Frogger

I'm hoping one of you can help me with this. My sister and her family recently took in a red heeler puppy. They were at a flea market and it was the last day, the guy who was selling the puppies was going to dump him off somewhere because he was done dealing with puppies. Duke was the last of the puppies and he caught the eye of my ten year old nephew so he told the story to my sister and her husband and they took him home with them. Shortly after having him at home they realized that he was deaf. They have been working with him but two kids and other animals makes it hard to devote all the time needed to trying to train him. They live on the main road in town and he has taken to running out the gate/door whenever it opens and she's afraid that he will make it out on the road in front of their house.

She recently did have a dog that was hit on that road because the gate wasn't closed properly and he squeezed out the tiny opening. The dog that was hit was a little chihuahua, Rascal, he managed to survive the accident thanks to a woman who saw the car hit him without slowing down, the lady stopped all traffic just to pick him and move him out of the road. Thank god for angels on earth that's all i have to say about her, she truly is a great person who ever she is. Anyways he did make it out with only a broken leg and that in itself is just amazing for a five pound dog.

So in short I'm looking for some help finding a rescue here in Illinois or even someone willing to give him the family he deserves. I have been looking for places but i feel like I'm just going in circles with it all. She did find a Heeler rescue but they refused to take him because he was deaf. So his being deaf has posed a bit a problem. So if you guys know of any places that would take him please let me know I don't want this little guy getting hurt.

Attached Images

Duke.JPG (77.3 KB, 21 views)

eiginh

oooo sorry to hear! He's a great looking dog too! Have you tried the city's pound?

Frogger

I know that she has contacted them, that's all i know. She would much rather he find a home or a rescue that will re home him instead of being stuck in a cage. I've tried giving her hints on what to do to curb the behavior but being four hours away isnt much help.

bolivianbaby

She's four hours away from you and you live in Illinois. Where does she live? That'll make it easier to find a rescue near her.

If you lived closer, I'd take him. I used to have a blue heeler (his name was Duke as well). He was an awesome dog.

Frogger

She lives in southern Illinois. I do agree that they are awesome dogs, I cant have pets where i live otherwise I would have taken him in myself. They are a very smart breed i was kind of shocked at how quickly he took to walking on a leash for me when they first got him.

bolivianbaby

They're fabulous! Definitely a breed that can learn hand signals for communication and training. I'll check around and see if I can come up with something. I wish I knew some people up where you are. With heelers not being an extremely popular breed outside of ranches, it's harder to find "heeler" rescues, which would be more likely to take in a deaf dog simply because of his breed.

gremlin

There is one at this web site that is in Illinois,

http://www.freedoglistings.com/dog-r...an-cattle-dog/

Here is another place that might be able to help...

http://www.acdrescueinc.com/index.shtml

If you were anywhere near, I would consider taking him (maybe, I'm more partial to females). He is a beautiful coloring! Most shelters would probably have him put down because he is deaf - it makes him less adoptable. You can contact some of the shelters and see if they can refer you to a local rescue organization.

thorpbrian

As opposed to giving him away I would suggest they try an invisible fence as a back up to their current gated fence. That way if any of the dogs (including the deaf one) got out through the gate he'd get a small shock and would quickly learn not to go past the boundaries. My neighbor has this for his dog across the street (who I actually believe is a lab heeler mix) and it works for them without a fence. I think this solution could allow them to keep the dog if the gate issue is the only thing that is keeping them from keeping him.

With the invisible fence you could put the boundary just past the fence line so it would only affect them if they got out through the gate.