Introducing Piglet!

That's right, folks!  You may have seen it on Facebook first but here a some information on Piglet who is the newest member of The Deaf Dog family!

So when did this happen, you ask?  Well, just two nights ago but let me back up a bit. Donna came to me one day and said, "I want to get dogs for our dogs!"  I was wondering what kind of dog would go good with a Pittie but we decide on looking at some French Bulldogs.  I know, Piglet is not a Frenchie but I'm getting there.  I contacted someone on the Yahoo Deaf Dog Network and asked if they knew anyone that had any deaf Frenchies and within a couple of hours, I received an email from a woman in Colorado that had one!  A few days later we talked and she said deaf Frenchies are pretty rare as the breeders do not breed a known deaf female and if there is a deaf pup, that female is fixed but they do not put the puppy down if it is deaf.  The pups are sold for a few hundred dollars (far below the going price from a reputable dealer) when they are discovered.  [On a side note, it seems that these breeders are not a asshatish about deaf puppies as the Dalmation Club of America that says that deaf pups are to be put down.  The last sentence on the deafness position page says, "With the enormous supply of unwanted dogs in this country, there is no need to preserve dogs with problems such as deafness."  Please see Dalmatian Club of America's position on deaf dogs for further information.  Don't get me started here as I'll have another entry about them later.]  Anyway, she said she would keep an ear out for any.  Another email exchange with a breeder ended up in the same way with kind of "I don't have any as I fix the ones that breed a deaf pup but I'll keep my ear out".  Okay, so no big deal there.

We were looking again through www.petfinder.com to see what other deaffies might be out there when we came across Bully Paws (a Pit Bull rescue out of Fredericksburg, VA) who had several!  One was Betty who looked very sweet and sounded great but was about six years old and we thought that might be a little too old for Pickles and Nea as they're just over a year.  The other was Polly.  Polly was found in King William County just wondering the road and was taken to the animal shelter who has a policy of not adopting Pit Bull or Pit Bull types back into the county but rescues were welcome to take them so Bully Paws came in and took her out.  She's been in foster care for about four months and was reported to be a happy-go-lucky silly girl!  Well that will fit right in with Pickles who is the same way!  Polly came over to our house on Tuesday for a visit and home inspection but as you can see, she's not going anywhere.

Polly came into the yard and after some sniffing and walking around everyone was ready to go and that's when playing started.  They all were jumping around, chasing each other and just having fun!  Nea spent some time asserting her dominance over Polly but all in all everything went really well.  I was surprised.  Not because I thought anything would happen but when you add another dog you don't know what might happen. After a while there came a "can we keep her!?  Can we keep her!?" from the porch.  I know what you're thinking, "isn't that sweet that the kids want to keep her".  And this is indeed sweet but the person that was saying all of this was DONNA!  Well I know that there's no use in arguing with her so Piglet stayed the night but I knew she was never going to leave.  We went to PetsMart and bought some things she would need (crate, treats and whatnot).  Donna bought her and the Pickles and Nea a toy and they all got a new stuffed animal from Target (which Pickles and Nea have already destroyed)!  Piglet is a good name for this girl as she topped the scales at 64 pounds!  On the Bully Paws sight, they said she was 35 pounds so she gained a few pounds and has some mange but those are problems that are easily fixed.

Piglet's first night went pretty well with no fights but plenty of playing then everyone got a good night's sleep.

Welcome to our family Piglet!  I know you'll love it here!