Dog profile for Zephyr, a male Australian Shepherd

Australian Shepherd

Photo Comments

Home:HighLawn Farm, Lee, MA

Sex: Male Weight: 26-50 lbs

Dogster stats for Zephyr


Stars:

Leave a bone for Zephyr

Nicknames:
Zephie, sniffer, lovie, angelboy

Quick Bio:

-purebred	-pound dog	-deaf
-blind	-dog rescue

Likes:
Being loved on

Pet-Peeves:
When other dogs get snarky

Favorite Toy:
Stuffed jack

Favorite Food:
Roast beef

Favorite Walk:
To smell the Chickory

Best Tricks:
Recall, he was blind & deaf and could recall across the room by blowing at him!!!

Arrival Story:
Zephyr 1/02-8/29/02 Hi, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Moni(Monica) and I'm going to be getting a 13wk deaf/blind aussie pup, Zephyr. I have a 5yr daughter-Tori, 2yr son-Spencer, 5yr aussie-Mojo, 3.5yr GSD-Faust, 1yr BC/Sheltie-Zeo, and oh yeah, Jay-my significant other. ;) I live in NY, about 15min from the CT/MA/NY border. Zephyr was found in a shopping cart in a parking lot out in MO. He was then taken to a shelter where he stayed for over a month. I got in contact with Aussie Rescue and they bailed him out of the shelter to adopt to me. However, when they got Zephyr, they found that his leg was swollen up so he got a no-go for flying from the vet(x-rays reveal that it's not broken). Right now he is in a wonderful foster home where he is getting spoiled rotten and all the loving he wants. Unfortunately, his leg is still swollen, though getting better. He went in for a checkup today and the vet gave him an A-OK for flying!. So Zephyr will probably be getting here on Friday. We're all very excited that he'll be coming to his forever home soon! I just found out the flight arrangements and Zephyr will be coming into Hartford at 1:45pm on Friday! WOO HOO. I can't wait to meet the little guy! I know that he is a big mush and just loves to snuggle, which I'm going to enjoy. I want to train him for therapy work since it seems it'll fit his personality well and it'll give that aussie brain a job to do. As far as touch signals, can I have some suggestions as to what people have used? I figure a touch on the hips for sit, a motion down the chest for down, and a touch on the chest for stay. Do these sound like good ideas, I'd love to find what has worked for other people. Well I have to go re-puppyproof my house while I have some free time! Only a day and a half to go!!! Happy Dance!!! ********************************** ****************************** Hello everyone. I wanted to let you all know that Zephyr is now here in his forever home! I picked him up last friday from the airport, and I've been in love ever since. :) I didn't post yet because our modem has been being obstinant. So let me fill you in on him. Zephyr is a blind/deaf red merle aussie around 13wks. He loves to be held and snuggled and also enjoys wrestling and playing tug with his toys. He is the calmest puppy ever! Zephyr has been coming with me everywhere, from babysitting to my daugter's school and also my obedience classes. He has already learned sit and down from touch signals(only for food right now, but wow!). My kids love him and he's very tolerant of them and they of his puppy nips(which we're working on). Everytime I see him jumping and playing I feel like crying because someone threw him away and left him in a shopping cart. I think, what if I hadn't found out about him and been so persistant. His time at the shelter would've been up by now and he would have been gone and never missed by anyone. I want to thank Kay, Cindy, and Cathy from Aussie Rescue for all the work they put into bringing this special baby to our family. I can' wait until the Northeast Picnic so that I can meet everyone and their "babies" and show off my little treasure! Take care everyone and I'm going to enjoy being here! ********************************** ****************************** Hi, my name is Zephyr and I wanted to let everyone know how my first week at my furrever home has gone. My new mom and furless sister took me home about a week ago from somewhere called the hairport. I'm not sure what a hairport is, but there are alot of interesting smells there. My other mom(I think she's called Foster?) put me in my cave and brought me to the hairport. I slept the whole time since I was in my cave and for some reason someone set my cave to vibrate. It seemed to bounce and wiggle and shake furrever. So, needless to say, it made me very sleepy! When I finally woke up, I didn't smell anything familiar and it was sort of scary. Then I was brought to my new mom and she took me out of my cave. I was a bit confused by all the new scents everywhere. I did miss my foster mom and wasn't too sure if these new people were going to be nice to me or not. Since they seemed friendly, I figured that I'd take a chance and be nice back, and gave them a cute little aussie wiggle and a bunch of kisses (they also had really yummy treats, so that helped alot too!) My new mom seems nice, she likes to snuggle me and give me treats and the little girl loves to pet me and play with toys. After I got to play for a while, I had to go back in my cave and go for another ride. I've since learned that whenever I go into my crate and it starts vibrating, I'm going to meet different people when it stops. We got to