biscuits and two bowls of water, lots of pets. He was wonderful.”  

There were so many that were concerned about BHRR’s Moose and here is a quick update that I sent out on Monday June 28th to those that had emailed and/or called me about wanting an update on him:

Moose is doing fine. Picked him up just after 10:30 PM last night after meeting Gloria. He came back to BHRR, had a big pee, drank well and after stretching his legs, settled down wonderfully in a colossal crate with a yummy treat for the night. Showed no interest in eating some food last night, not uncommon. As of today, he has now been integrated with several dogs without any issues and ate a bit of breakfast. We will be very slow with his integration and he does love to destroy blankets and dog beds, so he now has a Kuranda bed in his 45″ colossal crate.  😉

I was most distressed to hear about what happened with Moose and am very happy that he is now safe and I look forward in having him settle in more, properly assessing/evaluating him to get to know him better and seeing what lies in store for him in his future. We shall see what happens when he is out of his ‘honeymoon’ period. He has let me touch his feet sans issue yet I have not actually lifted them up to look at the pads yet he is not limping. He is in need of a nail trim and we shall see how that goes within the next few days too. He has had no issues with people to date and one of my BOD members who was up visiting from TO yesterday came with me to meet the transport and even with it being so dark; he was loving and affectionate. He is a bit of a barker yet is listening well in being ‘corrected’. When driving home, he definitely wanted to be in the ‘front’ seat and we will need to work on that.  😀

I am indebted to everyone for the kindness shown to all the dogs this weekend!

Late last night, I received an email that stated the following about Moose who had been a foster home of ? before BHRR was contacted to possibly step up to assist. Not sure if it was an approved home from an Ohio organization, pound or group yet this is very distressing to have read the below. BHRR was also not contacted so that we could approve medical treatment and I have been unable to reach anyone at CC.:

“Moose, the St. Bernard, was delivered to Dr. Libby at Creature Comforts in Lancaster today and seemed overly agitated and nervous. Libby received a call late this afternoon from the woman who fostered Moose for the last few days, saying that she “forgot” to mention that Moose had been staying in her garage and broke some glass and cut himself somewhere. Libby inspected him and found multiple wounds on the underside of his feet. Libby warns that Moose does not like to be restrained and his feet should not be touched, even if they start to bleed. If he won’t voluntarily get into and out of vehicles, he will not be able to make the trip tomorrow because Libby says that, because of his injuries, he will try to bite, if pushed. So, Sherrill, please send along a report or call me when you go to Creature Comforts in the morning to pick him up, so we can get the word out whether he’ll be on the transport.”

Update: June 26th – 12:18 PM: I still have not been able to reach anyone at CC to find out the exact situation and so many are quite disturbed by all that has happened to Moose. BHRR should have been contacted to approve and discuss treatment plus his exact situation. I did receive the following email sent at  9:17 AM today:

“Moose is making the trip and is doing fine.”

Update: June 26th – 12:23 PM: I received a vm from someone(will have to listen to it again as there was a lot of static) and I am unable to make out most of what was being said in regards to his transport as she was on her cell phone. Yet, I did pick up that  Moose was really social and great with all people, very understandably stressed, was able to walk yet I could not understand what was being said in regards to any dog to dog interactions or travelling. I also heard that the person that was temp fostering him for whichever place before BHRR was contacted to step up to assist that she was an approved Club member of some group in Ohio and had been used many times before and that all are very much concerned plus angry that she would have kept Moose in the garage and that he had access to things that could and did hurt him AND that she just dropped him off at CC and did not disclose anything about his medical condition. Apparently, she called CC around 8 PM last night to ‘reveal’ some information. At this time, I do not even know how long he has been injured.  😥 When I have a moment, I will listen to the vm again for today is our BHRR ‘EXPERIENCE’ Mini Open House and we are expecting many registered attendees within the half hour.

Update: June 26th – 12:29 PM: I just received the following email update sent at 12:23 PM.

“Moose rode wonderfully on the back seat of Sherri’s car, with his head in her lap most of the way. He seems to do better if not tightly restrained, and in a position where he can lie down and not be able to see the cars on the highway.”

Update: June 26th – 7:42 PM: Email sent at 5:58 PM today.

“Moose continues to be a good boy, but with a mind of his own. But not a mean bone in his body.”

Barring anything untoward, BHRR’s Moose shall be arriving very late Saturday night. I shall be heading out after the BHRR Open House to meet the transport to bring him back to BHRR. I have been told that while he is not ‘dog aggressive’ his has interpersonal space issues with other dogs getting in his face. Apparently hyper and obnoxious dogs can annoy him. He shall be formally assessed/evalauted upon arrival to BHRR. I want to extend a public thanks to Mary for offering to pay for his microchip as part of our upcoming 3rd ANNUAL Microchip/Nail Trim & BBQ Fundraiser.

BHRR’s Moose does not have a Rabies Certificate and shall also require a Health Certificate to cross the border into Canada and arrangements have now been made for him to obtain these on Friday AM. He will also be examined at that time. Transport has been organized and his expected ETA is around 11:45 PM or so on Saturday June 26th. Last weight given was 120 pounds. Will update his blog as I can.

BHRR’s Moose, about one year of age, male, neutered, utd on vaccines, smoth coat Saint Bernard. He was at a very rural small pound in Ohio, USA as he was an owner surrender due to the man having medical issues (developed a debilitating illness). I am told that the man who surrendered him was a nice man and took great care of Moose and that Moose had been in this rural small pound since last week. He is now currently in a foster home of the pound with 2 other dogs(about 5 pounds each) and from there the transport co-ordinator who works with this pound contacted BHRR to see if we could be of any assistance with him. We have been told that he tries to play with her two dogs, so he will have to learn to be gentle with those big ol’ paws and mouth of his. I am posting a picture of Moose below. He is expected to arrive Saturday June 26th. NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!!

BHRR’s Moose – About 1 year of age – June 2010