T.J. came to us when his owner fell on some hard times. He quickly became a staff and volunteer favorite with his strapping looks and special need- T.J. is deaf. Many agencies would have been quick to turn him away, being that he is a pit bull and is deaf, training will be a little more complicated. Baltimore Humane is a pit bull friendly shelter and our Shelter Director has extensive experience dealing with deaf dogs. We found out that T.J. is extremely intelligent and is catching on to the sign language very well.

Nick and Mary Sadaka, two devoted volunteers have been in recently and got the pleasure to work with him. Nick was especially touched and sent us a great email...

My mom and I volunteered yesterday and spent some time with TJ and both really liked him. I was especially touched by his gentle nature, quick learning ability and his extremely happy waggle. I know he won't be there by the time I come in this Sunday because I know someone already really wants him and he's just too great of a dog to last (which I am glad for...I absolutely WANT him to find a great home), but nonetheless, I cannot seem to get him off my mind.

You are 100% right about TJ and something about those special needs dogs always really gets to me. When my mom and I first started back in August, there was a lab (I believe) named Beth who was incontinent and had a bit of a hard time getting adopted because of that. She was such a sweet dog though and I really had/have a special place in my heart for her too. TJ, however, has completely opened my mind and has peaked my interest because of having to look at how you have to view things completely different. We did see your list of signs (which was great!) and followed it with him when we had him on Sunday and he did great! I'm sure you know that he occasionally does that thing where he gently mouths your hand or arm, but he's always really gentle about it and put no pressure at all into it, but when he would do it we would do the thumbs down and exaggerate our displeased face and he would immediately stop each time. I haven't been able to stop thinking about him since and that's when I went to that website to find out more about deaf dogs and found it superbly fascinating. I was also a little shocked to read that you have to find a vet that's willing to accept and treat a deaf dog as some find them to not be viable and I guess believe that they should be put down...I was SHOCKED! I think that makes TJ (and others) more special and unique and like TJ, I would imagine that most have extra special qualities and abilities that the average dog may not. I agree with you...TJ is VERY smart and I love how when he's just walking around, he seems to just waggle with happiness! I also concur with your take on Pit Bulls. Coming in, my mom and I had zero experience with them and lots of preconceived notions, but of course Karma was one of the first dogs we encountered and as we see more and more, we have quickly learned how wrong all those notions are. We have met many, many fantastic Pits and Pit mixes and have found them to be more people oriented than a lot of the other breeds...just TONS of energy! There's no doubt about it, each deserves a really good home.

Lastly, Ms Combs, thank you on behalf of myself and my mom for all of your kind words. We really do love coming in and interacting with the dogs, and Stephanie (who is almost ALWAYS working when we are in there) is fantastic and great with us as well. You can easily tell how much she loves the dogs, but she is also very kind and friendly with us as well. We love our visits. Some volunteer work sometimes can feel like a job...this does not at all. We look forward to our visits and end up thinking and talking about the dogs all week. We can only hope that we have helped enrich some of their lives just a fraction of how much they have enriched ours. Okay, Ms Combs, once again, thanks so much for replying and sharing in our "TJ love". Please keep my email address on hand and feel free to email any time you'd like. Thanks kindly and have a great day-Nick.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment