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!