Family Member's Names: KellyAnne and Max, and our dogs Hayven and Ruby.

 

Pet's Name: Hayven 

 

What kind of breed is Hayven and how old is he? He is a St Bernard /Anatolian Shepherd and is 8 1/2 years old. 

 

Where and how did you get him? I was visiting my sister in a town outside of Austin Texas and the PetsMart had dogs there for people to see that were from the local shelter. My sister and I were driving by when I saw 1 year old Hayven sitting happily in his kennel, looking adorable, and I yelled out to my sister “STOP the car, that’s my dog!” I wasn’t looking for a dog, I just knew when I saw him that we were meant to be together. I canceled my flight home and I rented a car and drove two days back to California with with him. After that, we were inseparable.

 

Is there a story behind his name? Hayven had his name when I met him. I considered changing it, but once I got to know Hayven I realized that that was his name. He is a Safe Hayven. 

Even though Hayven can eat through a metal fence if he wanted to, he is an incredibly gentle soul. One of our favorite things to do is visit the elderly home where he gets to say hi and give love to all of the people there. 

 

He is very calming and loves to cuddle. 

 

When Hayven was on steroids, he became so obsessed with food that he stole a sandwich from a homeless man’s hand. The guy was a good sport about it, and luckily had an extra sandwich to share.

 

How spoiled is your pet? Hayven is definitely looked at as part of the family and I make sure that he and his sister Ruby are given a healthy amount of attention. They go home with me for the holidays, they go on road trips, and sometimes we even have date night. On our last date night, I took Hayven to Fishing with Dynamite. Unlike me, he is not a fan of oysters. 

 

How has he enriched your home and family? I like to say that Hayven is the first man I could commit to. Since then I met my fiancé, Max, and we added another family member, our little girl dog, Ruby. But it stands true that Hayven is my anchor, my grounding force, as I am a bird and he is my home.

 

What else should we know about him? Hayven got really sick and was in the hospital for a few weeks, the doctors didn’t know exactly what was wrong, but after doing everything that they could think of, they told us to take him home, and said that he probably only had a couple of weeks left to live. I took Hayven home and I threw a party with all of his favorite humans. We sat around Hayven and fed him food and petted him, and prayed for him for hours. I made a bucket list and did everything that I could think of and thanked God for every day that he continued to be with me. That was over two years ago now. Hayven has since been tested and everything is looking much better.