This is Rain’s CGC and Puppy Bowl VII story told by her mom Kimberly K. Mockler. According to my deaf dogs Bud and Nitro, Rain totally ROCKS! Enjoy! ~ Christina Lee – DDR

Rain is a deaf double merle miniature Australian shepherd.

 

 

Her parents were strays found in Georgia and brought to an animal shelter. Rain and her six littermates (three of her brothers are also double merles) were born on June 28th, 2010 at a vet tech’s home and then transferred to a foster home through MARS (Mini Aussie Rescue and Support).

 

I had been asked by MARS to help find homes or rescues to take the four double merle puppies. I found a home and rescue for the three males, but could not find a place for the female. Since I was planning on adopting another double merle myself, I decided to adopt the female, whom I named Rain, myself. She and one of her brothers were transported from Georgia to Maryland, where I later picked her up and brought her back to New York.

Rain was selected to be one of the puppies for PuppyBowl VII. She was filmed in Manhattan in October 2010 and while she was edited out of the final show (aired on Animal Planet in February 2011), Rain had a great time being a movie star for a day!

 

Rain earned her Canine Good Citizen Award (CGC) on December 7th, 2011 using American Sign Language. She also does agility, flyball, nosework, and attended a tricks class. She works with Parker’s House, a division of Second Chance Wildlife Rescue, dedicated to the rescue, education, and training of deaf and blind dogs. She and my other double merle dogs and foster dogs attend pet events in the New York metro area educating the public about the adoptability of deaf and blind dogs, how to train them, and about merle-to-merle breeding.

Rain is an amazing, silly, hyper, friendly dog… I cannot imagine life without her!  ~ Kimberly Mockler