the song is "The Girl from Ipanema"

NeufVies' Penny From Heaven

Penny and Friends, a Slideshow

Penny joined the Zoo on January 27, 1999. The day before, I'd called my rescuer friend to get an update on the animals for adoption so I could post about them. On the list was a 6-month old English Setter pup. I've always thought they were beautiful dogs and I was surprised at finding one in a rescue situation, so I called back to double-check the information. Yep, it was correct. Then they told me she was deaf.

I knew the place that had her (a vet's office!) kept the animals in pretty miserable conditions, and when I went to meet her I witnessed what I consider abusive treatment when this vet dragged her the length of the clinic by her foreleg to put antibiotic ointment on a recent dog bite on her paw instead of getting the ointment and coming back to the animal. They wouldn't talk to her because "she can't hear us anyway", she was not housebroken, and she was completely unsocialized. When they brought her out of the basement to meet me she was bouncing off the walls, urinating and defecating everywhere, but at one point she stopped and looked me in the eyes; I could see the intelligence and character and I knew I had to get her out of there.

(A note about the conditions Penny was living in: dogs are kept in a windowless basement with the lights off for 14 hours a day. The sewers back up when it rains, and the dogs are left sitting in sewer water. They're never taken outdoors (it took me an hour and a half to walk the 17 blocks home with Penny because she just wanted to explore everything .) This "vet" abuses animals. I'm pretty sure Penny was beaten with a broom - I used to have to crate her when I wanted to sweep or she attacked the broom. That's the only time I've ever heard her growl. She'd been living there for over 4 months when I rescued her.)

The next day at work, I mentioned my experience to a friend and said I was going to take her home as soon as I could scare up the \$$$ this vet wanted for the two vaccinations he had given her and an office visit . This friend suggested taking up a collection, and I left work that day with the \$74 I needed to ransom Penny. With a 10% discount coupon I had, the cost to rescue this gorgeous animal came to \$66.60.

She is beautiful, bright, sweet, loving, and mostly obedient. She's quite a proper lady, at heart. And she has made friends with all of the cats; she started with Bubba, and has gradually come to amicable terms with the rest of the cats. In June I fostered a 5-week old litter of kittens, and Penny took on the task of foster mother. One of those kittens ended up staying at the Zoo, and he and Penny are best buddies. Domingo follows Penny all over the house, rubbing up against any part of her he can reach; he'll even stand on his hind legs, hold Penny's face between his front paws, and lick her nose. At night, Domingo curls up into Penny's tummy or between her front paws under her neck. They are absolutely adorable together!

November 1, 1999, after a 6-week household obedience class, Penny received her Canine Good Citizenship certificate. She was the only deaf dog in the class, and I was very proud of her! On November 30, 1999, Penny passed the Therapy Dogs International evaluation; we began our visits just after the first of the year with seniors at an assisted-living facility, and just recently began visits with the children in the pediatric ward at the hospital. Penny has a real aptitude for this kind of work - she's a very friendly, enthusiastic, people-oriented dog who adores children and the elderly, and she's quite gentle with the wheelchair-bound and the disabled. She's bringing a lot of joy to a lot of people - she sure fills my life with joy every waking minute of the day!

Update, July 2000:

Penny recently took the American Temperament Testing Society temperament test - a test of innate temperament. Deaf dogs are not supposed to be allowed to take this test, but I spoke with the chief examiner and he felt that if I felt Penny should take the test, she should be allowed to take it. He was the only one who knew she was deaf, and didn't tell the station testers so that their evaluation would be unbiased. At the station where they test a dog's reaction to gunshots, Penny alerted! Her head came up, her tail came up, and she stood there scenting the air. I don't know whether she felt the vibrations or smelled the gunpowder, but her reaction was immediate. I couldn't help laughing! Not only did Penny pass the test, she did so with a near-perfect score; the test is scored from 0-100, with 50 being a "perfect" score. Penny scored 51.

There is a lot of misinformation floating around about deaf dogs; that they're hard to train, that they're brain-damaged, that they're aggressive, and so on. All the bad things you've heard are not true. Deaf dogs are normal dogs that simply don't hear!! If you have a deaf dog, or if you're thinking of adopting one, here's a short list of resources for you: