Zeke

Meet Zeke our newest member of our house hold. He is a full bred black lab that is a year and a half old. He is a hearing dog and we hope a great companion to Duke and family member!

 

Duke!

We’ve had Duke for one whole year. Here’s a picture of the first day we got him and one now. 

  

Velcro Dad

There’s a nickname that Deaf dogs have, it’s called a Velcro dog, meaning that the dog has a strong bond with its owner. Between Tyler and I Duke stays close to one of us depending on the situation. Last night when one of Tyler’s friends came over to visit Tyler did something pretty funny in my book.

We were in the dining area sitting around talking and enjoying some food. Tyler’s friend asked where the salt and pepper was and stood up to start to look for it because he didn’t see it on the table. Tyler soon told him where it was and when his friend didn’t hear him he proceeded to snap and wave his hand to get his attention once he looked at him he pointed to the built in we have where they were sitting on top. His friend right away asked “Did you just snap at me?” Tyler answered ahhh yeah man sorry. They shrugged it off and we just moved on with our night.

It wasn’t until this morning when I was thinking about it and realized Duke gets a very similar thing from Tyler when he is trying to get his attention. I can only sit back and laugh at the fact that I’ve linked to two things together.

When you plan to get a dog you know some parts of your day-to-day life are going to change but I can honestly say that having a deaf dog there are many more interesting things that you would never think change in your day-to-day life. Using your go to “hand signals” to grab your deaf dogs attention transitioning into your regular communication with friends being one of them.

I love Tyler and Duke very much and I am happy they have a strong bond together because I know when I am away they have each other to rely on.

Car Rides

Dukes dad and I have been trying to acclimate him to more things outside of the house. We’ve been doing this since we got back from the debacle we called camping over the Memorial Day/Dukes birthday weekend.

That camping weekend we learned how much Duke is attached to both Tyler and I. He would freak out when either one of us would leave to go to the out house. We didn’t realize how much we’ve been letting him lean on us to guide and rely on. We decided if we wanted to do more things with him like camping we would need to work on them and introduce them gradually. Currently we are working on car rides.

It started with just a simple trip to the store but lately Dukes been going for lots of car rides. He enjoys them so much now. He will stand at the front door once we give him the signal for car ride and wait (sometimes impatiently) until we leash him up and take him to get in the car. His favorite spot is still right in between Tyler and I with his front paws on the center council so he can look out the front window to see where exactly we are going but he does sit and lay down if it’s a longer ride. His new thing is to put his snout out the sunroof and let the wind blow through his whiskers.

It is reassuring that the work we are putting in with him is paying off because it wasn’t too long ago that he would be a big pest in the car and now he is learning that they aren’t scary and can be fun! On to the next thing with him! Possibly some leash training?!?

Social media!

Not getting enough Deaf Duke in your life? Check him out on his social media accounts! @DeafDuke for Twitter and @Deaf_Duke for his Instagram! You can see and read what he’s up to everyday. Check often because there’s always something fun and new he’s getting into.

Seriously check it out!

One Year

Duke had his first birthday this past weekend. We took him camping for the holiday/his birthday. Also we learned that he does not really care for camping and that if we want to try to go again with him that we have some work to do. More on that a different day though.

Duke was very happy to be home, he passed out and cuddled with me all day long.

He was so tired that we didn’t know if he wanted to celebrate or not. We decided to get him an icy treat. He woke right up!

He got a little messy but he loved every minute of it.

We also decided to get him at treat at the pet store.

He played with it almost all night, trotted around the whole house with it in his mouth and had his tail doing the propeller wag.

He was a very happy puppy!

Happy birthday baby boy. Momma and daddy love you very much and we can’t wait to see what this next year brings us all!

New Furniture

Duke is loving our new furniture that we’ve gotten recently. The other night he was passed out on the love seat for hours. He’d cuddle up to the pillows and get comfy. This morning I woke up with him sleeping on the couch instead of our bed where he usually is. So I’m convinced we picked the right furniture!

We Moved!

Tyler and I recently moved into a new house and Deaf Duke loves it! There is a fully fenced in yard for him to frolic and play. Duke is much more mellow because he gets to let out all of his energy and run around in the backyard. Duke also sleeps with Tyler and I in bed every night now and we’ve found that he loves to cuddle. Here are some pictures of Duke in the new house, enjoy!

He still likes to perch on the couch…

Cuddles in the morning with dad are a daily routine now…

Duke just hanging out relaxing…

New Play Pal

Duke made a new friend at the dog park yesterday. Here they are playing

Dog Park!

The weather broke for a day and we took Deaf Duke to the dog park this past weekend. He hadn’t been there in a long time since its been so cold here. It was almost like he knew where he was going.

He had a grand ole time and ran with all the dogs. He did very good and had a lot of fun and got out a lot of energy.

We are going to take him again today because the weather is supposed to be better than usual. Hope he has fun!