Kiss the Puppy

Let us a pause for a moment and bathe in the beauty that is Kiss! She really is something, isn’t she? White and merle with blue eyes and pink nose. Precious baby. And she is a baby, born around last August. Her story is one of true rescue….

Amy is one of our stellar volunteers. She is like a hawk, keeping her eye out for dogs in need. She spotted a listing on Craig’s List for two Australian Shepherd puppies. Amy knows that hazards of listing dogs on Craig’s List (that would make a whole ‘nother blog post) so she contact the lister. He told her that he already had someone lined up for the puppies. But lo and behold, two weeks later, the puppies were listed again. This time Amy would not be denied, and managed to get the two. We were so glad she did. It turned out that Sparrow had a gimpy leg and Kiss was deaf! These two puppies needed exceptional homes with committed people. Sparrow has been adopted by the wonderful Carolyn; Kiss continues to be fostered by Gisele in Deltona, Fl, as she waits for her forever family to realize that their heart has a Kiss-sized hole in it.

When Kiss arrived, she was a bit of a mess. Why wouldn’t she be? She’d been bounced from home to home and no one had ever really worked on training her. Fortunately she is a naturally self-assured dog. I fear that if she had been a timid soul, her little spirit would have been shattered.

But not Kiss! Nope, she might have been directionless, but she was still happy! That’s a good place to start. She loves dogs and is a serious player, and will run and wrestle with all. She’s proven herself to simply adore children and is gentle with them. She’ll let little Sarah play dress up with her and even will wear a tiara. (Now that I think about it, she probably just like the extra bling!) Why should we be surprised? She may be deaf, but she’s still an Australian Shepherd! One of the distinctions of the breed is that they are natural nurturers and are wonderful with kids.

Kiss has benefitted by the being with China, Gisele’s 18-month-old deaf Aussie. China has been a great mentor. Kiss has learned to Sit and Stay. She has learned to be a loved pet. She wiggles her whole body, tip to tail, when she has joy, and she has joy a lot! She has proven to be such a love bug that we had to change her name ~ originally we called her Asia, but Kiss fits her so much better!

Kiss’ vision is somewhat impaired as well and yet she is all about life. I guess she doesn’t realize that she isn’t perfect (did I mention that she has a really good self-image???) She wants to be with her people, she wants to please, she wants to learn. If you have ever talked to a person with a trained deaf dog, they’ll tell you that it is the best dog they’ve ever had.

Chris and Maja adopted our Skate, now Ludwig, also a deaf Aussie puppy.

“My wife and I adopted Luddy (formerly skate) who also is a Deaf white Aussie. I must say he has brought us more happiness then we could ever imagine. Unless you call his name you would never know he is Deaf. He has been easy to train and is super smart and loves to just be were we are. Working with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing for the past 5 years it is sometimes heartbreaking to see how isolated they feel from the hearing world as if they are in a box, yet how much love they have to give! The same is with Deaf dogs they can feel isolated as they may be passed over for hearing dogs. I ask please let them out the box you will be amazed at the love they have to give!! You should see the smiles of our dear Deaf friends who meet Luddy and find he is Deaf as well it is an instant connection. Anything you may have read negative about Deaf dogs I can assure you is not true. I hope that someone will open their heart and home to beautiful Kiss you will not regret it. Currently Luddy knows about 20 ASL signs, if you do adopt Kiss and need help with ASL signs I would be happy to assist. I believe Holly has my email. Oh btw Deaf Dogs Rule:) ~ Chris

Chris and Meja aren’t the only folks to offer to help Kiss’ new family. Fritzi, who adopted Sassafras, has offered as well. And of course there are lots of resources on line. Here are some of the sites Fritzi recommends with her comments:

On Line Dog Coach I do like this method and by chance, it’s the closest to the one I use.
Deaf Dog ASL Sign video This video has quite a few signs for dogs. The woman is using ASL only and not the common obedience commands. This is a huge amount of information and might seem a bit overwhelming.
How To Train A Deaf Dog video This video covers training a deaf dog, not so much on signs

Deaf dogs learn to totally focus on their owners ~ it’s how they know what is wanted of them. And, again, remember, Kiss is an Australian Shepherd, a breed that desires to work and please. Combine that with the focus of a deaf dog and you have a winning combination!

Be sure to check out Kiss’ extensive photo album.

Wow, we started out talking about how beautiful Kiss is on the inside, progressed to her inner beauty, and landed on her intelligence. This wonderful angel is now just waiting for her wonderful family. If you are considering adopting Kiss, please review our adoption process and then e-mail Gisele directly at gisele.thedogliberator@gmail.com .

February 21 Update:

I have an update on Kiss for you. She started obedience training Saturday morning and did very well. We are taking Holly too so I handled Holly and Ben handled Kiss. Interestingly, despite their rocky beginning, she is turning out to be very much Ben’s dog.

On another note, Kiss had a tapeworm. I brought her stool sample to the vet and it has been taken care of. I’m not sure where she acquired it; Holly’s sample was clear.

Yesterday, we took the dogs on a picnic to a park with some friends. It was a gorgeous day and all the kids (six, including my two) had fun playing with the dogs. Kiss was very well behaved. Unlike Holly, however, she is protective when strangers come near; I view this as a positive, though. I just wish I had remembered to bring my camera!

Cathy