stay with my new gramma for a couple of days and I met lots of people, all of them very gentle and loved to just pet and stroke my fur. Boy do I love all of this attention, it reminds me of being with my foster mom! Then we went for another ride, this time to my furrever home(Dang this vibrating cave trick, I want to know what's going on during these rides, but it puts me to sleep everytime!) I got to meet the rest of my family members finally. There is a big guy who seems to really like me, and a little guy who moves around alot and has lots of fun things to chew on. These people also have other dogs, there is a girl Zeo and she likes playing with me. We have fun and wrestle alot. Zeo doesn't like it when I bite her hard though, and she told me! There are also two boy dogs, one is HUGE and his name is Faust. Faust doesn't pay much attention to me, Zeo says that's because all he wants to do is play with something called a Frizzy Bee? I think its a bee with bad hair or something, who knows? Then the other boy dog is Mojo, and he is a king or at least very important. He'll play with me sometimes, but usually he just follows mom around and steals love that should be going to me. ;) Zeo told me not to make him angry, cause he'll give me an earful and a nose bite if I do. So I try and be on my best behavior around him! I get to go for rides alot with my new mom(and always with that vibrating cave trick!). Everytime I go with her I meet new people and sometimes new dogs. One time I even got to play with some puppies. I also learned that when mom touches my butt and I sit, I get a treat! Also if she slides her hand down my chest and front leg and I laydown, I get another treat! Wow, I'm so glad that I'm learning what to do to get food around here. :) So all in all, it's pretty fun to be here. I miss my foster mom still, but these people seem like they'll be fun to live with too. TTFN, Zephyr, the deaf/blind aussie pup ********************************** ****************************** Well, it's been three weeks since I left my Foster mom and even though I still miss her, I'm starting to like being with my furrever family. I've got lots of nice toys and chewies. Theres one that's soft and if I bite it, it feels like it howls at me. My favorite chewie is my fursister, Zeo, though she doesn't always agree with me. We love to wrestle and play and growl like we're grizzly bears. Sometimes mom runs in to see who let all the bears in the house, then Zeo told me she laffs when she see's that it's just us. Mom even plays games with me too, but she doesn't like me to chew on her. Whenever I chew on her, she jumps fast and then stops playing with me. So I try and be more gentle with her since she acts like such a whelp. I do know when mom's in a play mood though, because she'll take her hands give a nudge on my side. Then I get to go crazy and run and jump. My favorite playtime game with mom is I'll stand real still and then jump and twist and land on her back(she's down on the ground) and then run around and bump her with my nose! Then I'll cuddle up next to her for some good body scratches... ooh those are nice after playing hard! I've been getting to go to all sorts of neat places in my vibrating cave too. There's a new dr that I've been going to cause my paw fur is all itchy. That dr didn't think I was going to be able to get around ok since I was blind and deaf, but boy was she surprised when I found her treat pocket before she even got all the way to the table! Zeo said the the dr told my mom that I was probably itching because of Al Hergeeze. I don't know who that is, but I don't think it's very nice of him to do that to lil pups like me. That Al Hergeeze is really mean and because of him I have to get poked in my shoulders and get put into the big puddle alot. I don't like that big puddle, whenever mom puts me in it, it makes me smell all funny and then I sneeze. And it's horrible sneezing in the puddle, because then I blow bubbles in the water with my nose and my whole head goes under. Zeo laffs at me when I get out, she says that I look like a nudeborn lamb, whatever that is. I get even with mom though, cause as soon as we go back outside I roll and roll and roll and smell all better. She hasn't learned yet, but I'll give her time. These humans seem a bit slow at catching on to things. Another fun place I go to has got lots of dogs and puppies and humans. I get lots of yummy treats when I go here and I don't like eating my regular food when I get home. I get to wrestle with the puppies, but I'm just learning to play with more than one. I used to get a little nervous when they were all playing, but now I just jump in and play with all of them. It's hard keeping up with them though, cause they run really fast and sometimes it takes me a couple of seconds to sniff out where they all went. I met a really nice big dog last week, his name was Brody. I think he knew that I couldn't see him so he would nudge me when he wanted to play. He was huge, almost as big as Faust, but very gentle with me. All the humans there are gentle too and love to scratch me and give me delicious treats when I sit down nice at their feet. I can't wait to go back and play with everyone! I've saved my best accomplishment for last though. Now, I'm