New Members A&c

[Adrianna & Calvin]

Hi, I'm Adrianna and my dog is Calvin. Calvin is a certified pet therapy dog and we're working on his trick dog titles and Sue Ailsby's Training Levels. He is a homozygous merle (sometimes called a lethal white or double merle) and I adopted him from a group that rescues these dogs, who are often euthanized for their disabilities. Double merle dogs have ocular defects and very often are deaf, so some dogs are both deaf and blind. Calvin can see well enough for me to use hand signs but his distance vision is poor. He has very mild corectopia, meaning that his pupils are not exactly in the center of the iris (the colored part of the eye). He is completely deaf.

I'm giving this background because I think it's important that people see special needs dogs can do stuff :-) In the US, there are two breed websites (that I know of) which openly advocate the euthanasia of deaf or double merle dogs, and the AKC has banned deaf dogs from competing in all dog sports. The only antidote for this kind of discrimination is education so I'm including this in my intro

I've heard great things about this forum and am looking forward to sharing info and gaining from others' experiences.

A&C

 

[Anneke]

Hi Adrianna and Calvin! Welcome to DTA
That is one good looking fellow, you have there!!
Yay, for people like you!
Another member on DTA has deaf dogs, also merles, but they are dachshund. Her name is Sara.

I totally agree with you on the banning deaf dogs and euthanising... That is NOT the way to go. People need to learn about how this happens and how to prevent this.
Over here in Holland these double merles are very, very rare. I haven't heard of one. The Aussie community is still small(but growing and not always in a good way) Fortunately we have a lot of very good breeders, that know about this.

 

[bekah1001]

Welcome! Who would euthanize a dog because they are deaf

 

[bekah1001]

A few memebers also use Sue Ailsby's training levels. I think I might start to as well after doing a little more research on it!

 

[Dogster]

Wow!!! WELCOME TO DTA!!!!! Glad you rescued him!!!! He is happy to have you in his life!!!! Hope you enjoy the forum!!!!

 

[jackienmutts]

Hi and welcome! Wait til Sara and her pack see your post - and I know she'll be chiming in, you two will have lots to talk about! Thanks for giving Calvin a chance, and the world a chance to see Calvin! Can wait to get to know you both better.

 

[bekah1001]

Hi and welcome! Wait til Sara and her pack see your post - and I know she'll be chiming in, you two will have lots to talk about! .

Was thinking the same thing

 

[Ripleygirl]

Welcome and soooo well done for what you are doing and trying to make those in the world see the wrong in the way they consider dogs as amenities and not living breathing, LOVING, things that dispite whatever hardships can still be WONDERFUL companions and achieve so much... Good on you and hope you find the forum as good as I have!

 

[sara]

Hey Adrianna! Fancy meeting you here! I thought you would be one that would check this site out! I'm very glad you did! You will really appreciate this forum, we're all positive trainers, and strive to be completely PR/NP, so there wont be any arguing with other members about punishment based training which is what I value most about this forum! No one will advise it Hope you enjoy, and hope the DTA will be of some use!

 

[tigerlily46514]

WELCOME!!! I thought the same thing as JackieNmutts when i read Adrianna's post----"Wait til Sara spots this member, those two will so understand each other"!! Thanks to Sara, many of us here have been made aware of the dangers of the double merles, and the wonders of deaf dogs, that even deaf dogs CAN learn tricks!!!

Yes, Sara is right, THIS is one fine community of dog lovers here who use positive training!!