Cooper is now 8 months old. and wow what a personalty change, He's really showing his "boy" side. Here is a video of My daughter trying to watch a movie, Cooper wasn't having it, It was so funny, It's a 3 part video, This was over about a half hour. I missed a few parts where he was smacking her in the head. He's So Funny but man he's really been acting up the last few day with not listening.
The Dogs both went to the vet today, As many of you know we recently relocated. This means taking the time to find a new vet that we are comfy with. So where better then someone that deals with animals all the time. Our local pet smart doesn't have a Banfield in it. Not that I would probably go to banfield. Nothing personal I just prefer a more specialized vet then a commercial one. So on Valentines day I took the babies to pet smart for Mani/Pedi's and new toys :) I asked our amazing groomer if she knew of a good vet in the area, She said my vet :) and gave us the number. and she was right!!! They were amazing and so Thorough. Angel Angel is now 1 year 7.5 months. She is a little "thick skinned" but still within normal range as 36.6lbs. She received her Distemper, Lepto, and Rabies vaccines today. Her Physical was great. Healthy gums and teeth, Super friendly and well behaved. Not to mention Smart as can be, In My words Perfect!! In the vets words a great looking well taken care of dog :) Cooper When we first had Cooper looked at for Deafness the vet was not very thorough and never even looked in his ears. I said I was concerned about his clumsiness. I was told he's just a boy. Well today we had Cooper micro-chipped and had a physical done. As we expected his ears were examined and there is nothing wrong with them mechanically and his deafness is from the double merle gene, His "hearing" is getting better cause he is getting older and better and sensing the vibrations in the air. His Clumbsiness on the other hand is a sign, along with some of my other observations, Cooper refusing to jump on things with out a running start. and his dragging or shuffling of his feet. Cooper has Hip dysplasia. and is eventually going to need surgery. (there is a complete description of these surgery and prices on his gofundme.com page. link is located Below) Other then that. Cooper Is a great happy healthy dog. and is a whooping 46.3lbs. He was so comfy at the vet office he actually laid down and took a nap...lol Day 1 Today we are starting something new with both Dogs, we are calling it Broom Training. Basicly how this all began was at our old house we used to lay a towel in the kitchen. When we were in there Cooking we Angel would lay on the towel to keep from being under foot. Since we have move there is just not enough room to do this in the kitchen and having 2 dogs is getting hard to have them both under foot. So I am going to try something I seen on the Dog Whisper. In Front of the entry ways to the kitchen. (there are 2) I placed a broom in front of 1 and a mop in from of the other. I had my oldest daughter stand in the kitchen with me while I cooked. Every time they tried to step over the broom or Mop she would back the back over the object point to it, and tell them to sit. then give them a treat. We Continued this through the whole cooking process. When we went to sit down for dinner and they would step over the broom/mop. We would pick it up. make them go back into the other room. then placed it back down. Pointed at it. and told them to sit. then rewarded them. Day 3
Thing Went pretty well today with Broom Training. Cooper is starting to catch on, He likes to lay down right next to the broom and watch what is going on. Occasionally Stating with his Front legs over the Broom. Angel is not taking as well to it while I am cooking. However when we sit down and eat she has all ready been trained that is time to go lay down. We are still working on when the step over the Broom we pick it up. to teach them they are not allowed to step over it ever. Day 5 We are just about there, Angel is catching on now too. She prefers just to go lay down and Pout when she sees the broom is down. Cooper is still laying next the the broom and watching. He is still placing is front legs over the broom but that is as far as he will go. Day 7 Tonight we tried to sit down and eat dinner without putting the broom down. Cooper walked to the door way. Turned around and went and laid down. I THINK HE"S GOT IT!!!! We will still be using the broom for training and hope that we can continue to teach him that is doesn't matter where we are if a broom is down we do not step over it. It is a lot easier to take a broom somewhere then child gates. We are also going to continue with the broom for awhile and then substitute the Broom for a piece of String. I will keep you updated on our progress. If you decided to try this Please let us know how it works for you!!! Day 30 Just a small update as it has been a month, Both dogs are completely broom trained to stay out of the kitchen, It is very nice now when the broom goes down the dogs go lay down, However when the Hubby comes home they refuse to stay behind the broom. So we are still going to work on that. We are also going to start working on different rooms. Teach then that it doesn't matter where the broom means no. Does your dog snore?? This cracks me up. Angel has outgrown it as she's gotten older but Cooper snores, and loudly!!! While working on some videos for the site I found so many cute pictures of the puppies sleeping (along with some of our other animals) so I through together a cute slide show of them sle HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!
