Meet Mister Monty! Monty came to us from Hamilton Animal Control when he was found wandering the streets in the awful cold of winter. He was immediately grateful to be in a warm and comfortable home, and what a sweet man he is indeed. Not only does he respect and ask politely before getting too close to the cats, he is a perfect gentleman on and off the leash. He is friendly with other dogs and and people we meet on our walks, and although he enjoys long rambling walks or jogs, he’s also happy to lazily lounge around the house.

The gentle man loves to snuggle and enjoys his fair share of belly rubs. Within a few days he had settled into the household routine. He learned to follow the lead of our other dogs and barks to come in/out from the backyard, which isn’t very often now that it’s warm out and the dogs spend all afternoon exploring the backyard smells.
Monty is on a vegetarian diet for a mild food allergy. The funny part is that for treats he loooooves apples, oranges, cauliflower and potatoes, almost any vegetable we’ve offered him – he even had some asparagus with his dinner last night – what a healthy boy!
When we first started fostering Monty, he had a lump surgically removed from his left shoulder. The vet results show that it is a locally invasive tumor and will return someday. Nobody knows when it will come back, but the vet estimated that it shouldn’t shorten his life span and shouldn’t create a lot of vet bills, and it will only cause problems to Monty if it grows big and becomes
cumbersome. If it comes back and grows big, his new family might want to have it removed again, but it would be very rare for it to spread and cause any problems elsewhere. The only way we could prevent it from coming back would be to amputate his leg, and we thought that wouldn’t be very fair to Mr. Monty.

Monty hardly sheds, so is easy maintenance in the house. He also gets excited for car rides – he must know they usually leads to a trip to the dog park 🙂 Monty would be a lovely addition to almost any home.

Monty found his forever home with the most awesome person! Yay Monty!

UPDATE November 2015

Monty’s amazing journey didn’t end with his adoption.  A short time after he settled in at his forever home, Monty’s adopter took him to the vet where an ultrasound and CT scan showed that the tumour we had removed from his leg had metastasized to his groin and lung.  Monty’s adopter was aware that this might be a possibility, and unfortunately our worst fears did arise. Monty’s amazing adopter refused to give up on him though. Monty under went radiation therapy and chemotherapy and was a trooper throughout it all. Follow-up ultrasound and CT scans showed that there are no more tumours. Yay!
With all that behind him, Monty has become a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog and now visits Long Term Care facilities to comfort humans in need. What a guy!

A note from Monty’s adopter:
“He is a wonderful dog and I am very lucky to have him. Wherever he goes, he makes people smile which is why he is a great therapy dog.”

These photos are of Monty with his sibling Kimmi who is also a Therapy Dog and the second is Monty visiting his friend Lillian at the Long Term Care facility. Monty…you’re a superstar and we’re so glad we could help you along your way to your new amazing life! A huge thank you to Monty’s mom for giving him the best care possible, and for letting his beautiful light shine to bring happiness to others.