I fostered William for about 3 weeks when he first came it. He is the SWEETEST boy and loved attention. I too have a special place in my heart for him. I would have keep fostering him, but just too hard for me to foster puppies (give me the seniors any day).

I saw him last year at a meet and greet and was very impressed with the GREAT job his foster mommy has done with him. I believe at that time he already knew several hand signals and was still learning more.

My mom rescued a dashchund last year from a shelter place and once we got her home realized she was deaf and blind in one eye. But let me tell you she is the PERFECT dog!!! You would not know she has ANY problems. There are just precautions you have to take when you have a deaf or blind dog. I have to agreed with them being more in tune with you because she is.

Jana
Addie & Argos' human

When Mary Kate doesn't want to do something she just looks away -- the equivalent of putting her fingers in her ears and singing fa-la-la. She does make sure Paul or I am rarely out of her sight, she may not be right under our feet, but she can usually see one of us, of course, this is when she isn't asleep. She also is right in the middle of things when the herd is barking, trying to bark louder than anyone else.

thank you so much for everyones input. He seemed like such a sweet boy, I am sure we will be seeing him soon!!!!

First I must let you know that I did his transport ... there were two brothers and I named them after my sons... Stephen and William... so I have a soft spot for this guy .. (Steve was adopted out!)

I have been helping with Adoptions at GDR for about a year and hear your aprehensions often.... HOWEVER when someone does open their home to one of our "special" danes they are HOOKED! The feed back is amazing! I would say that the "specialness" has no impact on your loving relationship... it may alter how you would communicate ... or if they are sight impared you may have different challenges but they are just as loving and fabu as any "normal" dog...

Keep in mind that all dogs (and people) have their own "deficits" or "issues".... some just show more than others!

This is a personal decision and you are doing the right thing but considering EVERYTHING.... I hope this makes it easier and GOOD LUCK

My girl Dharma is deaf - and it doesn't make much difference at all. She was super duper easy to train - the deafies are soooo in tune with you and watch your facial expressions. I talk and sing to them in the car all the time (Logan can hear just fine, but D still "listens" better!).

Just make sure to train "look" as a habit as opposed to a command - so that if he's out chilling in the yard, at the dog park, etc he'll check in with you and see where you're at, if you want him for anything etc. The website www.deafdogs.org is fantastic - I poured over the site before we got D to make sure I really understood, and it is a wonderful tool.

The funny thing she does though, is if she doesn't want to listen (e.g. for Sit), she'll look up at the sky instead of at me - after all, if she can't see the command, she doesn't have to do it! : )

Make sure to check out the site above - it really is a fantastic resource. Feel free to email me with any questions too.

Sandi, Dharma, and Logan

I have several thoughts…..When we knew one of our cockers, Sarah, was going blind, we got a book called “Living with Blind Dogs”. It is very informative and gave us the confidence to work with her. They may have a “Living with Deaf Dogs”. I am not sure, but I bet there are books on the subject.

I know a deaf Dane is a HUGELY different than a blind 20 Lb. cocker, but it is amazing how they adapt. Unless you saw her eyes, you would not know she was blind. She does everything our other dogs do except go outside alone.

You may want to try fostering him to see how living with him would be. We fostered Gandalf for all of 20 minutes before we knew he was never leaving. Susan and William had not even made it to their car before we were asking for the adoption papers!

That is my two or three cents worth……….

I had Miss Mary Kate (Poggy) for a year and I still talked and sang to her, just like I did Bubba. I did have hand signals for: sit, come, no, time to eat, and "happy happy joy joy" since she couldn't hear the fun inflection in my voice when I was getting them riled up!
The only obvious things I noticed were different was she was a SOUND sleeper. It was always fun when I got home to go hunt her down in the house to find her and gently wake her up. The other thing was I was SUPER careful about her getting loose or darting out the door. She did slip out twice and just took off running. I opened the car door and she eventually turned around and jumped in and the other time I started running AWAY from her for her to chase me and that worked. Still, a little unnerving. Other then that though, no difference. Deafies are REALLY in tune with you and I think they might even attach a little more. They are astute with their observations and I think just adapt to not being able to hear. Like I said, I still talked, sang, and treated her the same as Bubba, only used hand signals. Funny, I still find myself using them and she has been gone a few years now! Anyway, I congratulate you, William is a sweetie and I think you will find that like with a deaf dane super terrific!
Sara (Bubba Chad's and Shammy's mom)