Farm Fresh Blog

Friday, September 23 2016

It started with a phone call. His brother from another mother. Could we possibly take on another one? My initial reaction was absolutely not. Of course not. Not one more dog. I reminded Other Half that since she was a double merle, she could also be a special needs dog. But what better environment for a pup that may have vision and hearing problems than a multi-dog home in the middle of nowhere with two dog handlers? Touche

And so this happy little ball of fluff came to our home.

I did a lot of research on white Australian Shepherds to better understand her and get tips on raising a dog that may have hearing or vision problems. She squints in bright sunlight so we bought her some doggles. She can hear other dogs barking but has problems hearing things in the normal range. Because she came from a household with experienced dog people, she is very well socialized and is a highly intelligent, very friendly, playful, and for all appearances, normal puppy. She isn't shy or reactive at all. In fact, the world is her cupcake.

Welcome to the pack, Little Luna.

Posted by: forensicfarmgirl AT 06:30 am | Permalink | 7 Comments | Email

Comments:

Thank you for giving her a home. Two years ago, I adopted a lethal white Aussie that's deaf and she's been an absolute joy! All the smarts of her breed and super easy to train. In fact, I think I have to work harder than she does sometimes to remember my own hand signals!

Posted by buffalogal on 09/23/2016 - 09:26 AM

Love the pic of Lily glaring at her! LOL! Good on you for taking her on!

Posted by Cappy on 09/23/2016 - 11:34 AM

We were happy to have her come live with us. She is a real delight.

Posted by Forensicfarmgirl on 09/23/2016 - 11:52 AM

For a minute I thought MAremma then looked again. Why "Australian Shepherds"? It is a US breed and has nothing to do with Oz as far as I can see. GReat little pup will be interested to follow it's journey in your very safe hands

Posted by Liz (Vic Aust] on 09/23/2016 - 06:43 PM

In the photos, Luna looks to me like a double merle white, meaning two merle genes, rather than a pattern white/color-headed white or lethal white. I used to have Shelties; that breed has pretty much the same colors as Aussies except for the red/liver gene would be pretty rare in Shelties. Rough and smooth AKC collies have color-headed whites and double merles too.

Posted by Peg H. in Wisconsin on 09/26/2016 - 11:31 PM

Liz, you are right that the Australian shepherd has nothing to do with your country, but the breed name has stuck here pretty well by now. Possibly some marketing hype way back when.

Posted by Peg H. in Wisconsin on 09/26/2016 - 11:39 PM

Peg, you are right. I was mistaken about her parents. Luna's dam was actually a double merle and her sire was a merle, thus Luna is a Double Merle. And yes, she has the typical hearing/vision issues you normally see in a Double Merle. We simply modify her environment and so she thinks she's just like everyone else, except shorter.

Posted by forensicfarmgirl on 09/27/2016 - 09:41 AM