going to tell you this and I'm sure that you won't believe me, but I have witnesses to prove it. I've learned that I can step off the edge of the earth and live to tell about it!!! Yep, I've done it five times now and let me tell you that it was a rush. (Oh, but I can only do it when mom is there and she has treats. I mean, even Scooby Doo needs his scooby snacks, right?) However, I warn all of you out there not to do it unless you have someone that you can trust with you. Otherwise you could end up scuffing your nose or even worse, breaking something. Take care and give you furrever and/or Foster families some wet kisses. I'll try and give you another update soon. TTFN, Zephyr-16wk blind/deaf aussie ********************************** ****************************** I'm glad everyone enjoyed Zephyr's story. As far as leaping off the edge of the earth, we have a double step outside(about 10in drop) and he is starting to get the hang of it. I can't believe that he's only been here for 3 weeks, it seems like "furrever". He fits in so easily, like a missing puzzle piece. I was telling Jay last week that it was silly us being so worried about how to train him.. etc. All you need is an open mind and you'll find something that works if the previous method didn't. We're teaching him to come by blowing in his direction, and he has a great recall in the house! It's a bit harder outside since you have to worry about wind direction and stuff. We're also going to be getting him a V-collar soon. However we think that it'll be best for him if we teach him a solid stay for the collar instead of a recall. Has anyone tried this method? After having him here, I know that we'll always have a blind/deaf dog in our home. I still get upset when people ask me why do I bother, he can't be happy. If only they could see him when he's playing and chasing his sister, they'd know that he was. We love you Zephyr!!!! Sincerely, Moni ********************************** ****************************** Zephyr is doing great. He's 6months old now, can you believe it? He goes to classes and babysitting with me still. He enjoys rough housing with the puppies in class and if it wasn't for him losing where they are occasionally you wouldn't know that he couldn't see/hear. While he's at work with me he's learned when it's playtime and when it's quiet time. When we're outside he loves to run and to find me but when it's naptime, he lays down right alongside the bed and will stay there until I get up with the kids(they won't fall asleep unless someone lays with them). I don't even have to bring his crate to work anymore. I just keep him on a long line in the house with me so that he doesn't get lost. I've even taken Zephyr to playgroups and to Tori's preschool many times and he has a blast. He was at the end of the year graduation of her school and got loved by all the people that were there. He was very interested by the scent of the ponies and the animals from the petting zoo, but calmed down when he realized we weren't going to play with them. There was also one time when I took him in the toddler/baby room and he was surrounded by all the little ones petting him. I wish I had brought the camera with me that day, so that I could capture the smile on his face! He was in such bliss being loved by all them that he fell asleep right there on the floor. Zephyr also got to go to the Memorial Day parade in Naugatuck, CT (my hometown) with us and to meet and greet all the people down there. He had a blast until the bayonettes were fired then he wanted to be picked up for awhile. I do think that he felt those, they were pretty close to us and even made my heart jump. However within a couple of minutes he was back to being relaxed and enjoying all of the attention. Everyone always comments on how well behaved he is, especially for a puppy. He does have his wild and crazy aussie moments where he does the zoom around and around when we're outside, then it's watch out world here I come! I always expect him to be more cautious when he's outside, but it doesn't phase him one bit. He is a very confident and happy dog that's for sure. The vet and I are talking about when we're going to neuter him, seeing if we should wait or not. The only reason that we might wait is because he's going to have surgery to remove at least one of his eye coverings at the same time that he goes in for his neuter. This way if they wait, his eyes might grow a bit more so that they don't have to remove as much of the covering. Zephyr's leg does still swell up, actually they all do if he's being really active but the back left is the worst. They're all fine when he wakes up in the morning after a night of rest though. He also seems to heat up quickly when he's playing hard so we make him take lots of breaks so his body gets a chance to cool down. The vet thinks that he has either a circulation problem or something wrong with his lymphatic system(or something like that). Just recently I was thinking about having him tested for diabetes, since I know that in humans they can have trouble with edemas in their hands in feet. However, whatever causes it at least it doesn't hurt or bother him in anyway. Next weekend we'll be going to the Deaf Dog picnic that they're having in NJ. