Muhammad Oct 16, 2011

Muhammad is our third foster dog, they say third time's a charm I wonder whats gonna happen with our fourth is it going to start over? Anyway Muhammad was abandoned by his owners. He was taken to the Ashtabula animal shelter in Ohio. I am not sure how long he was there for but due to the fact that they only have room for about 80 dogs and they had 160 he and the other two dogs he came to Canada with where due to be put to sleep on Friday. Muhammad arrived here by transport thanks to Chris on Sunday afternoon. Muhammad is a 2-3 year old Bull Mastiff/Shar Pei, he is a male newly neutered. He weighs in at only 56LBS which is way to small for him you can see every bone in his body and it is very sad, but working on fattening him up lol. So far I knew he knows sit, sit pretty, and shake. He has some food/water aggression with Ace, but I am hoping that once he knows that the food is always going to be here he will get better. We had a few dog fights yesterday but today we have only had one. Muhammad and Ace are adjusting okay with each other. They were actually playing together today out in the yard it was nice to see Muhammad playing. He has the tail end of Kennel cough and sleeps a lot right now, but once its completely out of his system I hope he has more energy. We have only walked twice, but on those walks he dose okay only pulls a little bit with a normal collar, he is a squirrel chaser and tries to chase any that he sees. I crated him last night and he did just fine. He took to Ace's crate as soon as he got here (Ace never uses it) so as long as Muhammad feels safe in it then he can come and go as he wishes, other than at night until I am sure that there will be no more fighting between them I do not want to risk either one getting hurt. He has a touch of separation anxiety, but not nearly as bad as Ace's used to be. He just whines for a few mins after he is left alone. He is very friendly and loves people. We are still are seeing how is with things such as seeing how he is going to be with kids, and other commands that he knows, I am going to take my time with this so I can make sure that hes getting better and that he is settling without pushing him too much. He has so many wrinkles on his head and face its awesome I can't wait to see if he gets more all over the place as he fills out. We have not tried to bath him yet or taken him to the groomers and will not until his incision has healed from being neutered. He is super sweet and I can't wait to see how his personality grows as he gets more settled. I will blog again once he has gained more weight and is more settled. Please email Friendly Giants for adoption inquires!

Harley euthanized Oct 13, 2011

I am very heart broken and angry right now. I know I shouldn't blog when I am this big of a mess, but I need to get my feelings out, I know I should be careful about what I say because I might hurt someones feelings yeah well these animals have feelings as well. They can't speak words but they speak volumes in body language. Today I had to take Harley in to be euthanized I have never had to take an animal to do that. It was like he knew, he didn't want to get out of the car when we got to the vets office. I am heart broken because a sweet, loving, big ol baby lost his life today. I am angry because it was at human hands that he became the way he was. I heard on the radio today that an 84 year old women bit a 14 year old boy because he was tormenting her, maybe we should have her euthanized. Wait no we can't do that because of human rights. Harley has not bitten anyone but because a human taught him to guard and he did this very very well he had to be euthanized just in case he bit someone. When will we start to realize that animals have/need rights to. They are not disposable, they do not need to be taught to guard, just like us they will protect the ones they love. People wonder why some of us in the rescue world don't like many other people, well its because we have seen what people can and do do to animals. I know I haven't seen much compared to some of the other rescuers within Friendly Giants.  Having to have one dog euthanized is nothing compared to what they seen on a daily basis. I did everything I could do for Harley and I would have kept him, but there was a great chance that he would bite someone and then worse things could have happened to him and I couldn't live with that nor could I let him live his daily life muzzled that is not fair to such a beautiful animal.
Tonight my bed will be cold because he will not be curled up next to me and my heart missing a little piece because it is at rest with Harley!

Harley Oct3, 2011

Harley

Will be doing Harley's assessment so this will be updated almost daily! I this point we know that he is a 6 year old male who is fixed, he is a big old baby lol. He is mellow and is happy just laying around. He loves to be outside and prefers it to being inside. He has his rabies shots but will need a booster in 4 weeks. His story is a sad one but not the worst. From what we can tell he lived most of his life at a trailer park tied to the trailer. His family moved from the trailer park and left him tied to a tree. Animal control was contacted and he was removed and taken to Blue Cross Animal Hospital here in Sarnia in hopes he would find a home. He has been there for a month. He is in good health, no fleas, no arthritis, good teeth and gums, He had a hot spot right above his tail but it has been taken care of. He has a deep bark startled me the first time I heard it. He is fine with out puppy Ace but because of the age difference Ace wants to play to he does wants nothing to do with it lol. so far he is showing no aggression to people or Ace. I think he would be better off with no dogs at all. I picture him as a grumpy old man lol. As of yet hes not aggressive towards people however he will bark at men when they come in the door. Once he goes to the vet for his booster I think his back end needs looked at he doesn't seem to be walking right. I am taking him to the groomers on Sat (Petsmart) because he needs grooming really really bad. He is treat, food, and bone aggressive with Ace. I took away all the bones and I feed them in separate rooms as ace went to sniff Harley while he was eating and he bit him in the eye. He listens awesome once I say something he stops what he is doing. We are working on the walking I think he just forgets how big he is lol. Even with the pulling while walking I say something and he stops pulling. He knows sit, stay, shake, lay down. It is fun to see him get excited because it doesn't happen often. I think he might be older than what they told us. He is happiest just laying as close me as possible and dosen't leave my side. It took a full day to convince him that it was okay to come into the house and I just got him to come lay on the bed with me. He is a guard barker. He seems to prefer women over men. My roommate is taking him tomorrow to meet his kids just to see what he is like with them I am sure he will be just fine. I can stick my hands in his food dish and he don't care. Harley dose not get along with children he will not let them within a few feet without growling. He hates cats he will chase them no matter who he has to tow to get the cat, bikes he lunges at and random people on the street. He can not handle loud noises such as construction or chip bags opening. A guy walked up on the street today to say how nice looking a dog Harley was and Harley went at him teeth, growl and all.
We are working on some of his issues. Harley's true breed is Illyrian sheepdog. He is a poster boy for this breed looks wise!!!