Doug – TN – ADOPTED

4-26-2012: Update: Doug’s foster mom is moving to Arizona and she cannot take this dog with her. We need to send this listing out to all rescues or potential fosters who can love and give Doug the attention he needs and deserves. I am asking all of you to reach out to your rescue friends and lets get Doug to safety. I am sure Maggie will help with transportation. Please call Maggie if you can help at 314-443-3827 or send her an email at ToczylowskiM@cintas.com

Here is the plea from Doug’s rescuer: I’m reaching out to you because I’m hoping to find a solution to a tough situation. My roommate and I rescued a pup off the streets of our neighborhood in Nashville about a month and a half ago. “Doug”, as we lovingly refer to him, is a Pitt/Lab Mix approximately 9-12 months old according to our veterinarians, Dr. Michelle Williams or Dr. Michelle Gannsberg, at Berry Hill Animal Hospital (615-292-3332) here in Nashville. Initially, we were looking to place him in another home, but after about 7 days, we both fell in love with him and decided to keep him. We immediately had him vaccinated, de-wormed, micro-chipped, and neutered at Berry Hill. About a week went by with Doug and we started to believe that he had “selective hearing”. We brought him back to the vet where she performed some additional “startle tests” and did diagnose him with deafness.

Since then, our training has been considerable. Doug has adapted to learning hand signs and now knows how to “sit”, “stay”, and “come” using sign language. He understands “NO” when we say it loudly and shake our finger and head at him. He is housebroken and his crate training is improving every single day. He enjoys visiting the neighborhood kids at the bus stop in the morning and going for walks and runs. The ONLY issue with Doug is that he is dog aggressive. While genetic, this issue was likely enhanced from fighting off/with other dogs during his time as a stray. It is unfortunate, but certainly can be addressed through socialization and behavior training. My dilemma…Doug is not getting along with my roommate’s other 2 dogs that were already living in the house. The past 2 days, we have had 2 incidents with Doug and her golden retriever which were extremely frightening for my roommate and I…thus leading me to attempt to lovingly re-home this amazing dog. He is such a loving and caring boy—he provides lots of kisses, he snuggles, he is a companion who follows me around everywhere, he likes to have his belly rubbed, he likes to sleep, and he enjoys meeting new people who come to our house or who are in the neighborhood.

I am looking for foster opportunities in Nashville, St. Louis, and the entire Midwest Area… I’m looking for either a foster home for him short-term but have the obvious goal of finding him a FOREVER home. His ideal home would be one where: he is the only pet, children are older than 8 years old/or at an age where they can understand his deafness and how to approach him, and the owner/family can devote time to his unique training needs. I am absolutely heartbroken about re-homing him but am extremely hopeful that the perfect home is out there for this wonderful and deserving pup. The fact that he is deaf and that he survived on the streets just shows how cool Doug is.

If there is a chance that you or someone you know of may be interested in Doug, I am willing to transport him to a temporary or FOREVER home at any time in the next week or 2. I have purchased/will donate the following items for him: a large metal crate, a Kong brand collar, a Kong brand leash, a Kong brand harness, a large dog bed, a large bag of food, a large food storage container, and the book “Living with a Deaf Dog” by Susan Cope Becker. I’d appreciate any help you can provide…and if you can, please forward this to as many possible people you can think of who may be able to help find or provide him with a loving home. Your assistance, thoughts, and prayers are greatly appreciated!

Contact:  Maggie Toczylowski  at 314.443.3821