Hi everyone I'm Heidi!  Nope, I'm not a Newf, I'm a gorgeous Saint Bernard who is looking for an awesome family to call my own.  I came into HART's program in January and am being fostered by the Newf Friends division since I'm a giant breed gal.

I was born in August 2008 so I'm 4 years old and sweet as can be.  A true gentle giant, I am a slow moving, quiet, well mannered girl.  I'm happy to just mosey around and hang out with my foster family.

My owners got me as a pup and I spent most of my life living outside and sleeping in a barn stall.  No worries though, I do have nice manners in the house and I am housebroken.  In my foster home I am taking full advantage of the cozy dog beds by the fire and that's my favourite spot to nap.  It feels so nice to be living indoors with a family!  I love to get hugged and have my belly rubbed.

 
I weigh 120 lbs and am nice and lean.  I have been vaccinated, and my foster family helped make all of the sores on my face and feet clear up -- I had some really bad sores when I arrived.  I'm now eating Acana Pacifica which is grain free and fish based so that should help prevent future skin sores.

Like many Saints, I have a seizure disorder.  Now that I'm in foster care I am taking medication and my seizures will be under control soon.  I've been having partial seizures mostly, but have also had some generalized seizures and prior to coming into foster care I was having cluster seizures.  My vet is consulting a neurologist to figure out what is best for me and it might be a few weeks until this is all sorted out, but I'm hopeful that I will be a lot better soon.

I will need to wait several more weeks until I can safely have my spay surgery -- my vet wants to be sure my seizures are completely under control before I have surgery.  It's very important that I am spayed because fluctuations in my hormones can trigger seizures.   I was having cluster seizures when I was surrendered to rescue, and sure enough they were triggered because I was coming into heat.  Once I'm spayed I won't have to worry about that happening again! 

I should mention, I have this funny problem where when I lower my head the folds in the skin on my forehead slide down and cover my left eye and I can't see.  Oh my!  Makes navigating stairs interesting.  I would like a home with not too many stairs, please! Oh, and like most Saint Bernards my hips are not great.  No worries, I am not in pain and I can get around fine, but I am going to start working on muscle building exercises right away as a preventative.



There are 5 other dogs in my foster home and I am gentle and sweet with all of them.  I'm not really that interested in playing with them, but I do follow along and watch what they do.  I could happily join a family with other well mannered pets,  or I could be a solo dog and soak up all of the lovin' myself!

There's horses and chickens and other animals at my foster home too.  I don't really pay much attention to them at all, but the chicken feed sure smells delicious! Foster mom won't let me eat it though.  Hmph.  So many rules!

I walk nicely on a leash and I am well behaved.  I get a little stressed in the car and foster mom is working on this with me and I am making fast progress she says.   I do need to wear a seat-belt harness when traveling, but don't we all?

I am quiet and rarely bark and I am just a very mellow, easy going gal.   I don't really know many commands.  I am laid back I'm not looking for trouble and I'm happy just hanging out.



If you think you'd like to be considered for adopting me, complete the Newf adoption application found here (just pretend it says Saint wherever it says Newf!) and email it back to the Newf Friends folks.  Please note, unless you live very close to my veterinarian (Apsley, Ontario) it will be a few months until I am ready to join a new family.  If you live nearby, the Newf folks will talk to you about foster-to-adopt.

A fenced yard is required for my safety.  Sometimes I get a little disoriented, especially if I've had a seizure in the last few hours,  and I may not respond to my name being called.

I am being fostered in Bancroft, ON and my adoptive family will need to pick me up in person.  An adoption donation of $350 applies.

Donations towards Heidi's care are appreciated and can be made directly to HART through their website at  http://www.hartanimalrelief.ca/donations.htm  Specify that the donation is for Heidi, HART # 3309.  A tax receipt will be issued for donations over $20.  Thank you!