so frustrated trying to get my deaf foster adopted

[Bridget]

We had the second inquiry about Ashley, our little terrier, today. The interested party sent her son to visit and report, then she was going to visit Ashley tomorrow. After the son's visit, she called me: the fact that Ashley barks at people and is snappy was secondary...her first reason for not wanting to even visit her is that Ashley is deaf. The last person interested in Ashley, we told over the phone that she's deaf and they decided outright that they didn't want her. This time, we decided not to bring it up until the son got here so he could see how SHE IS NO DIFFERENT! I don't know how people can be so uneducated. Ashley has issues left over from the hoarding situation that she came from, but I find her deafness is such a non-problem that I can't understand why it keeps people from giving her a chance or even wanting to meet her. Ashley learns, communicates and loves the same as a hearing dog. Does anyone else on here have a deaf dog and encounter this kind of ignorance? We forget Ashley is deaf, as she is so adept at reading our facial expressions and body language. We just give her the same signs that come naturally when we are speaking to our hearing dogs, for instance to pat on our thigh when we call her to "come." If I was going to foster another dog, I would deliberately seek out a deaf dog since I know what I know and there is so much prejudice. I am about ready to just adopt her myself, even though she doesn't fit into our pack very well and I really don't want four dogs to keep at this time. We are committed to Ashley and she has a home with us for as long as it takes. I guess Ashley just needs to be MORE lovable and MORE well behaved to make up for her disadvantage. But it is really frustrating when people won't even meet her.

[llombardo]

Ignore the ignorance....deaf, blind, 3 legged, they all deserve to be loved and if these people are that vain I feel sorry for any dog they might get

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

I wonder (sorry for the bold) if any of these links or that group might be a good resource for you.


I have had an older dog that lost his hearing and if we are lucky all of our dogs will live long enough that it might be an issue. It kind of lets you know what people might be like when a dog gets old, just a preview of their level of compassion. In a way, I like fostering dogs with special needs, because you always get special adopters in the end. When they finally come!

Good for you for seeing her abilities.

DDEAF links for Blind Dogs, Deaf Cats, & OCD

Top 10 Reasons To Adopt a Deaf Dog

deafdogs : The deafdogs mailing list is for people ... - Groups - Yahoo

groups.yahoo.com/groups/deafdogs

[TheActuary]

You can't fault people for not wanting a deaf dog. I don't think it's "prejudice"... they just might not be able to/want to have a special needs dog.

My mother rescued a deaf cat... and he is definitely at least 2x as much work as a normal cat. He can't hear himself (obviously) so he is incredibly loud.

Of course this dog still needs a home... and hopefully there is someone out there who can take her on and love her. But it's not fair to call people who aren't up for the challenge prejudice.

[TheActuary]

Originally Posted by llombardo

Ignore the ignorance....deaf, blind, 3 legged, they all deserve to be loved and if these people are that vain I feel sorry for any dog they might get

I doubt it has anything to due with vanity

[vicky2200]

I would recommend being upfront about her being deaf from the beginning because it will save you time and upset you less. Personally, I have every intention of adopting a deaf dog in the future because there are so many in rescues that people over look. Hopefully someone will come forward who will be a good match for her.

[RebelGSD]

Maybe as a therapy dog for a deaf child.
I have a cute little terrier, sweet and healthy, nobody even wants to look at her.

[msvette2u]

We have a 1 eyed 1.5lb. Pug.
And a special needs Dachshund (brain damage).
We adopted out a 3-legger a few weeks ago.
I think the Pug will get a home fairly quickly as she's only about 7-8 weeks old.
We gave up and keep the Dachshund since nobody wanted to deal with her, and she can hear and see.
People are amazingly shallow when it comes to pets, I was quite disappointed to learn that.

PS - can you have a local rescue courtesy post her on Petfinder for you? I do here, if the dog is spayed.

[Stevenzachsmom]

I agree with Jean. My dog is 14 and can't hear worth a darn. I use a lot of sign language. I point. I motion. I touch. She understands everything. She knows when I don't want her to do something. It really is not that complicated and this is a dog that used to be able to hear. I'm assuming the terrier was always deaf? If so, she knows no different. Personally, I wouldn't even consider a deaf dog to be that much of a special needs dog. It's a shame there isn't a nice deaf family to adopt her. They certainly would not consider her to be special needs.

My friends' rescue used to have a herd of blind horses. They were the most amazing creatures. My friend believed that just because they were blind didn't mean they forgot how to be horses, or everything they knew when they could see. We always talked to them. We gave them directions. Each horse was always fed in the same spot. They seemed to seek out people more than sighted horses and were very gentle with each other.

There is a special person out there who would appreciate Ashley. I know it's hard, but try not be frustrated. The right person is worth waiting for. That person will be able to see everything in Ashley that you do.

[KentuckyGSDLover]

I taught my 14-year-old hand signals along with verbal signals when he was young, and now it's often the only way I can get him to do anything because he's deaf except to a few tones. I point down, he sits. I point down twice, he lays. I put a hand out, he stays.