Rescued Sheltie Puppy

**TOWNHERO** · 03-20-2010, 12:12 AM

Well a couple of weeks ago I adopted a 10 month old sheltie puppy to go with my other 4 shelties. His name is Casper. My others are very much older, 14, 10, 9 and 6 years old. He is what they call in the sheltie world a double diluted blue merle. It is what can happen 25% of the time when someone breeds a white factored blue merle to another white factored blue merle. A breeder really has to know what they are doing and their line to do this. I personally would never do this if I was a breeder. Most of the time they are put down at birth because they are blind and deaf. Well he is blind in one eye and only partially deaf. He's a beautiful boy, all white with a patch of blue on his left rear. If I had a camera I'd post a picture. His disability hasn't kept him from learning. He has learned the routine from my other guys very fast, so he is pretty smart. Well today I took him to a very good friend of mine in Seminole that is a Vet and we neutered him and removed his double dew claws on his rear legs. He was a very good boy during all this. Also checked him for heart worms and he was clear. The poor guy has been sleeping all evening. Right now he is laying next to me in bed while I type this. I just wish that us humans would understand what we're doing when we get a dog. The story I got from the rescue group was that this breeder sold him to a lady with a young child. They gave him up because he was to much for them to handle. In the 2 weeks I have had him, I haven't found that true. Yes, he has his quirkieness. But we all do. He isn't a kid's dog. He's not going to go fitch or anything like that. There are so many unwanted dogs that need to be adopted. I wish that us humans would be more responsible for our animals, take care of them. I dislike those people that breed just to sell puppies to make money. Thank God he is here and can live out his life with us.

**PennyQuilts** · 03-20-2010, 08:48 AM

Townhero, congrats on your new baby. Although he is a blessing for you, I agree - what were they thinking to breed this pup??? And people with small children are really taking a risk of a missmatch to bring in a pup. Sometimes it works out but frequently it doesn't. Not all dogs are good with kids and people should consider that. And they should consider the individual dog, too. And child for that matter. It ain't all Lassie.

I have a friend who has adopted several special needs Samoyeds and one is completely blind. That is the happist, most well adjusted dog I can imagine. He is older but still plays with toys and I hope your little guy - who still has sight - does as well.

**TOWNHERO** · 03-20-2010, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by PennyQuilts

Townhero, congrats on your new baby. Although he is a blessing for you, I agree - what were they thinking to breed this pup??? And people with small children are really taking a risk of a missmatch to bring in a pup. Sometimes it works out but frequently it doesn't. Not all dogs are good with kids and people should consider that. And they should consider the individual dog, too. And child for that matter. It ain't all Lassie.

I have a friend who has adopted several special needs Samoyeds and one is completely blind. That is the happist, most well adjusted dog I can imagine. He is older but still plays with toys and I hope your little guy - who still has sight - does as well.

He did well last night. When I was watching the NCAA tournament in the living room, he laid down on the sofa with me an slept. He slept on the bed with me all last night. He told me he needed to go outside and I took him out and he did his business. We're having a snow storm here and this morning when he went out. I couldn't get him back in. It was funny. I had to go out and get him. HAHAHA Imagine the picture, me in my PJ's, and he wanting me to play with him.
I agree with you, I use to show in AKC conformation. One of my guys is a Group winning AKC champion that missed going to Westminister buy 25 points. I tried once to breed, but it didn't work out. I never did it again. What is one thing that makes me mad is the people that set up at street intersections to sell their puppies. I see it all the time. There should be a law against that. Doing that, one doesn't know if the people buying the puppy will be a good fit for the puppy or not. I'm sick and tired of ignorance of people.

**betts** · 03-20-2010, 09:12 PM

There's a nice book called Amazing Grace by Dan Dye about adopting a deaf Great Dane puppy. The breeder in that story sounded horrific and was going to put the puppy down. She went on to live a long, full life.

**TOWNHERO** · 03-24-2010, 06:27 PM

I've heard of that book. I probably need to get it and read it. My puppy is really doing well. I forget he is partially deaf, because I call to him like I do the others. He wakes me up at 4:00am every morning, but thats okay, I alway get up at 4. He is so happy to to see me. He's licking my face and is excited. The other night he slept all night on the bed. He's a puppy and needs his exercise. Penny, he looks like your Samoyed, but smaller and has a blue spot on his hip. I use to show in AKC conformation and obedience and knew a couple of people that showed them. I think he has bonded with me, because he always wants to be where I'm at and he cries when I leave for work ing the morning. Casper is learning from the other older guys. This afternoon I was in the bedroom and I heard him barking like crazy. Well when I went into the dinning room area, that is where he was at and his head was in the the air. Then I saw this finch fly out the patio door. They were open. I couldn't believe he could see that little bird with his one good eye. Yeah, I think he is going to be fine. I'm happy he is here.