-Brutus On Dogster.com
-Brutus on Myspace.com
Monday, May 19, 2008
Brutus on Dogster and Myspace!
Brutus now has his own profile on both Dogster and Myspace! Visit him at:
-Brutus On Dogster.com
-Brutus on Myspace.com
-Brutus On Dogster.com
-Brutus on Myspace.com
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Brutus is here!
-"I'm leaving you. I'm in love with this dog and I'm leaving you for him." *Laughter*
This was the first coversation I had with my husband after he picked Brutus up on April 26. When we were first asked to foster a deaf dog I was hesitant. I had never worked with a deaf dog before, but decided that A) If no one else will do it I will, and B) I'll learn so much from this!
I ordered a few books online, one being the one book any owner of a deaf dog should own:
-Living With a Deaf Dog: A Book of Advice, Facts and Experiences About Canine Deafness by Susan C. Becker, a great book with handsignals, training tips and general advice.
And also:
-Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff, the true story of a deaf Great Dane.
On my way home from work to meet the new foster I'm talking to my husband on the phone and he tells me to be prepared to fall in love. "Sure, sure" I tell him and smile. This is our fifth foster and I've been through this before. It only takes a second to fall i love with a dog and this was Rick's first pickup by himself...
I walk in through the back door to the kitchen and Rick is sitting on the floor with the skinniest little boston terrier ever on his lap, the poor thing's just skin and bones. I squat down and wave at him (keep in mind he is deaf) and on new born Bambi wobbling legs he crawls over to me, up on my lap and licks my face.
Damn you Rick, you were right! I'm just in awe with this incredibly gentle and friendly little creature and I look up at Rick who almost has tears in his eyes, "Hanna, I want to keep him"...
We had NO plans on keeping a third dog, and I was quite happy with our arrangement of having two but vicariously getting a third by fostering. But then that one dog comes along that you just can't bear the thought of letting them go, they are already home...
For once I had to be the reasonable one. I told Rick that we really needed to think about this, that this little guy is gonna require alot of work with handsignals and also nursing him back to health. He was a stray in Hot Springs Arkansas and when he was picked up he was heartworm positive, and he had to go through a brutal treatment to kill the parasite that in turn almost kills the dog. He had lost probably a third of his bodyweight in the process and was extremely weak and tired...
But man, I have never met a dog with a better temperament! He is amazing! He is the happiest, friendliest, most affectionate and easy-going dog I have ever met! Why they had thought he was handshy I have no idea, 'cause nothing seems to bother this little guy! I had to admit, I really didn't want to let him go either. But again, I wanted to make sure that we were doing the right thing and didn't rush into anything.
After a week and a half someone applied to adopt Brutus and we were now forced to make a decision. It was a very qualified applicant which made it all so much harder, were we really the best home for Brutus or should we let him go? We spent many hours talking and didn't get much sleep. But the following day we had come to the conclusion that we felt like we were adopting out our own dog, we just couldn't let him go.
We had just fallen head over heels for this little guy, he was already a part of the family! He was getting along so great with the girls, ever Wednesday likes him, and the idea of working aith a disabeled dog was so exciting! To the point where I was already considering specializing in deaf and disabeled rescue dogs from now on...
So the decision was made, the papers were signed and the adoption fee was paid. Brutus is now officiallly our dog!
So, we are now the proud owners of a freaking zoo and it's awesome! We won't be able to foster for quite some time, we have our hands full working with Brutus, who had been recovering and putting on weight nicely, teaching him handsignals and teaching him to be a dog...
Meet him here:
http://www.myspace.com/brutustheboston
Xoxoxo
Brutus
A boy and his dog...
Buddies
Handsome boy
Sleepy
The boys
This was the first coversation I had with my husband after he picked Brutus up on April 26. When we were first asked to foster a deaf dog I was hesitant. I had never worked with a deaf dog before, but decided that A) If no one else will do it I will, and B) I'll learn so much from this!
I ordered a few books online, one being the one book any owner of a deaf dog should own:
-Living With a Deaf Dog: A Book of Advice, Facts and Experiences About Canine Deafness by Susan C. Becker, a great book with handsignals, training tips and general advice.
And also:
-Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff, the true story of a deaf Great Dane.
On my way home from work to meet the new foster I'm talking to my husband on the phone and he tells me to be prepared to fall in love. "Sure, sure" I tell him and smile. This is our fifth foster and I've been through this before. It only takes a second to fall i love with a dog and this was Rick's first pickup by himself...
I walk in through the back door to the kitchen and Rick is sitting on the floor with the skinniest little boston terrier ever on his lap, the poor thing's just skin and bones. I squat down and wave at him (keep in mind he is deaf) and on new born Bambi wobbling legs he crawls over to me, up on my lap and licks my face.
Damn you Rick, you were right! I'm just in awe with this incredibly gentle and friendly little creature and I look up at Rick who almost has tears in his eyes, "Hanna, I want to keep him"...
We had NO plans on keeping a third dog, and I was quite happy with our arrangement of having two but vicariously getting a third by fostering. But then that one dog comes along that you just can't bear the thought of letting them go, they are already home...
For once I had to be the reasonable one. I told Rick that we really needed to think about this, that this little guy is gonna require alot of work with handsignals and also nursing him back to health. He was a stray in Hot Springs Arkansas and when he was picked up he was heartworm positive, and he had to go through a brutal treatment to kill the parasite that in turn almost kills the dog. He had lost probably a third of his bodyweight in the process and was extremely weak and tired...
But man, I have never met a dog with a better temperament! He is amazing! He is the happiest, friendliest, most affectionate and easy-going dog I have ever met! Why they had thought he was handshy I have no idea, 'cause nothing seems to bother this little guy! I had to admit, I really didn't want to let him go either. But again, I wanted to make sure that we were doing the right thing and didn't rush into anything.
After a week and a half someone applied to adopt Brutus and we were now forced to make a decision. It was a very qualified applicant which made it all so much harder, were we really the best home for Brutus or should we let him go? We spent many hours talking and didn't get much sleep. But the following day we had come to the conclusion that we felt like we were adopting out our own dog, we just couldn't let him go.
We had just fallen head over heels for this little guy, he was already a part of the family! He was getting along so great with the girls, ever Wednesday likes him, and the idea of working aith a disabeled dog was so exciting! To the point where I was already considering specializing in deaf and disabeled rescue dogs from now on...
So the decision was made, the papers were signed and the adoption fee was paid. Brutus is now officiallly our dog!
So, we are now the proud owners of a freaking zoo and it's awesome! We won't be able to foster for quite some time, we have our hands full working with Brutus, who had been recovering and putting on weight nicely, teaching him handsignals and teaching him to be a dog...
Meet him here:
http://www.myspace.com/brutustheboston
Xoxoxo
Brutus
A boy and his dog...
Buddies
Handsome boy
Sleepy
The boys
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
