Personal Experiences

Contributed by Scott and Kristi Perman

It is easy to look at a deaf and/or blind dog when they have just come into rescue and decide this isn’t the dog for you. Unfortunately, a decision like this will keep you from adopting a very good and loving dog! Frequently, these dogs have lived a life of seclusion, either in a kennel or bouncing from foster to foster, without being given time to settle down. Our experience is that these dogs need to be in a home for a couple of months before they become comfortable. The other problem they face is that no one has taken the time to speak their language, or teach them a language. Since they can’t respond the same way a hearing and/or sighted dog can, they get labeled as unintelligent and get ignored. Once the adopter discovers a way to communicate with the sheltie, a whole new world opens up for them, and you get to see the true personality of this dog.

Deaf and/or blind dogs truly do have a sixth sense; although it probably isn’t as magical as we would like to believe. They respond to vibrations through the floor, pressure changes from doors opening and closing, and air movement from people and dogs moving around them. Because of this, it is very important not to trim the whiskers of an impaired dog. These dogs are already missing two of their senses ... to take part of a third away is inexcusable. An impaired dog will use their whiskers as a type of “curb feelers” to help them navigate.