We first learned about this senior girl through the Corgi Rescue of America Facebook page. Dawn of Santa Rosa and I are both members. It’s a new organization. We are almost complete with our 501c3 paperwork, which will allow us to pull dogs from shelters as a rescue organization. This is typically easier to do than having to adopt as an individual when you are simply fostering or transporting an animal, especially when the membership is geographically diverse. Because the process is not yet complete, we couldn’t rescue this sweetie without the help of Muttville. When I mentioned Muttville to the rescue director at the Pasadena shelter, she immediately agreed to release the dog to one of our volunteers, wave the adoption fee and complete her vaccines for us. One of the shelter staff even had her mother help us with transport from Pasadena to King City, CA. From there I picked her up and brought her home to San Jose, and then to Dawn in Santa Rosa.
When I spoke to the woman transporting about an hour before they arrived, she warned me that this girl had really bad ear infections. I brought a little ear cleaning kit with me but was not prepared for how bad they were. Even though Pasadena shelter had cleaned her ears and packed them with medication twice, there was black caked on discharge over a scab on one ear and a badly healed hematoma on the other. Just lifting the ear to clean it caused her to yelp and back away.
Considering all she’d been through as a dog of 12 or more years, she was still fairly happy and showed interest in her surroundings and in the people assisting her. She struck me right away as a pretty spunky old gal. I liked her. She climbed up in the car without much fuss and into the crate with a little coaxing. During the two-hour ride, I heard not a peep out of her. I think she slept most of the way even though I raised and lowered windows, turn up and down the stereo and talked to her from time to time.
When I got her to the house, it was clear almost immediately that she was completely deaf. No amount of door slamming, dog bark, whistling, yelling or any other auditory stimulae would cause her to startle, turn or even open her eyes. We started using hand signals with her and being more aware of how we approached her from behind so we didn’t scare her. She was happy to sit beside us, receive pets and belly rubs and explore the back yard. We made her a comfy place in the garage with a crate and a bed, as we wanted to keep her separated from the other dogs for the night. We fed her a good meal and went to bed. The next morning she was still sleeping when I approached her, touching her gently on her back. She startled for a minute, her eyes flew open and then her tail started wagging furiously. She remembered. She was with friends. She was safe.
The next day I took her to Dawn to foster until we found her a home. I was confident that with the help of Muttville and because of her sweet disposition, someone would overlook her age and give her a happy rest of her life. I had no idea how quickly that would happen. The day before I brought her home, Dawn texted to say her back had gone out and she wouldn’t be able to foster. Looking for a backup I texted a friend of mine to tell her about this senior cutie. She said she couldn’t help because she already had 3 dogs. Debbie is a huge dog lover and long time rescue adopter. Her last 3 dogs lived to be 20 years plus. Debbie is also Deaf. A sign language interpreter myself, I know lots of Deaf people, but the next day I couldn’t stop thinking what a perfect match Debbie was for this deaf dog. Dawn’s back got better after all and the plan for foster was still in place, but I texted Debbie again saying “you have to meet this dog”.
She agreed to meet me on my way up to Santa Rosa, and as predicted, they fell in love with each other. She agreed to talk to her partner and if she got the thumbs up, they would take her. In fact, before she even met me in the parking lot of the Deaf Community Center, Debbie texted me that she wanted to call the dog Pasadena. I drove to Dawn’s on cloud nine because I just knew it was going to happen and I loved the new moniker. I was bothered to spend so much time discussing this little being who still didn’t have a name.
Pasadena was found wandering without tags and was taken in by the shelter. She was there about three weeks before we were able to pull her and no one came to claim her. But now she was safe and on her way to a possible permanent home. There was still the issue of her ears and maybe some dental trouble but Dawn was willing to help out by taking her in to the vet and Muttville is helping with the charges. Her ears will have to be treated for two weeks and she will need a dental cleaning and some teeth extracted.
Debbie texted to say her partner was in favor and, “we’ve decided to let Pasadena adopt us!” She will go to her new home the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Until then she is getting lots of love and attention at Dawn’s. She loves to explore, to roll over on her back in the grass, to dance on her hind legs and to snuggle. You can see by the above pictures that in less than a week she is already a different dog. Thanks to CRoA and its membership, Muttville, the Pasadena Shelter, the Santa Rosa Veterinary Hospital, Dawn, Debbie and Pasadena herself. Rescue is a team effort and I’m honored to be a part of it. These successes are what keep us doing what we do.
