Introducing Lucky

Lucky started out as a stray in southern Indiana. He was taken in by a great rescue there, and eventually even made his way through a prison dog-training program, where he earned his Canine Good Citizen certification. Lucky is believed to be a Great Dane/Catahoula Leopard Dog mix. He is around two years old, and he is deaf. 

Lucky


Lucky reminds me a lot of Remi my Great Dane, and I can definitely see the Great Dane in his behavior as well as his looks. If you’re not familiar with Great Danes, think Scooby Do and Marmaduke. They are large, goofy, and maybe not quite as intelligent as some other dog breeds (that sounds nicer than “dumb as a box of rocks”, which is what has been said about Remi a time or two). They’re also easy-going, and although they can be protective, they aren’t really the bravest dogs around. For example, Lucky stepped on a cat toy made out of a pipe cleaner and immediately sprang back in fear and cautiously sniffed it to make sure it wasn’t dangerous. While not a fearful dog by any means, let’s just say he’s easily surprised.

Unlike most of the deaf dogs I’ve fostered, Lucky doesn’t often “check in” with me. This is probably more due to his past than anything else. If his first owners didn’t know (or care) that he was deaf, they would not have tried to communicate with him using signs, so he would not see any need to pay attention to them. I think he’s probably started to finally learn that he can communicate with people while at his prison training program. He lived in a cell with an inmate for several months, and learned many basic commands. Now he’s living in a house instead of a cell, but he’s once again learning that by paying attention to people, good things can happen.


He's also learned that looking away means he can ignore signs!

 Lucky gets along well with the other dogs. He has a lot of energy, and loves to run and play. He seems a bit over-interested in cats, so he’ll be looking for a home without any feline friends. While we’re waiting for his forever home to come along, Lucky will continue to go to training classes and tonight he starts his first agility class.  Lucky is going to be very lucky once he has a forever home!