House Guest.....

[CowCop]

~

Since my beloved 17 year old Golden, Mr Murray, died October 1st My remaining dog Mavis & I have been rather morose. The house is dead silent in the evenings and no happy games of "chase me", throw the ball or hide the toys happen since the ultimate entertainer left us.

Last Thursday the grieving fog seemed to lift a bit and I somehow ended up at the local Humane Society.

I discovered a dog there that had been in the kennel for a little too long. Her toenails were worn down to the quick. She had come up in a truckful of rescued dogs from Virginia over 6 weeks ago. She was still unadopted.

I am not ready to replace Murray, but Mavis desperately needs someone to play with. And it would be nice to bring some fun back into our lives, even on a temporary basis.

Living in a small town where everyone knows everyone elses business has its advantages;

The folks at the shelter graciously let me take this dog, Pixie, home "just for the weekend."

Pixie is an adorable 7 month old Aussie Cattle Dog- A Red Heeler.

She is 30 lbs of leaping muscle.

A highly animated ping pong ball.

And she is deaf.

Mavis and her play for hours outside in the yard and twice as long in the house.

I was suppose to bring her back to the shelter this morning... but we got "snowed in" so.... maybe tomorrow..but oh yes there is more snow coming..... so...maybe Wednesday.....

Her FIRST snow.

Anyone else have a deaf cattle dog or other deaf dog ?

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Keep her, you know you want to. Might be hard for her to find a good home. Save her,you will end up loving her too.

 

[Alice]

For the weekend my hind foot! She's your's! :heart: And, should it not work out, I'll send an airline ticket. I'd take her in a heartbeat!

Oh, and God love you!

Alice

 

[Gate Opener]

We all know that dog ain't goin nowhere.

 

[angie1]

We all know that dog ain't goin nowhere.

:nod:

 

[Just_a_girl]

Pictures show those two dogs are enjoying each other so much. I don't think Mavis will even let you take Pixie back. Both are nice looking dogs.

No deaf cattle dog, but I had a dog go deaf and blind. She lived to be pretty old, but her heart gave out.
Having a deaf/blind dog wasn't so bad, just a little bit of adjustment. For the most, she seemed happy, and she was very spoiled. We would thump our foot on the ground or floor to get her attention. She always responded to that, and used her nose to find her way to us. When outside, she picked her footing very carefully. My daughter named her Pretty, I called her Stinky.

Maybe you can use some type of light to communicate or get her attention. I'm sure there are many ways and lots of info out there. ;-)

Good luck, and I hope she gets to keep you.

 

[bigbull338]

come on you know your going to keep that dog.look at all the fun shes had with your dog.an she loves living with you.if i was you theres no way i could take her back.

 

[Green Creek]

Deaf dogs can learn hand signals. I don't know where you would find instructions but I bet you can Google it and find all you need to know. I too lost a beloved dog and now have two rescue dogs. There's nothing like a rescue dog! They are so glad to get out of that darned kennel and it's a good feeling to know you saved a life.

 

[Gate Opener]

I know of a lady who got a rescue dog and they thought he either couldn't hear or didn't know any commands. They would tell him to sit or something and he would just look at them. Her son one day thought to tell him to sit in Spanish and the dog sat. He understood Spanish, not English! He is probably bilingual by now.

 

[peg4x4]

I figgure that dog'll go back when Heck freezes over-or a little later. :lol: .You got yourself a dog..Lots of info on training a deaf dog out there,you just gotta look..Blessings on you for takeing her.. :heart:

 

[Lammie]

Knew a man with a deaf Boxer and he taught her sign commands. She never got into the road, either.

 

[msscamp]

~

I am not ready to replace Murray, but Mavis desperately needs someone to play with. And it would be nice to bring some fun back into our lives, even on a temporary basis.

Cowcop, you and I both know that Pixie will never replace Murray, it simply is not possible - they are 2 different dogs. She needs a home and a family, and your family has an emptiness that needs filling - so my suggestion would be to just let it happen. It will be different, but it will be good, because she will add a whole new dimension to your lives, but it will be different from what Murray added to your lives. Murray will always be in your hearts, and nothing can ever take that away. I hope this makes sense.

 

[Medic24]

Yeah...Just gonna bring it home for the weekend huh?

Thats how I got my wife you know! :lol: :lol:

 

[Hippie Rancher]

Had a red heeler once - she was an "end of the road drop-off" (don't you love a$$holes that dump animals?)

she wasn't deaf by defect, but she sure could be if she wanted too :roll: (or DIDN'T want to do what you said)

 

[CowCop]

~

Well the house guest is still here. You all knew that was going to happen.
Yesterday I asked the humane society if I could keep her here for another "weekend." They were more than happy to say yes.

Pixie really started to get into the routine here Tuesday night, so it seemed a shame to bring her back to a kennel situation when she was just starting to STOP PLAYING and sleep thru the night.

I have to tell you though, I love alot of things about this dog, BUT.. I can tell that Pixie isn't really a good match for our current lifestyle. Mavis is a bit overwhelmed when the playing never stops. Its fine for 2 hours, but then Mavis wants to go off by herself and chew her bones or take a nap in peace and quiet. Pixie will bark like a madman if I keep her apart from Mavis. It makes for some nasty headaches.

Here is what convinced me that I should ask the humane society for another weekend:

Never saw Pixie sleep OR have all 4 of her paws on the ground in 5 days.... ahhhh. it was SOOOO good to see the 2 of them snuggled up on Murrays bed.

ANYHOW, I thought I would at least continue the training I initiated with this great little dog. So far I have been able to get her attention long enogh to teach her "sit" with a hand command. She will "down" for a treat, but hasn't mastered the hand signal yet. The toughest was the stairs. Mavis had the same issue 4 years ago. Both couldnt do stairs. What is it with these southern rescue dogs and stairs ???
Pixie still crashes into the stairs on the way up them. Down the stairs is a little better today.

I have called my vet to get names of her clients that have young deaf dogs, just for some advice and helpful tips, but there are none.

My absolute greatest fear is having Pixie get loose and take off on me to get smashed by a truck on the nearby highway, or shot by the zillions of hunters in the woods. I don't have a fenced yard and I always run my dogs in the fields. Plus I travel frequently to out of state jobs. I have alot of visitors and family and they are not great about shuting doors or being careful with my dogs. All my other dogs have always been perfectly trained and were never more than 6 feet away from my side. None exited a door until I told them it was ok. Surprisingly now, even Mavis.

I have Pixie dragging a long leash around the house so I can make simple corrections and do some spontaneous training, but moreimportantly to prevent her from sneaking out a dooorway.
Her not being able to be distracted by ANY voice commands really hinders progress.
I also have Pixie on 2 collars that are double snapped onto the runner outside when they play. I watch her like a hawk, because she sometimes starts chewing on the cable.

If I had 3 wishes one would be that she regained her hearing. It would help with my sanity.

I will keep you all posted.

Oh yes...one more thing:

Don't shop
ADOPT~!!

Don't buy your next pet, adopt one.

http://www.petfinder.com

 

[peg4x4]

Is there some kind of vibrater that can be put on her colloto let her know you want her? Remote control..

 

[L.A.]

Don't worry about the deaf part. You will be amazed how they adapt. One of our barn cats was deaf, pure white, and was one of the only ones to survive the coyotes. I once had a deaf horse who never missed a thing. By the way, The pic says it all, That pup is family!