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| Joy as a puppy (4 months) |
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| written for this site by Kay Marks, Joy's first foster Parent & |
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| ARPH Northeast Regional Coordinator |
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| Joy came into the ARPH program on November 23,1997. I wasn't sure what I was going to find when I met the girl who called me asking for help in placing the 3 month deaf blue merle puppy. Her story was that her friend had bought this puppy at a pet store only to find that the beautiful creature was deaf. She tried to keep the pup herself but was not up for the challenges of the responsibility of owning a deaf dog. She did drive three hours to meet me. The puppy turned out to have an absolutely wonderful temperament. I couldn't decide on a name, but my daughter suggested Joy because of her personality. I enlisted the aid of the Aussie-L, and those who replied agreed that Joy it should be. |
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| Joy stayed with me for a few weeks but then went to Diana Oliver at BOCES in Binghamton, NY for more training. Diana's students loved her and began teaching her hand signals and basic obedience. Joy turned out to be a very bright and willing pupil. She went to Cornell to have an eye exam to make sure all was well there and passed with no problem. |
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| In mid-December, a man in Kansas filled out an application to adopt Joy. An all-breed rescue volunteer did a home visit for me, and on January 10, 1998, Joy was winging her way to Sandy Case in Oklahoma, who was an ARPH rep at the time. The adopter and his family drove three hours to pick Joy up. Joy fit in wonderfully and loved playing with the resident black tri male and the children. |
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| Then in January of 2000, the ARPH rep in Kansas, Pam Leach, got word of two Aussies needing homes through an all-breed rescue. One of them was a deaf blue merle female; the other was a black tri male. It took many phone calls, but we were finally able to reach Joy's owner. The little family had split up, and circumstances had changed so much that he wasn't able to keep the dogs any longer. He'd lost our contact information and had called all-breed rescue. Pam picked up both dogs and found Joy to be just as sweet as she'd always been. We posted her on the internet, and inquiries began coming in. One home was only an hour and a half from me, so I did the home visit myself. It seemed like the perfect home for Joy, so on February 5, 2000, Joy flew back to PA and was met by her new owners and me at the airport. |
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| All went well for several months, but then again, circumstances changed for the family. They decided they no longer wanted Joy to be a part of their lives. |
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| That is when Joy came to live with us. I am so glad she did. I just woof her to death. Joy is my best buddy. |
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