We are very busy already and the year just started. We are working on getting some videos up. Finally got Circles up. With so many more coming. I am going to try and keep things update as much as possible, but we are in the process of moving. So things may be sporadic for a few weeks til we get all settled into the new place. So make sure to stop by our Facebook Page for updates on the mov I had some questions for fellow deaf dog owners
-Copper used to have one ear that was perked up more. We noticed one day that it had "fallen" we were wondering is it cause he does seem to more them much?? I mean he really has no need to if he can't hear. -How about walking?? Cooper thumps really load when he walks. I can't figure out is he's just heavy footed, or if he's trying to feel the vibrations. -Cooper is super clumbsy. Is it because he's deaf?? Or is he just a puppy?? -We noticed Cooper Doesn't bark when he hears things. Much like Angel does. He only Barks when he is mad. to get attention. We also noticed that when he barks at angel he always puts his mouth right up to her ear. she gets so mad. Its kinda cute. But I feel bad for her he barks loud. Does anyone else notice this?? Just some cute funny things that happened today :)
Found 2 Puppy Teeth, The Countdown to the end of puppy teething starts YAY!!! Me & Summer were talking when it got quiet, She says where is Cooper?? I got up and walked into the family room, there was a puzzle piece, hmmmm??? A couple more steps three more pieces glues together, OH NO it was an ornament Summer had made. But where was the rest of it?? I look over into the dining room, There was Copper!!! Hoping up and down (If your dog does this comment) It is the Funniest thing he Hops straight in the air. all four paws off the ground. He does this alot when he get excited. Or when he wants to play. Well When I get in the dining room he is hoping up and down and every time he came down he would attack the Puppy pad. I was laughing hard at this point. Well he was acting like he didn't know I was coming, and when I got close he hopped up again this time turning so he can run trying to get me to play, Well he turned to the left instead of right, full speed into the door. I lost it. I felt so bad. but it was so funny. Another fun puppy problem, so I think the worst puppy moments are when you spend an hour outside with them, come in the house and "Whats the smell??" ewwwww, Man I just had you out. He was doing so good. Today was bad. Maybe cause it was raining and the ground was wet. Is it a Jack Russell?? Is it a Min Pin?? Ahhhh How much she has changed. Been REALLY busy lately. But I wanted to stop in to post some cute sleepy pictures of my furry kids (and non-furry ones too)
Hello Everyone, I wanted to take sometime to say Hi and tell you a little more about us and why we decided to start this webpage.
As I am sure you have read we adopted a deaf puppy from the SPCA last month. A couple days after we got him home we started to notice he wasn't responding to us (more so then a stubborn puppy). So after doing some research Carissa realized his type of dog (Heeler) was prone to deafness. This gene is carried on the same gene as the gene for white skin. But all that Information will be available under facts. After doing a few of the at home tests (available here) we were pretty sure he couldn't hear us. I contacted his foster family and they hadn't noticed anything (but really how do you tell with that many pups). The next day they e-mailed me back to tell me they had heard from his twins family and they had there suspitions she is deaf too. We knew right then it was going to be a long journey as none of us knew how to raise a deaf puppy. We figured we had the wonderful World Wide Web at our disposal. After talking to the vet and looking on the Internet I did some thinking. The vet said to purchase a book with the basic signs for a dog, I really couldn't find any with universal dog signals. I looked on the web. There are defanitly sites that have some very good information on deafness. But still no universal hand signals. After the first couple sites I found. I started finding more and more sites that said how terrible deaf dogs were, how most vets recommend euthanasia. I couldn't believe what I was reading. So I talked with Carissa & the kids and we desided since we are new to this, along with probably a lot more people in the world. And very limited positive information about how to raise and love a deaf dog (after all you wouldn't put your deaf child down) we decided to document our adventure with cooper. As I am no where close to a vet, trainer, or professional. I don't know sign language but am learning. Everything on this webpage is complete opinion and is only backed up with my word that the information worked for us, what was read on the interweb, and what I've learned from other pet owners. If you have options, opinions, stories about your dog, deaf or not, anything that may help someone else raise there puppy, Please feel free to get involved. Comment on my blog, or anyone in the family's. or contact us at [email protected] |
Mark & ReneeWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2013
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