In late 1999, I was talking with the Australian Shepherd rescue volunteer and she mentioned the new website. When I looked over the updated rescue page, I noticed this wonderful sounding dog which happened to be deaf. I couldn’t stop thinking about him and felt that I could easily train him since I have two female Aussies who know hand signals from obedience training.

I called several friends of mine to get their opinion; all were in favor and encouraged me to get him. I spoke with the rescue person and found out his background and that he was still available. He was in Sheridan, WY so off we went. I, of course, took the girls to see how they would all get along.

In the first week he learned 4-5 signs, and I could tell he was coming around because of the increased communication between us. In total I think he knew about 30 signs. I joined the deafdog.org group with over 800 members, most experienced deaf dog owners and some novices like me.

I found that it wasn’t any more difficult to train Spirit than my hearing dogs. He was willing to do anything. He could run an agility course. He was outstanding in our obedience classes. It took several weeks for others to realize that he was deaf. One lady said she just thought he was smart because he understood hand signals.

From the Deaf Dog email list I learned that many cities were holding a “deaf dog picnic” in the spring of 2000, so I decided to do the same. I contacted the media and put out an announcement on Denver Dogs email list. Eleven families with deaf dogs showed up, some with their hearing buddies. Two TV stations came and ran it on their evening news which prompted more calls from owners of deaf dogs and an interview with the Rocky Mountain News. That’s when I met Rhonda Champion. Thank goodness, because she had 10 years of experience with a deaf dog. We held another picnic in the fall and have done so for five years.