What kind of dog do you have?

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I have two dogs....

A hound mix named Penny. Who is 2 yrs old.

And a border collie mix named Zoey. Who is 1 yr old.
This is her as a pup...

This is her now...

 

[DancingHen]

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I LOVE Bull Yerriers! I want one really bad. Such a great dog you have there.

 

[nurseshelly]

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How did your chicken become featherless? Was she born like that?

Yes, she's a special breed. You can see her topic here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=407328

Thanks! I thinks she's cool

 

[nurseshelly]

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I LOVE Bull Yerriers! I want one really bad. Such a great dog you have there.

Oh, I love them too!!! Someday we will have a couple - LOL! Right now we are full in the dog department. We have two chihuahuas (2.8 lbs and 5 lbs) and a silver lab (91 lbs)

Our lab is special needs tho - he was inbred and has chondro dysplasia (dwarfism), and retinal dysplasia (can only see about 12 inches). This means at top speed, he can't see what is in front of him in time to stop. So, we end up with dog nose ramming into butts, knees, legs etc. We had a spiky collar on him for fun, but he ran my legs so much when I had shorts on, I was starting to look beat up. Fetching is really hard for him too, unless he can hear the ball. And, he falls into the pool regularly (no peripheral vision), if we don't keep the pool gate closed. So we named him Tank - big, silver, and runs into/over stuff

 

[dkvart1]

awww nurse shelly, Tank sounds adorable! Great name too!

Our giant love bug passed two weeks ago and next month we are adopting a pitbull mix puppy who's totally deaf (our little guy Murphy is terribly lost without his dog buddy, as are we). DSD thinks it's great as she takes ASL in school and is considering getting certified so she can become a translator.

 

[nurseshelly]

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Thanks! Here's his picture

, and a picture of him playing tug of war with a friend's lab, sadly the toy was killed in the process. We talk about getting him a seeing eye lab when we get a bigger house - LOL! Oh we adopted him last summer when he was 2 from a family that was getting their house repo'd and couldn't keep him.
PS note spiky collar in first picture - evil spiky collar!! Smooth collar in second picture. We really tried to use the spiky one because it was so expensive ... but eventually my legs got too sore and it's in the pantry!

 

[nurseshelly]

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Sorry to hear about your dog that passed away

. Congrats on the puppy!!! Hope he learns his hand signals really well

There is definitely a learning curve with a special needs dog. We didn't know how blind Tank was until he got home. At his first owner's house, he did really good, so we thought he just had some blind spots (I could tell he had chondro dysplasia and retinal dysplasia from his pictures - they go together in field labs, so I expected that). Once he got to our house it was evident how blind he is. He's adapted really well though. Just it's silly because he'll hear a voice when you are talking on the phone and he thinks someone is here and barks. Or he'll go outside and hear something, but he can't find it, so he barks and has his head up weaving around trying to figure out where it is coming from. He's a big marshmallow though - super gentle and really sweet - probably the nicest dog you could have temperament wise. Some people (not dog people) are really scared of him though because he is so big. Dog people just can tell he's a marshmallow. We have people come to put flyers on the screen door and he'll come running up barking and they just turn around and leave when they see him even though the screen door is steel and locked - LOL! It's funny because it's usually the men that are afraid of him, and their wives are not.

 

[dkvart1]

Oh he's adorable! Love his color!

for taking in a special needs companion. So many people wouldn't do it. The shelter that has our new boy (and has started his hand signal training) said there has been a lot of interest in him because he is so sweet but once they learn he is deaf they aren't interested any more.

They are so thrilled there is someone willing to give him a good home. I'm hoping once we have him fully trained he can become an ambassador for special needs adoptions. Thanks for sharing your story and pictures.

 

[nurseshelly]

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I'm so happy for you getting your puppy

When you get him will you send me pictures? I bet he will do great in your house. I'm sure your other dog will be really happy to have him home too!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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