Here’s Rocket when we got him, at nine weeks old. He’s now six months.
We had another wonderful Dalmatian in our lives for 14 years, so we knew we loved the breed. But we wanted to adopt this time. We talked to Dalmatian Rescue, hoping they might have a young puppy. Beth said this didn’t happen that often, so we were a little discouraged. But Beth had an idea. She reminded us that deafness is common in Dalmatians (I later read that 10-12% of Dalmatian pups are born deaf) and told us that most deaf pups are put to sleep as soon as their breeders discover their condition — breeding clubs recommend it! Hearing this, we told Beth we wanted to find a deaf puppy.
She put out the word, and within a week we had our little bundle of joy! As he went through his series of shots, our veterinarian mentioned that groups of kids often come to the clinic to learn about her job. She wanted Rocket to come in and meet the kids, and show them how deaf dogs can have great lives too. He had a lot of fun getting all that attention and plans to do more programs like this.
When he’s not educating the public, Rocket’s hobbies include taking long, splashy baths; chewing (anything); playing tug with our other dog, Marley; and proudly carrying family size juice bottles around the house. He knows about 20 commands, when he wants to (he is an adolescent, after all!) He responds to hand signals perfectly naturally—really, it’s just about training ourselves to use them. We are so grateful for our new little friend and so glad that he got a chance at life.
Thanks, Dalmatian Rescue!
Janelle & Matthew S.
Hayden, CO |
