New Zealand Deaf Dogs

Town: Wairarapa, Wellington, New Zealand
Deaf dog: Rosie is a 7 year old King Charles Cavalier. Rosie says "Hi my name is Rosie. I was rescued from apalling conditions about three years ago from the SPCA - yay for the SPCA. I now have a loving home with my Mum and Jess my Choc Lab sister and our latest addition Ozzie (aka the brat). It's taken me three years to come to the conclusion that not all humans will harm and hurt me and I am now quite the little socialite, out and about greeting people. I'm a very gentle soul who likes nothing more than my two small walks a day and a 22 hour nap on the couch or bed :-) Being deaf is no obstacle but having no teeth (through neglect) has its challenges, but I give everything a go including sucking on a cannon bone. I've done good work, getting children who are petrified of dogs to pat me, (bonus of having no teeth, they know I cannot bite) and overcome their fear of dogs. I'm Loving life."

Ozzie is a 4 month old Blue Heeler. Ozzie says "Hi ya, my name is Ozzie (Oz for short). Was born deaf and given to the SPCA to see if they could find me a home. My Mum volunteer's at our local SPCA, saw me and fell in love, shes a sucker for a hard luck story and the rest as they say is history. I'm only a baby (4 months old) and love life. Have a 12 year old Chocolate Lab to hang out with, the deaf toothless King Charles is off limits, as she doesn't know how to play (poor thing). In the six weeks I have been here I have learnt to sit, stay, down, leave, heel, roll over and working on 'playing dead'. I have an awesome dog trainer (go Debra) so learning heaps. Off to dog obedience shortly and looking forward to that and Mum is going to get me into agility when I am old enough. I can be a challenge but what puppy isn't and hey, my cuteness and mischief are what makes me who I am. My only vice is the cats, apparently you are not meant to chase them! Trying to learn to not chase the 5 who think they live here (hee hee)! Hey I'm a Blue Heeler so thats a big lesson to learn - and thats a work in progress. Yay for Deaf Dogs!"

Lady Jane (aka LJ) is a King Charles Cavallier, age unknown. LJ (aka Lady Jane) is our latest addition to the family and is also deaf. I adopted her from the SPCA and she and my other deaf King Charles Cavallier became best friends overnight. LJ is a real madam, demanding only the best and likes to have things her own way. Loves her walks and keeps Oz her Blue Heeler brother in line very well lol.
Human companions: Sharon
Other pets: Jessie the Chocolate Labrador, four cats and 7 chooks
Email: shazandpetz_AT_slingshot.co.nz

Town: Milton, Otago, New Zealand
Deaf dog: Nebka is a 6 year old Dalmatian. Nebka was rescued because the breeders association wanted him to be put down. His breeder taught him a couple of hand signals and I taught him a few more. He is the most loving dog who feels he must have lots of cuddles, loves to rest his head on my shoulder, and wants all the attention in the world. He is always two steps behind me. There are definite benefits to having a deaf dog like being able to vacuum without waking him up and him not hearing other dogs barking at him as we walk past. He usually looks to see what my hearing dog is doing for guidance. He is a joy to have and I would actively look for another deaf dog in the future.
Human companions: Nebka's Mum Rachel and Nana
Other pets: Dog, Harry (hearing)
Email: arch.bones@gmail.com

Town: Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
Deaf dogs: Crumpy is a 2 year old Staff X. Crumpy is a happy, 100% deaf, hard hitting pig/boar hunting dog just coming
into his own, he is super fit and runs 4-10kms a day, he hunts the wild boar that damage and destroy our native forest with his brother BlackJack (brindle staff x) and their mate Rocky (greyhoundxbeardiexstaff), I never have Crumpy on a lead (he is
more obedient that my hearing dogs) he watches for my hand and eyes, he has also passed our Department of Conservation native bird aversion test, so there is no difference between his ability and a hearing dogs to meet their standard of testing.
our native bush is real dense and hard to hunt in, but Crumpys nose and eye sight means he knows exactly what is what and when its all on, he is very loyal and makes sure he wins over everyone he meets, my 2yr old daughter has grown up with Crumpy and he adores her, I find it amazing that he can come in from a hard morning hunting and switch from pigdog to my daughters biggest admirer, and all this without a verbal command from me! Crumpy is pure white and 110% muscle, and if he had his way he would be covered in mud and hunting every day of his life, I will never take that away from him. Some deaf dogs are pets and never get to see past their fence, others see the world on the end of a leash, Crumpy does everything a hearing dog can, sure he might not hear anything I say, but who am I to tell him what he can and can't do?
Human companions: Chris, Hollie and Dilana our daughter
Other pets: BlackJack (2) Rocky (7) and 2 cats 3 chickens and paddocks full of sheep
Email: chris.hollie@hotmail.com

Jazz

Town: Mt Maunganui, New Zealand
Deaf dog: Jazz is a three year old Border Collie. Her guardian writes "I rescued Jazz when she was 7 months old and completely out of control, no training had been given - she had also been in 3 RTA's. She is now a calm dog and a joy to own. She has even won a ribbon in obedience! She is my best buddy."

Update 8/8/07: Jazz lived, loved and enjoyed life the the fullest - unfortunately at age 9 & a half was tragically killed. She was the sweetest most beautiful dog ever and I miss her dearly. Her handicap never held her back - she had a passion for running and play, I have never regretted for a second the rescue of this wonderful dog.

Human companion: Katrina Mac Donald
Other pets: cats Trevor and Brockie
Email: k8mac-d@hotmail.com

Town: Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Deaf dogs: Eddy is a 10 month old liver and white Dalmatian. "Eddy is our second deaf dog. She is very active. She has a few basic hand signals like sit, come, fetch, play, eat now, jump. We don't do stay very well. She has a very loving nature, which makes up for her food stealing habit...straight out of your hand if we're not careful!" Tessa, first deaf Dalmation, who passed away due to cancer at age 3.

Update Dec '09: Eddy only lived till 13 months. she had a disease that slowly killed off her nerve endings. 9 weeks after diagnosis, we had her euthanised. She was hurting herself and not feeling it. Since then we have adopted an 8 year old deaf Dalmatian who needed rehoming...she came with major separation anxiety but with love and kindness she spent a wonderfull 3 years with us before developing an inoperable spinal lesion. Now we have a deaf 11 month old Dalmatian crossbreed. She was picked up wandering the streets, extremely underweight, bowed front legs, covered in sores, an extremely timid and frightened of people. We fell in love with her immediately and is coming along nicely! Some peolpe are so cruel! She is incredibly inteligent, very calm...quite a shock, past experience has not seen us with calm dogs! She doesn't chase shadows. She loves her bed...waking her in the morning is like waking a surly teenager!! We have only had a short time...since the end of oct 2009 but she is already a loyal member of our family. many times I have wondered whether we will ever not have a deaf dog in our family...I'm guessing not!
Human companions: Julie Bates, Husband and two Children.
Other pets: Snow princess, 6 year old cat; Zac, 10 year old dog, foxy X...selective hearing.

Other pets update Dec '09: Zac died peacefully in his sleep age 13. Snow had agreesive skin cancer and after many surgeries and medications we decided at 13 years of age she deserved to rest. New cat arrived 5 years ago stripes...the boss!!! And Rex is our 9 year old border collie cross. poor dog..he has seen 2 deaf dogs through his doors...wonder what he thinks of it all!! He has a very docile nature and tolerates quite a bit from them.
Email: julietoo@hotmail.com

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