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and give an update after we get back. ********************************** ****************************** Hi all. I'm having some recent trouble with my deaf/blind aussie, Zephyr. I went away last weekend to the Newport Folk Festival and my sister watched the dogs and kids for me. I asked her not to put Zephyr in the outside pen since he gets overwhelmed being out there, but she did. So I came home to an OCD Zephyr. :( He now just wants to spin in tight/fast circles. He used to go in circles before just for scenting, but now he seems zoned in on something in another world and is trying to get to it. (think the neverending hallway) I've searched all over on the net and have found advice from correcting him to ignoring him. I don't want to correct him, and he doesn't know when I'm ignoring him. I've tried distracting him when he starts and it'll work sometimes, but only for food. He's not even interested in his toys anymore. I'm going to be calling the vet tomorrow, but was wondering if anyone has experience with this and if they had advice besides conventional drug-em-up methods. I understand that sometimes prescriptions are necessary, but I'm hoping that there's something else we could do also. Thanks and wish us luck. ********************************** ****************************** I want to thank EVERYONE for their advice and support. I talked to our vet today and she wants me to drop off Zephyr tomorrow morning so that they can observe him for the day. I'll then pick him up tomorrow late afternoon, but I'll be calling her around 11am to get some feedback. My vet seems to think that Zephyr's actions may not be OCD and probably due to some Vestibular Problem. It's basically what helps you with balance and lets you know which way is up/down, and without it you always feel like the rooms spinning. I've just searched around quick to find information on it and I guess it could be either way. A couple of things that point towards the VP is that his head keeps trying to spin (no, not like the exorcist) when you physically stop him from circling. Also, he loves being held like a baby, but with his head hanging straight down backwards. And as my vet pointed out, Zephyr has alot of physical problems, so it's more likely to be a physical cause than a mental one. I'm a little relieved, but extremely scared at the same time that it might be a VP. On one hand, the cause could be as simple as an ear infection or something of the sort. However, on the other hand it could be a tumor or lesion either in one of his ears or in his brain. Then the only way to find that out is to have an MRI or CAT scan done on him. My poor Zephyr, I tried to give him a better life, but he keeps running against all the obsticles life is putting up for him at only 6months old. Please keep your fingers crossed or say a little prayer for him, that he'll be able to get through this, whatever the cause, and live a happy life. Thank you. Sincerely, Moni & Zephyr ********************************** ****************************** Well, Zephyr's day at the vets got postponed until today since I had to pull a double shift yesterday and my car had a flat first thing in the morning. I almost though that I wouldn't have to bring him, because he seemed to get a little better early on yesterday. However later when I was at work, he took a turn for the worse and started spinning horribly in his crate(which he never did). By the time I got home his mouth and chest was covered in drool and foam and he kept wanting to spin his head around. The neighbors said it sounded like a washer off-balance. I wish I was there, I feel horrible that he got that worked up. I ended up dropping him off this morning and they had him until 4pm. The vet definitely believes that he has a vestibular problem. She had him out to observe him a couple of times today and said that it seemed more likely that then OCD since he can calm himself down and go to sleep. Also his eyes seem to roll up and dart around(well what you can see of his eyes), and when he's still his head keeps wanting to roll around up and over to the right. As far as how to fix it, she's not sure. Most case are caused by deep inner-ear infections or inflammation of the "vestibular area". So Zephyr's on a kind of steroid and a strong antibiotic to see if that will resolve it. Now its kind of wait and see thing. Either he'll get better from these, but if they don't work he probably won't get better. :( She said all I can do now is wait and keep him protected from banging himself to much. Keep Zephyr in you thoughts and hopefully he'll be back to his normal self soon. Sincerely, Moni & Zephyr ********************************** ****************************** Hi all. I wanted to let you know that Zephyr seems to be almost on an upswing. I'm sure that it's due to many of your kind thoughts and prayers. He is still spinning, but its not constant and frantic unless he's in his crate. We're definitely not out of the woods, so to speak. However I know that he's not ready to give up yet because I got a Zephyr smile today!!! It's been alot of work and unfortunately he's getting some separtion issues, but he's worth it. We're checking out alot of nonconventional methods to see if they can come up