A big congratulations to Willow Taylor, May’s Pup of the Month. Willow is an 8-year-old, deaf boxer that was adopted by the Taylor family August of 2014. We met Willow and her Mom, Julie, at Buck Creek Park in Wyoming a few Saturdays ago. Willow approached us with the friendly greeting of a tail wag, leaned into me for a few welcome pets and proceeded to sniff out the lamb liver treats in my pocket.
Julie was a volunteer at the HSWM when she first encountered Willow. Her family was thinking of fostering a different dog, but the meet and greet between the family dogs and the dog they wanted to foster did not go well. Julie was expressing her disappointment to a HSWM staff member, who happened to be outside watching Willow and another dog play, when Julie really noticed Willow. The longer Julie watched Willow play the more she became intrigued with her and wondered if Willow could possibly be a good match as a foster dog for their family.
The meet and greet with Willow and the Taylor family dogs went well and they took Willow home for the weekend for a ‘test run’. Even though the meet and greet at the humane society went well, Willow’s first night at their home was a bit stressful. One of the family dogs would not leave Willow alone and then proceeded to bark the entire night. The family was disappointed and Julie knew she would have to return Willow to the humane society the next day; it just wasn’t going to work. However, when the family got up the next morning the situation was entirely different. All three pups got along so well – it was like they had always been together. It took an entire two days for Willow the Foster Dog to become Willow Taylor, as the family fell in love with her and decided she needed to be a permanent member of their pack – they couldn’t live without her.
Everyday life with a deaf dog isn’t that much different from a dog that can hear, according to Julie. Albeit – a bit quieter. The staff at the Humane Society of West Michigan worked with Willow to develop a way of communicating with her via hand signals. The Taylor family has continued to use and expand her vocabulary of hand signals – some of the signals even being part of legitimate American Sign Language. Because of Willow’s deafness, she is quite sight reactive – so all a family member has to do is wave and if that person is within Willow’s area of sight, she will turn to see what that person wants. If she is looking in the other direction, they tap her on her head to get her attention and then give her the hand signal. Willow has a tiny stubborn streak though and occasionally looks the other way and pretends she didn’t see the signal, when she doesn’t want to do what she is being asked to do – selective seeing it is called.
Willow doesn’t have the sound sensitivity issues that some dogs do – such as fear of thunder or fireworks. She also does not bark at any unusual or strange sounds that dogs tend to zero in on. In contrast, because she cannot hear, there have been a couple of scary situations – such as the time Willow escaped from their yard. Even though they had Willow in their sight the entire two hours she was loose, they could not call to her and signal her to come to them.
Julie also thinks Willow understands more than the hearing dogs the family has had over the years. She doesn’t know if this is because her other senses are heightened, or if she just has such a strong bond with Julie, her husband, Tom, and their sons. If a family member is feeling a bit under the weather she stays with them until he or she feels better – she’ll snuggle with the sick person, lie at the feet of that person or curl up on his or her lap in an attempt to provide comfort to the ailing family member.
Willow has been such a wonderful addition to the Taylor family and they simply cannot imagine life without her. She loves ice cubes and her absolute favorite snack is a banana. She loves everyone who walks through their door, but if you visit the Taylor home you might want to leave the idea of personal space at the door, because you will more than likely have a boxer snuggle bug cozying up to you. And if you dare sit on the couch you will end up with a 70 pound, white and furry lap warmer and a boxer face so close to your face that your eyes cannot focus on her. Willow is a firm believer in sharing love, as well as the couch.
Willow likes to play, but has slowed down a little as she has gotten older. Her favorite toy is a stuffed cow she likes to snuggle with when there isn’t an available family member and when her little brother, 4-year-old Felix, will leave her alone. Willow is endlessly patient with Felix’s outgoing, playful and boisterous nature. When he wants to play he will stand next to her and bark and poke her with his nose. She ignores him if she doesn’t want to play and when he goes too far will eventually snap back at him to get the message across that she isn’t in the mood.
Julie was a volunteer adoption counselor at the HSWM for 3 years and thinks it takes a little longer for deaf dogs or dogs with other challenges to be adopted: “I think people are afraid of what they don’t understand. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with people that were considering deaf dogs before and tell them how we communicate with Willow. I think it helps for them to see that it’s really not terribly different than it is to have a hearing dog; you just need to find the right way to communicate with them. It’s a learning process for everyone involved, but it’s not really a difficult one.”
Congratulations again to Willow and the Taylor Family! As always it was a pleasure to meet and photograph the newest member of the Pup of the Month Club, as well as hear Willow and the Taylor family’s story. Pup of the Month Club is a partnership of Tailwagger Dog Photography and the Humane Society of West Michigan. It is a celebration of dogs, dog adoptions and the human/dog bond.
If you have an adopted HSWM pup and would like to nominate him or her for the Pup of the Month Club, you can find more information and the entry form on Tailwagger Dog Photography’s website. Check out all members of Pup of the Month Club too – their stories are all so individual, unique and special!
