Let’s give a big Deaf Dogs Rock welcome to Kristine Murtz. Kristine is the Volunteer Foster Coordinator from Secondhand Snoots Rescue and she writes for two websites which are Thirties and Counting and Second Hand Snoots Rescue.  It is crucial for deaf rescue dogs to have available foster home because they often tend to break down completely in a shelter environment, I am happy to see our first guest blogger write about her first foster experience with a deaf dog. Kristine unlike myself made it through her foster experience with Elliot. She is a much stronger woman then I am (I failed miserably and now have my my second deaf dog Bud).

I hope you enjoy reader her story as much as I did. According to my deaf dogs Nitro, Bud and myself, Kristine totally ROCKS!

~ Christina Lee – Deaf Dogs Rock

 

From her blog Thirties and Counting.

I became a Foster Angel by Kristine Murtz

 

Photo: Kristine pictured with her second foster Ozzie in Kankakee

My love for and relationship with deaf dogs began in the fall of 2010, when I fostered an 8 month old deaf pit mix named Elliot. I recall when Erica, co-founder of Secondhand Snoots Rescue, made the comment, “oooh, deafies are fuuunnnn…” What? What was that suppose to mean? Well, I soon learned! Not only did I have no experience with deaf dogs, but it had been over a decade since I raised a puppy.

I learned how to work with deaf dogs simply by doing it. Our rescue has information on our website, there are a variety of other resources on the internet, and the president of the rescue at the time has two deaf Great Danes. When I think back about it, though, I realize that I really just sort of figured it out by relying on non-verbal communication: facial expressions, hand gestures that I normally use when I talk, and basic hand signals that are used in training hearing dogs. Here is how it all started…

Shortly after “liking” my friend’s rescue, Secondhand Snoots, on Facebook, an adorable little Pitbull/mix puppy was posted on my newsfeed. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It said something along the lines of, “must be taken before 10:00 AM Thursday or he will be put to sleep.” THIS was my introduction to rescue. It was Wednesday. I couldn’t stand to see a perfectly good dog be put to sleep. Elliot was 8 months old, deaf, and looked just like Petey from Our Gang. Crap. “I need a puppy like I need a hole in the head, but this little guy doesn’t deserve to die.” And there it started. I told Erica, co-founder of the rescue, that I’d take him.

The wonderful people at the Kankakee County Shelter (aka “K3”) held him until someone from the rescue could pick him up. They often call us when they have deafies, knowing we have experience with them. In I dove…head first.

It was a warm Saturday night in July. I left a baby shower early and drove up to Erica’s house in Gurnee, about an hour away. What was this dog going to be like? I’ve always said I didn’t want the responsibility of having a Pitbull or bully breed, although I love them…what would his temperament like? How much discrimination would I have to deal with on the part of neighbors and other people? How would he be with Blazer? How the heck was I going to train a deaf dog? All these questions didn’t matter when I saw the little rascal. The big brown spot around his beautiful hazel eye melted my heart. His other eye had a brown “eybrow” over it that made him look like Groucho Marx. He had the biggest, floppiest, pinkest (not to mention useless) ears. And he smelled like puppy.

Elliot crashed in the backseat as soon as I closed the door. He slept like a rock through the night. THAT night…

Photo: Kristine’s foster dog Elliot

I lost count of how many nights I didn’t sleep, or slept with my hand in his crate so he’d feel safe and be quiet. I didn’t want to keep everyone else in the neighborhood awake. This puppy thought the world was his, and the apartment was his own personal jungle gym. He harassed Blazer, chased the cats, knocked stuff over, and shredded his bedding.

Everyone loved him. I ventured to the Pooch Park, and he did surprisingly well–as did the other pet owners. I was concerned that people would be upset for bringing a Pitbull into a dog park. According to Elliot, I’d just brought him to heaven. He was so curious, and so happy to follow all the dogs around. It didn’t really matter that he was deaf. Though we hadn’t fully bonded yet, and he had puppy ADHD, he still checked in with me and made sure he could see me. I brought him to my neighbors’ down the street–they have a yard. He could do his Captain Insano run to his heart’s content there. He had buddies to play with, toys to shred, and plenty of places to pee. I was over there more days during the week than not, and then several times a day. Oh Lord, what would I do without those neighbors!

I insisted that I would not get attached to “that damn dog.” He’d kept me awake, left bruises and bite marks (puppies aren’t exactly gentle when they play, and it’s a little more of a challenge teaching a deaf puppy it hurts), and most of my energy was dedicated to this dog who completely disrupted my household. Then people started saying things…”looks like he’s already found his forever home!” Nope. Not me. I won’t get attached. Then he seemed to get cuter and his personality really came out. Then he snuggled with me at night. Yes, I let the little booger sleep with me.

I went back and forth about whether or not to keep him. Realistically, I couldn’t afford it. But I was falling in love. Just when I started to realize my attachment, someone expressed interest. It was a Saturday when he was taken by Erica for his home visit. 20 minutes after she left their house with him, they called back and said they’d fallen in love, too. We brought him over there on Sunday. It was wonderful to meet the couple that would be taking him into their family–there were toys galore everywhere. He was in heaven! When Erica and I walked out, Elliot jumped up on the screen door so he could see us, as if to say, “hey, where you guys goin’? Aren’t I supposed to be following you?” We both cried.

For about a week prior to his adoption, I realized that adopting him myself would keep me from saving another dog. THAT is what got me through. The weekend of his adoption, another deaf Pitbull/mix, later named Ozzie, needed rescuing from the same shelter. He was already lined up. We would be picking him up 3 days after bringing Elliot to his new home.

Erica picked me up and we headed down to Kankakee….