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Below is another story that will tug at your heart...a deaf Aussie girl that no one wanted, and her hero who has given her not only a home, but security and love!
From: "Hellena Fehr" This is my dog's story - print it if you wish and please feel free to reword as you see fit. Back in October, I had gone to a party at an acquaintance's house where they had 9 dogs. Seeing as how I'm a dog lover, I was in all my glory. But my attention kept gravitating towards one in particular. She was white, with merle markings on her hind quarters and a pink and black nose, almost like cow markings. I asked the owner what her name was and he told me it was "Deafie". He told me "like it matters...she's deaf and stupid". Now, I'm a sucker for something that nobody likes or wants. I'd see that, as more people showed up, the dog would grow more skittish and that certain people would kick up the pea gravel so it would spray into her face and she'd run away. The long and short of it was that I ended up ignoring the adults and spent most of my day and evening getting this dog to come to me and I found her to be so gentle that she'd eat out of my hand and let me take the food out of her mouth. This dog, which I was later told was an Australian Shepherd, never left my side the whole time I was at the house that day and I told the owner that, seeing as how he didn't seem to like her at all, nor have the time for her, that if he should ever feel the need to give her up - I'd take her in a heartbeat. That opportunity presented itself within weeks, probably early October '04. The owner said that she had bitten his son, who had pulled a hood over his head, snuck up on her from the side and thrown his arms around her neck to wrestle her to the ground. Seeing as how she's deaf and couldn't see him coming at her from the side, I think it's understandable. She was terrified of this, especially after the treatment she'd been getting at this house. And, if it was me, I would've bitten the kid too, if not done worse. At the time, the only sister that I have left (the other passed away 2 years ago) was slated to have open heart surgery in Vancouver and I needed to be gone from the house for the next 4-5 days, so I told this man that I'd take her if he had nobody else, but that I didn't have the time at that point to get a special needs animal adjusted to my home. So he assured me that he had another good home to give her to and he was only calling me first because she bonded with me so quickly and we left it at that. Within weeks, I heard it through the local grapevine that she had gotten out of somebody's yard and been shot. Nobody seemed to know what had happened to her after that, except for the fact that she had been found trying to crawl back to the old owner's house. Someone called the police and animal control and they took her away. I had assumed that she had died or been put down, due to the nature of her injuries. After all, what dog can survive a gunshot to the head and one to the chest, right? About 2 and a half weeks ago, I sent my daughter to the local laundromat, as our dryer had broken down. And thank god it was her and not me - I pay so little attention to the bulletin board. And I certainly never would've lifted all the other papers on top to see what's underneath. Well, she found an ad, copied the relevant information down and brought it home to me. It said "young female australian shepherd. she is deaf, and was shot and is now healing nicely. Shy with strangers but very affectionate with those she knows. Free to good home". As it turned out, one of the employees from the vet hospital that did the surgery on her that was needed to save her life had posted the ad. I called them immediately and picked her up the next day to bring her home, where she's been ever since. Now I've done volunteer work with various dog rescue organizations for most of my life, but I had never seen a more "damaged" dog. She was terrified of everybody and everything, but this all quickly changed. Very quickly she turned into the biggest suck you've ever seen and is often seen shaking her stump of a tail so hard that her entire hind quarters shake. She never leaves my side and instinctively guards me like she's been doing it for years. The vet hospital called her "Bullet", which I thought was revolting and a reminder of what was done to her. I call her "Lovie", which is the most suiting name for such an affectionate dog. NOTE: And we love people like Hellena who find a space in their heart and home for a rescue dog and then share their wonderful stories with us. Bless you and thank you for your wonderful story!
Links regarding deaf dogs:
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