Nea, Richmond, VA

Hi!  My name is Nea. I’m an American Staffordshire Terrier mix and I’m deaf! But you know what? It doesn’t bother me at all. Most people don’t even know I’m deaf until Mommy or Daddy tells them.

I’m really good and I come when Mommy and Daddy call me and I can sit, stay and down (although I don’t stay in my down but we’re working on it). Mommy and Daddy use a vibration collar and I like that because when they vibrate it, I get a treat!

I came to my forever home from Montclair Township, NJ, Animal Shelter where I had been in their shelter for almost six months and the workers there called me Diamond! My other family took me to the shelter the week before Thanksgiving 2010 when they discovered I was deaf. The workers were really nice and walked me all of the time. I was okay there but I wanted a forever home  No family ever came to look at me much less play with me and I was sad. One day, one of the workers said people were driving up from Virginia with their puppy to meet me and I might have a home! I was so happy and I was on my best behavior.

When Mommy and Daddy got there, they had my sister, Pickles, walk past me so we could sniff each other and become friends. Then we went into a big room and we played for an hour! Pickles was great to play with. We chased each other around the room and played with a ball and with Mommy and Daddy. That was the longest I had been out of my cage in forever and I knew I found my new home!

It was a long trip home but Daddy stopped a lot and Mommy walked me and gave me treats (I didn’t like them too much so it was okay). Pickles and I have French fries, chicken nuggets and Cheetos! 🙂 (Mommy and Daddy knew those weren’t good snacks but I really did have fun!) I remember that I was riding in the back of Daddy’s car in my cage but Pickles didn’t have a cage so she would climb all over my cage and we would play through the cage and have a lot of fun. I did get scared a few times because Daddy’s car had a rear windshield wiper that would move and scare me!

When I got home, I went right to sleep with a new blanket and a stuffed animal that Mommy and Daddy bought me. I love them very much!  Mommy and Daddy said they didn’t like the name “Diamond” and to tell the truth, I wasn’t nuts about it either so they gave me a new name. (It’s a funny story how they came up with it: I’m white with a pink nose and brown spots and that makes me pink, white and brown. Well, what else is also pink, white and brown? I’ll give you a hint…it goes with pickles. It’s ice cream! :-)) Mommy and Daddy named me after Neapolitan ice cream because it’s pink, white and brown and now we have Pickles and Nea(politan ice cream)!

Daddy says that I’m like Pickles because every time I get a bath, I get more spots! When I was in the shelter, I was all white with a pink nose and a couple of brown spots but now I have more brown spots! Recently, I was in the hospital because I ate parts of a tennis ball (I’ll never do that again). Mommy and Daddy were really sad that I was in the hospital and I didn’t like to see them cry. (Plus the tennis ball didn’t taste good!) Mommy and I have had some difficulties about who is the alpha female in the pack and I’ve nipped a couple of times but I kiss her right after. Now I know Mommy is in charge.

I like to go for walks and play at the park although the park is difficult sometimes. Daddy doesn’t like for me to play with other dogs because I’m deaf and I can’t hear what the barks are like, so sometimes I play too rough. But it’s been okay so far and I do have a couple of friends at the park that know I’m deaf and we play very well together. Daddy makes our dog food because he says that most commercial dog food isn’t good for us. The food that he makes tastes really good and it is good for us. If you ask him about it, he’ll talk for hours so don’t! 🙂

Some people think deaf dogs are broken and no one wants them. But deaf dogs like me aren’t broken; we’re just different and we deserve a good and loving home just like any other dogs. Just like me and my sisters!

You can follow my adventure with my sisters, Pickles, Piglet and Opal on The Deaf Dog blog and on Facebook!

Parent: Mac