Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
An unspoken love: Woman's passion falls on deaf dogs' ears » Times Record News
A dog is a dog, even if it's deaf.
They wriggle with just as much excitement when a visitor comes, wag their tails just as fast and pant just as hard in the heat.
They lick, sniff, bark — yes, bark — just like hearing dogs, and grow just as attached to their masters, maybe more.
Retired schoolteacher Lila Arnold learned all this when she adopted Matilda, a deaf border collie.
Then six weeks ago, she adopted Sky, a deaf white Australian cattle dog.
"They're just wonderful dogs. They make wonderful pets," Arnold said, patting Matilda and Sky. Both dogs are short-haired and stand patiently beside her with tongues that drip like Popsicles in the heat.
But owning two dogs with impaired hearing has introduced her to the dark world surrounding deaf dogs. Erroneous information on the Internet brands them as vicious, prompting Arnold to battle the stereotype with her own website, Deaf Dogs Need a Voice - Deaf Dogs Need a Voice Blog.
Discrimination against them isn't uncommon. The American Kennel Club staunchly opposes deaf dogs in its competitions. Some people even use them as bait in dogfighting rings.
In fact Arnold rushed to Dallas six weeks ago to adopt Sky when he was offered free on Craigslist. Such an ad almost inevitably results in the dog meeting certain demise as bait, she learned.
Even shelters misunderstand them, quickly euthanizing them as unadoptable, she said.
But deaf dogs — like all dogs — are love-givers, nearly indistinguishable from any other dog. Arnold tells about the day she fell in love with Matilda on PetFinder.com.
"I was not looking for a dog with disabilities, but I fell in love with Matilda. She had extremely large ears that stand straight up. I thought she was gorgeous. There was a little heart by her name. I didn't know what it meant. When I clicked on it, it said it meant she was a deaf dog."
Arnold raised a deaf daughter, who is now an adult. She figured owning a deaf dog couldn't be too hard.
Still she was wary, having read such negativity about deaf dogs. She arranged to have Matilda fostered by a nearby rescue group, and Arnold visited her nightly to walk and bond with her.
The dog's good-natured personality proved irresistible.
"First, it's a breed. Then it's a personality. Then it's training. And, last but not least, he's deaf," Arnold said of how deafness works its way into a dog's life.
Soon she adopted Matilda and took her to obedience school, where Matilda earned her Canine Good Citizen certificate and an agility training title. Matilda also was awarded a Pack Dog title, an accomplishment earned by logging 50 miles with a backpack carrying supplies that are 10 percent of her body weight, then completing a 5-mile hike.
Matilda responds to 20 signs; Sky, to 5.
Sky lies calmly under Arnold's desk all day at her office at the Wild Bird Rescue Center and follows along, off leash, with Arnold when she makes her rounds through the aviaries.
As you might expect, there ARE a few differences with a deaf dog.
"When they get away from you, you cannot call them back," Arnold said. Owners must keep them on a leash or in visual contact.
With a deaf dog, you can get up in the middle of the night and the dog won't hear you. You can open a bag of chips without the dog scurrying to your side.
"They do have a heightened sense of smell, and they feel vibrations. To get Sky's attention, I stomp on the floor. When I'm outside, I can cup my hand and clap really loud. They'll feel an echo, even though they are both profoundly deaf."
Sign language works with deaf dogs — like signing the letter T by tucking your thumb between your pointer and third fingers to ask a dog to tee-tee — as do typical hand signals owners use for hearing dogs.
Sky has the misfortune of being a "lethal white," a nickname for a product of an unscrupulous breeder trying to breed two dappled merle-patterned dogs, which creates white puppies with varying degrees of deafness and blindness.
The deafness results from white cilia in the dog's ears, which render them deaf.
"Lethal" refers to their almost certain demise by breeders and shelters.
To Arnold, the blue-eyed pup is as lovable as any dog. He greets everyone who brings an injured bird to the Wild Bird Rescue Center.
They've nicknamed him "Bird Dog."
When he sits obediently, she gives him a thumbs-up sign instead of "Good dog."
Arnold said she urges families to consider adopting a deaf dog, but she encourages them to spay or neuter a deaf pet — since offspring may be deaf also — and to take the time to train them.
"If you take a dog and stick it in the backyard, and you don't socialize it or take it for walks, you're looking for a problem with any dog — hearing or deaf."
