I Never Planned to Keep Piglet, the Deaf Blind Pink Puppy

I'm a small animal housecall veterinarian. When I agreed to foster Piglet, I turned to Facebook to help find him his forever home. We had no intention of keeping him, so I needed a place to network and raise awareness for our foster baby.

The Facebook page, Piglet, the deaf blind pink puppy, grew very quickly. I'd always loved taking pictures of my dogs and had been sharing their pictures on my personal Facebook account for years before Piglet arrived. I was delighted that Piggy's page gave me a place to post not only Piglet, but all of my dogs.

I created Piglet's Facebook page in March of 2017 with the sole purpose of finding him his forever home. I posted adorable pictures and videos of Piglet evolving from a scared, screaming one-pound deaf blind puppy into a confident, adorable, capable, tiny, disabled pink dog.

It took two months for my husband and me to realize that we were Piglet's forever home.

When I decided that we would adopt Piglet, I made a promise to myself that Piglet would have a productive, meaningful life. At the time, I envisioned him as an ambassador for disabled rescue dogs. We proceeded to launch our first Piglet merch, which we used to start our fundraising efforts for dog rescues. That plan has continued throughout, and we have raised and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past few years.

In the meantime, the Facebook page grew exponentially each month. Followers commented about how Piglet inspired them to get out of bed in the morning, go to rehab for an injury or illness, try harder at whatever obstacles they were facing, and many showed up for our sweet, adorable goodnight videos, which they let me know made a difference at the end of their day. Many also told me about the new disabled dogs and cats they adopted, inspired by Piglet.

In July 2017, I noticed a comment from a teacher who said she couldn't wait to show Piglet's videos to her third graders. I was very excited to connect with her and send her a custom video for her students. That video, The Story of Piglet, the deaf blind pink puppy, ended up becoming the first PowerPoint in our Piglet Mindset School Visit Program online resources.

Needless to say, the program has grown to reach hundreds of schools and tens of thousands of students since its beginning in 2017.

Sharing Our Story

Everything I post is straightforward and honest. I try to create inspirational, informative, helpful, and entertaining content that features my own dogs and their daily lives. Since they are a diverse group, it's relatively easy to find examples within our pack, which is what our followers like best.

My dogs are demo dogs; they are models for endorsing products, and they are great examples for discussions about disabled rescued pets, having a positive attitude toward challenges, and being kind.

And as a veterinarian, this enhances my credibility. Since I only endorse products I use for my own dogs, my followers feel confident purchasing these items for their own dogs.

Over the years, my content has evolved as Piglet's story has unfolded. First off, I've improved my basic photography and videography skills. It's really important that followers watch the content, so it needs to be engaging and entertaining.

We have much more to present than what we will ever be able to. I try to choose topics and concepts that are easy to illustrate with my own dogs and that people will find meaningful and useful.

Long ago, one of my friends told me that my social media platforms were more like a baby book than what "real" creators and influencers post. This was a criticism.

But that pretty much sums it up.

Our followers love our posts and our dogs. While my platforms are not baby books, they do tend to follow special moments in my dogs' lives.

I try to share a variety of information and cuteness. The balance is easy. You can't post the same thing all the time because people want variety. Depending on what we're doing—traveling, visiting schools, having meet and greets, hanging around at home, or taking walks at the beach—I can always find something to post.

I keep it real.

I'm usually disappointed when I join in on trending music and videos. Our followers want the real Piglet.

Our Dogs

We have a diverse group of rescued dogs who come together to be a very welcoming, tight-knit dog family.

Susie

The first in this group was Susie, who was one of those all-around good dogs. She loved everyone, and everyone loved her. She set the tone of kindness in our dogs, and it has carried through to every new dog that has been added, even since Susie's been gone.

Piglet

Of course, Piglet is the star—deaf blind and systematic in his approach to everything he does.

He is a detail-oriented dog, which is what makes him such a good teaching model for children and adults. Piglet uses his senses of smell and touch to navigate his world. When he enters a new environment, he is driven to explore and learn boundaries, obstacles, who's there, and where dinner will be served, whether that's in a hotel room or an Airbnb.

Recording him in action provides amazing resources for educators to bring Piglet's message of positivity and kindness to life for their students.

He's a very quirky little guy. He loves his dad, Warren, who we call Piglet's Favorite Dad. He has BFF girlfriends at the vet hospital where I work, and he loves to do his tap signal demos during our school visits.

Georgie

On the other side, we have Georgie, who is also deaf and blind.

He is much less academic compared to Piglet. Georgie is calmer, more easygoing, and has a hilarious sense of humor. It's not that Piglet doesn't have fun, but Georgie invents ways to be funny.

