This very handsome and very sweet boy is Dylan - a blind and deaf cocker spaniel who has charmed the shelter staff and is now hoping for rescue! He is currently in a foster home because he was having difficulty at the shelter.
Dylan is 10+ year old Cocker Spaniel who is blind and deaf. Dylan was found as a stray by Animal Control and brought to the Cumberland County S.P.C.A. in Vineland, NJ. He was covered in mats and filth and completely shut down. We did a rough grooming job on him (a bath and a shave- he could use a touch up, but it was a good start!) and he perked up a bit. This was when we realized Dylan's disabilities. It was quickly apparent that he was blind as he stumbled off his kuranda bed, bumped into walls, and couldn't find his food or water. He also failed our "deaf test" - wait until all the dogs are sleeping or quiet, then enter the kennel. The resulting barrage of barking wakes up every hearing dog, but Dylan remained sleeping soundly on his bed, despite calling his attention. Dylan has a large scar on the top of his head. It's completely healed, but we wonder if some type of trauma caused his deafness and blindness. Dylan's quality of life at the shelter was extremely poor, but we wanted to place him in a home to see if would respond to a more comfortable environment and then decide if he was adoptable or not. Dylan walked into my home like he owned it. He immediately began pacing and figuring out the lay of the land. After about 1/2 hour, he found a rocking chair, hopped up and fell asleep. He became more and more comfortable in following days. We used an expandable e-pen to block off a room for him. Since becoming "part of the family" (Dylan gets along great with my 3 dogs and cat) and finding their beds in the living room, Dylan has decided to escape from his area daily! It's okay, because Dylan hasn't had any accidents in the house (although it is important to get him outside right after he wakes up). Dylan has a lovely temperament. His favorite things are belly rubs, snuggle time, a comfy bed to sleep on, and feeding time. He's extremely cooperative and doesn't seem to be upset by his disability at all. Dylan is in good health despite his disability and senior age- he has a great appetite and is a healthy weight and has no mobility issues. He is being treated for an ear infection and probably could use a dental cleaning. Dylan is looking for a loving adoptive orlong-term foster home that will accept his disability and see his potential. He's very mellow and friendly and gets along well with cats and dogs. You can take food and toys out of his mouth and he's patient when having his ears cleaned out and medicated. He would probably do well in most environments, as long as his new family is willing to work with him and be patient as he becomes comfortable in his new environment.
Dylan didn't bark until about his 5th night here! He became upset at being gated off in the other room and let out about 4 barks. We crated him for the first time. We had been gating off an area in the sunroom for him so he could have different beds and space to move, but he was unhappy being in there because it was isolated. So we put the crate in the living room and he did just fine. No barking at all.
I am still shocked at how easy-going Dylan has been with being handled and with the other animals. I have a 6 year old high energy Boxer mix... Dylan didn't care! I have 2 foster dogs- a huge male labrador who is very uncoordinated and bumps into him all the time and a female Chihuahua with an attitude. So I have experience with Dylan with a female bossy dog and he is totally fine, completely unconcerned. She has gone after him (she's 11 and we had to remove most of her teeth so she is harmless but scary!) about 4 times when he bumps into her and startles her and he just backs away.
He's awesome :) He will make someone really happy I think!
Contact:
Maria S.
Foster Care Coordinator
Cumberland County SPCA
CCSPCA_Foster@yahoo.com
www.cumberlandcountyspca.org
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