It is people like Kim Balboni who hold fundraisers for Deaf Dogs Rock that helps us do what we do. This year along her team raised enough money for DDR to sponsor 10 deaf dogs into rescue! She is a rescue warrior in every sense of the word. Kim did her first fundraiser for Deaf Dogs Rock in honor of her beloved deaf dog Sherwood called Sherwood Forest Tree of Life fundraiser. Kim is the owner and operator of Good Dog University and K9 Daycare in West Springfield, MA. Because of Kim’s kind heart and the teamwork of her patrons/staff at GDU & K9 Daycare, Deaf Dogs Rock can continue to help deaf dogs in need of transport, rescue, sponsorship,and medical attention.
Kim and her Good Dog University team and patrons were our TOP fundraisers last year. They put on a fundraiser called the Wag-a-thon. I had never heard of a Wag-a-thon before but once Kim explained the concept to me I love the idea. Read more about the Wag-a-thon here. Because of their efforts Deaf Dogs Rock was able to help many deaf dogs in need of help with financial support to pay for spay/neuters, transportation to reputable rescues and sponsorship for deaf dogs to go to rescues.
It is rescue warriors like Kim and her Good Dog University team who take the time to hold fun fundraisers a couple of times a year to support our Deaf Dogs Rock mission to save one deaf dog at a time. We are blessed to have such a great support team in the Northeast. Deaf Dogs Rock want to thank Kim and her entire team for giving us the opportunity to help deaf dogs in need. We could not have done what we did last year without your support. ~ Christina Lee – Deaf Dogs Rock
I asked Kim to send me her story of what dog it was in her life that made her want to help all deaf dogs in need. Here is what she sent us here at DDR.
Penny’s Journey by Kim Balboni
I have always been fond of the Dalmatian breed, my first dalmatian Perdie (she made it the ripe old age of 15) was a hearing girl I trained her for agility and trick training and she received her Canine Good Citizen award. When I finally had moved out of my parents house I took her with me. My father grew attached to her and began looking on rescue sites for a dog that met my Perdie’s special personality and characteristics. A little over a year went by until he finally found a Dalmatian in New York. My dad asked if my husband and I would go with him to look at the female Dalmatian located in NY. We said yes and jumped in the car on our journey to meet the new dog.
When we met Penny the Dalmatian in NY we discovered she was a beautiful girl so we drove her to her new home in Massachusetts. While in the car with her she seemed to act a little different but we figured she had been through a lot that day with meeting all of us. As we introduced Penney to the house and yard we figured out she was not paying attention to us at all. Knowing that the breed has a high likely hood for being deaf, we called the rescue right away to see if they noticed anything unusual about Penny. The rescue stated they had no idea Penny was deaf but now everything made sense because she had recently been in 6 different homes and was taken from a kill shelter.
Knowing our family is dog savvy and we had a lot of training under our belts, my father was not going to give up on Penny (not one person caught or noticed she was deaf – WOW!). With lots of training and love Penny became a very loyal and loving companion for 14 years. Penny is the reason I went into rescuing deaf dalmatians. I currently have 4 completely deaf Dalmatians that lead perfectly normal lives. Our oldest deafie is 5 years old and he competes in agility classes with my 11 year old son. Our recent Dalmatian rescue is 6 months old and is learning lots of new hand signals and sign language everyday.
All four of our deaf Dalmatians go to doggy daycare each day. Since my husband and I own Good Dog University and K9 Day care our four deafies get to play and socialize with 25 dogs each day. No one would ever know our dalmatians are deaf because they act and play the same as hearing dogs.
Deaf dogs can and do lead very normal lives. Protection is the key, the more you can teach/train them the more protected and confident will become.
February 28th will mark the two year anniversary of the loss of our beloved deaf Dalmatian Sherwood that passed at only a year and half to a liver shunt, he was my second deaf Dalmatian. Since Sherwood’s passing I have become more educated and interested in helping out all deaf dogs, but especially the Dalmatian breed.
To me Deaf Dogs Rock! Kim Balboni – Deaf Dogs Advocate (and rescue warrior)