Georgie isn't driven to explore, map, and know everything about his surroundings like Piglet is, but he gets it done. He is driven to grab shoes, packing materials, and other items we value, and bring them to his bed to trade for a treat. His Instagram and Facebook pages are filled with these antics, which his followers can't get enough of.

Our other dogs are all very sweet, and each one has their own personality.

Annie

Annie is very shy. She's a 14½-year-old poodle/chihuahua mix rescued in California and has lost her hearing as an older dog. She doesn't like to eat from a bowl. We have to put her food on a blanket on her bed, which is on our couch, and then she will have her meals.

Evie

Evie is 14 and is currently having serious health issues. She's an adorable poodle/schnauzer rescued in California who loves children. She's addicted to being petted by as many children as possible. The more little children's hands on her, the better. She is a big part of our education program, especially in schools where the children are allowed to pet our dogs.

Zoey

Zoey is a tiny brown six-pound chihuahua/Yorkie mix rescued in Arkansas. She's 11½ years old. She is smart, observant, sassy, and extremely cute. She has a cataract in her right eye. Zoey listens to every conversation going on around her and is sure to pick up anything that involves her, whether it's her dog groomer being on the way, needing her nails trimmed, staying home when we go out, or coming with us on vacation. She reacts accordingly.

Lucy

Lucy is a five-year-old, very sweet, scruffy tan 12-pound street dog rescued in California. She came to us nine months after we lost our treasured Susie. To all of our pleasant surprise, Lucy is almost exactly like Susie. All the dogs fell in love with her immediately, especially Piglet. She is kind and supportive of the other dogs. She has taken Georgie and our new dog Ruby under her wing. We are very lucky to have her.

Ruby

Ruby is a one-year-old deaf and mostly blind poodle mix. She was surrendered to a rescue that takes care of disabled dogs. She has some serious anxiety-related issues, but after six months she is settling into our family and our routines. She bumps into the other dogs frequently, which is startling to the two deaf blind boys, Piglet and Georgie. Lucy is the perfect play friend for Ruby. They race around the backyard, and Lucy keeps an eye on Ruby to make sure she doesn't lose her when they get too far apart, since Ruby doesn't see much.

Life Together

Everything revolves around the dogs.

They all go out in the yard together in the morning. They eat their meals together; they get into the car together when I'm heading off to work. They play together, rest on the couches and dog beds together, and they take walks together.

We rarely go out for any length of time because we don't like to leave them for long.

These dogs are sweet, fun, well-behaved, and very affectionate. They are a pleasure to care for and share on our social media platforms. They bring inspiration and happiness to children and adults around the world.

The Challenges

One of the biggest challenges I've faced as a pet owner is saying no to more dogs that need a home.

Another challenge has been watching our beautiful pack change.

Fourteen or fifteen years ago, we adopted four dogs in less than two years. All four of those dogs had a blast together when they were young and enjoyed each other through every phase of their lives. They grew old together and continued their friendship into their senior years.

The problem came at the very end as we started to lose the older dogs.

The losses for me are magnified by having to watch our beautiful pack change. Each dog that leaves is missed by all the other dogs, which adds a whole new dimension to my grief.

Another challenge is deciding on dogs to add to our pack—assessing whether or not they will be a good match for the current group. Even the nicest dogs are not necessarily going to work out. Pack dynamics are complicated.

We have been very lucky, but we had to rehome a beautiful, sweet deaf Australian Shepherd puppy last summer due to the mismatch between her high-energy personality and physical size versus our very small older dogs.

People often ask what they don't see behind the scenes of having pets while creating content.

It depends on who's posting the content. Some people post all the negative with the positive. I tend to stick to the positive because I don't want anyone coming to incorrect conclusions about my dogs.

But the truth is that while our dogs love each other and get along especially well, there are more complicated dynamics within the group that I don't share.

Deep down, these are dogs, and sometimes they actually act like dogs!

What My Dogs Have Taught Me

When I received the email from my veterinarian rescue friend in Georgia letting me know about the tiny deaf blind puppy who needed a home, my first impulse was to say no.

We already had six amazing dogs and really weren't looking to rock the boat. We had a two-dog maximum rule, which had already been broken four times in two years, and that's how we ended up with six dogs.

When I reluctantly offered to foster Piglet, I was very clear with myself that this was a foster, and we were not going up from six to seven dogs.

But as it turned out, as much as we didn't need another dog, our group of six dogs made it very easy to ultimately adopt Piglet.

They welcomed him, nurtured him, supported him, and made him a family member right before our eyes. It was a truly beautiful process that I am embarrassed to admit I tried to resist. I would have enjoyed it much more if I had given in to the inevitable much earlier!