A dog is a dog, even if it's deaf.
They wriggle with just as much excitement when a visitor comes, wag their tails just as fast and pant just as hard in the heat.
They lick, sniff, bark — yes, bark — just like hearing dogs, and grow just as attached to their masters, maybe more.
Retired schoolteacher Lila Arnold learned all this when she adopted Matilda, a deaf border collie.
Then six weeks ago, she adopted Sky, a deaf white Australian cattle dog.
"They're just wonderful dogs. They make wonderful pets," Arnold said, patting Matilda and Sky. Both dogs are short-haired and stand patiently beside her with tongues that drip like Popsicles in the heat.
But owning two dogs with impaired hearing has introduced her to the dark world surrounding deaf dogs. Erroneous information on the Internet brands them as vicious, prompting Arnold to battle the stereotype with her own website, Deaf Dogs Need a Voice - Deaf Dogs Need a Voice Blog.
Discrimination against them isn't uncommon. The American Kennel Club staunchly opposes deaf dogs in its competitions. Some people even use them as bait in dogfighting rings.
In fact Arnold rushed to Dallas six weeks ago to adopt Sky when he was offered free on Craigslist. Such an ad almost inevitably results in the dog meeting certain demise as bait, she learned.
Even shelters misunderstand them, quickly euthanizing them as unadoptable, she said.
But deaf dogs — like all dogs — are love-givers, nearly indistinguishable from any other dog. Arnold tells about the day she fell in love with Matilda on PetFinder.com.
"I was not looking for a dog with disabilities, but I fell in love with Matilda. She had extremely large ears that stand straight up. I thought she was gorgeous. There was a little heart by her name. I didn't know what it meant. When I clicked on it, it said it meant she was a deaf dog."
Arnold raised a deaf daughter, who is now an adult. She figured owning a deaf dog couldn't be too hard.
Still she was wary, having read such negativity about deaf dogs. She arranged to have Matilda fostered by a nearby rescue group, and Arnold visited her nightly to walk and bond with her.
The dog's good-natured personality proved irresistible.
"First, it's a breed. Then it's a personality. Then it's training. And, last but not least, he's deaf," Arnold said of how deafness works its way into a dog's life.
Soon she adopted Matilda and took her to obedience school, where Matilda earned her Canine Good Citizen certificate and an agility training title. Matilda also was awarded a Pack Dog title, an accomplishment earned by logging 50 miles with a backpack carrying supplies that are 10 percent of her body weight, then completing a 5-mile hike.
Matilda responds to 20 signs; Sky, to 5.
Sky lies calmly under Arnold's desk all day at her office at the Wild Bird Rescue Center and follows along, off leash, with Arnold when she makes her rounds through the aviaries.
As you might expect, there ARE a few differences with a deaf dog.
"When they get away from you, you cannot call them back," Arnold said. Owners must keep them on a leash or in visual contact.
With a deaf dog, you can get up in the middle of the night and the dog won't hear you. You can open a bag of chips without the dog scurrying to your side.
"They do have a heightened sense of smell, and they feel vibrations. To get Sky's attention, I stomp on the floor. When I'm outside, I can cup my hand and clap really loud. They'll feel an echo, even though they are both profoundly deaf."
Sign language works with deaf dogs — like signing the letter T by tucking your thumb between your pointer and third fingers to ask a dog to tee-tee — as do typical hand signals owners use for hearing dogs.
Sky has the misfortune of being a "lethal white," a nickname for a product of an unscrupulous breeder trying to breed two dappled merle-patterned dogs, which creates white puppies with varying degrees of deafness and blindness.
The deafness results from white cilia in the dog's ears, which render them deaf.
"Lethal" refers to their almost certain demise by breeders and shelters.
To Arnold, the blue-eyed pup is as lovable as any dog. He greets everyone who brings an injured bird to the Wild Bird Rescue Center.
They've nicknamed him "Bird Dog."
When he sits obediently, she gives him a thumbs-up sign instead of "Good dog."
Arnold said she urges families to consider adopting a deaf dog, but she encourages them to spay or neuter a deaf pet — since offspring may be deaf also — and to take the time to train them.
"If you take a dog and stick it in the backyard, and you don't socialize it or take it for walks, you're looking for a problem with any dog — hearing or deaf."