with something that normal methods wouldn't. So still keep him in your thoughts, they've been working. Take care. Sorry for the late reply. I think Yahoo held your email hostage for a bit. It seems to do that for fun sometimes. >:( As far as it being vestibular, yes his eyes and head do that thing before he spins. They dart back and forth alot and his head always wants to spin up and over clockwise. However just tonite I had to call the vet up because he started drooling and has been doing this weird growl on and off for the last couple of hours. It was definitely an unsure noise, not aggressive at all and then he would start whining. He seems very agitated and scared. She wants me to call her back in the morning and we'll probably be putting him on tranquilizers to calm him down. I just don't know what to do, it was all so sudden. He was this happy puppy who loves everyone and know he just seems so jumpy, anxious and unsure. It was very upsetting because on the phone, I could tell that my vet doesn't think that he's going to get better. It seems like she feels he should be PTS. Am I wrong for wanting to fight this? Or am I being selfish and just making him suffer? I'm so confused. If only it was ever an easy decision. Thank you all for your support. **************************************************************** As I stated I have a 7mo blind/deaf aussie pup, Zephyr who until 3weeks ago acted like any "normal" puppy. He knew sit, down, stand, paw, find-it, step-up/down all by touch cues and even walks pretty well on leash. Then Zephyr started circling which at first we thought was OCD. However they got more intense, his head and eyes would dart around constantly and he started making weird vocalizations. The vets both normal and holistic tried him on different medications and then he had a severe episode where he attacked something only he could see. Around this time he would also start throwing himself down to the ground scared, almost like bats or something was attacking him. I was recommended to use this amimal communicator by some of my friends whom had good experiences with her. At first I was skeptical, but seeing as it was a last resort I figured that I had nothing to lose and Zephyr to gain if it worked. So I made an appointment to talk with her on Thursday. So I called her and beforehand I "told" Zephyr to "listen" to this lady because she might be able to help him. My first moment of belief was when she paused to talk to him and he jumped up off my feet and started "looking" around like, "what was THAT?!?". Every time that she said she was going to speak with him, he reacted. Either by jumping up and seeming to listen, or by whipping his head around and focusing his head & ears on a certain location. Then one of the first things she told me was that one of the reasons that Zephyr was afraid because one of my other dogs was frightened of loud noises. I asked if Zephyr was afraid OF this dog, or BECAUSE of this dog. She then replied, "well it seems like both, isn't that strange?"; I said, no because Mojo(my 6y aussie) is the only one afraid of loud noises, and he is the only one who will correct Zephyr if he keeps bothering him! I gave her NO information about my other dogs other than a picture. I also asked her why he was having those certain episodes, but unfortunately he doesn't remember them, and doesn't realize when he's stuck circling an barking. Dawn said that she finds it to be common that they have no memory of what they're doing with dogs having a certain type of seizure(which is what we thought was happening). Another thing that I asked is what Zephyr's favorite treat was. She said it was kind of hard to figure it out (since he can't see it) but that Zephyr said,"Whatever I had last night, can I please have some more, I REALLY liked that!" Well me and Jay had shared with him a lot of Pot Roast, when we normally don't give the dogs meaty table scraps. There were other things we talked about and she was just amazing. One thing to point out, she is not a Psychic in the seeing into the future sense. She is a communicator meaning she can ask your animal questions, so if they don't know, neither will she. So my session ended on a good and a bad note. I contacted her to see if Zephyr wants to be let go, or if he wants to fight to stay here. Zephyr said that he wants to be let go, so I will be saying goodbye to my precious boy sometime this week. I've only had him 4months but he was with me 24/7 during that time and he won everyones heart that he met. I don't think I'll ever meet another dog like him in heart and spirit. **************************************************************** Zephyr crossed to the rainbow bridge Aug 29, 2002. **************************************************************** Aussie Angel tribute page: http://www.geocities.com/aussietrib/aussieangelsptoz.html (Zephyr & Woofie are the last two) Zephyr's Photo album: http://tinyurl.com/65nc6

Bio:
Zephyr was a blind & deaf aussie who learned 10+touch commands in his short life. He never knew that he was different, but he definitely knew that he was loved.

The Groups I'm In:
Australian Shepherd's that are deaf and blind., Australian Shepherds, Deaf But Not Dumb, Deaf Dog Love

I've Been On Dogster Since:

November 29th 2004