The dogs did this without coaching.

That's the nature of the dogs of our original six-pack.

The Community We Never Expected

Our Piglet community is a large, kind group.

The dogs attract dog lovers and also people who appreciate the power of the deaf blind pink dogs, Piglet and Georgie. We have people who are very interested in supporting our Piglet Mindset School Visit Program. Others lean more toward our rescue fundraising and donation program.

We have a strong group of "Piglet Groupies" who show up to all of our virtual and in-person events. They help with our merch sales, and a few even accompanied us on the plane when we flew five dogs from Connecticut to California so we could bring all five dogs in the cabin.

We are very lucky, really fortunate, to have such positive, enthusiastic members of our Piglet community.

One of our followers sent me a note telling me that she had just spent the last week of her aunt's life in hospice. They wore Piglet shirts and watched Piglet videos throughout the week, which made her aunt very happy and relaxed.

Another follower sent me a note telling me that my dog and I had saved her life.

After a very serious accident, her road to recovery was very difficult, and she questioned whether or not she would be able to endure through it. She told me that when she was at her lowest point, she ran into the tiny deaf blind pink puppy on her social media feed.

Seeing him doing his thing, racing around the yard, exploring new environments, and interacting with human and dog friends somehow impacted her in the most positive way. She changed direction, dug in, and used little Piglet to guide her through her early rehab days.

We have since become friends. I'm grateful that she found my little dog Piglet and that we have been able to support each other through big and small challenges we both face.

The support we've received from our community has also helped us grow our nonprofit work.

We are very lucky to have some extremely devoted supporters for our Piglet Mindset School Visit Program and Piglet's Rescue Fund. They show up at our monthly webinars, our meet-and-greets—they even get on planes to come meet us. They donate money, buy our merch, and promote our work to schools and other nonprofits in their own communities. They keep in touch by messaging, emails, and even phone texts.

My husband and I appreciate the love and support we feel for our dogs, and for ourselves, from this very special group of people who are there rooting for Piglet and all of our nonprofit work in schools and for disabled rescue dogs.

We donate $50,000–$80,000 each year to rescue organizations that focus on disabled dogs.

We also do some outreach into the human side with donations to organizations that align with our mission.

Our school visits are sometimes covered by PTAs and other enrichment budgets. But we also fully fund many school visits ourselves, and we donate Piglet Comes Home books and thousands of stickers for Piglet Mindset students to remember their school visit with Piglet, Georgie, and the other dogs.

Two years ago, we gained funding to create a new website called DisabledPets.org, an information and resource hub for veterinarians, pet parents, and rescuers who care for disabled pets.

I spent an enormous amount of time working on this site. I appreciate everyone who shares it and visits the site for information for the animals they are caring for.

What I've Learned

When considering adding a new pet to your family, be sure to learn all there is to know about that particular species and the requirements for care. Finding the right species, and making sure the match is right for any individual you are considering adopting.

Considerations include the species, size, age, temperament, how they get along with children and other pets, and disabilities that might impact care requirements. Then you need to factor in your home environment, other pets, children, your work and travel schedule, and the cost of veterinary care.

Putting everything together will lead you in a general direction. Then start checking with rescues to find "the one" who you connect with.

It's also very important to have a good, trusting relationship with your veterinarian. Bring your pets to the vet for yearly checkups and routine care so that they know you and your pet. Then, if and when there's an issue, you are all familiar with each other, which leads to the most optimal care for your pets.

For anyone interested in creating pet content, my advice is simple: tell your story in an authentic, organic way with good-quality pictures and videos. Connect, make friends, and network with others who share your interests, approach, and values.

Make it fun and don't stress over the likes and follows!

One of my favorite things we do together is visit schools through our Piglet Mindset School Visit Program. Piglet gets a chance to demonstrate how we communicate through tap and touch signals. We call it The Piglet Show.

He's got a full routine that includes the basics like sit, down, wait, and come. He loves to show everyone how he learned to run through a tunnel, and then he poses for pictures.

His enthusiasm and positive energy are impactful and inspirational. The children love him and take his message of being positive and kind to heart. One class even has a Piglet Pledge.

We have a partnership, but I cater to his every need, minute to minute, all day long.

Connect With Us

To connect with us, readers can follow us or contact us on:

Instagram - @pinkpigletpuppy, @georgieforfun, @melissashapirodvm
Facebook - @Piglet, the deaf blind pink puppy , @Georgie for Fun, @Melissa Shapiro, DVM
TikTok - @pinkpigletpuppy
Websites - pigletmindset.org, disabledpets.org, melissashapirodvm.com
Email - pinkpigletpuppy@gmail.com