Dog of the Month, September 2018: Zuri
Many people believe that relationships are built on trust, and the same can be true for animals. So when Alexis Chasney and Tyler Schindel rescued Zuri—a 3-year-old deaf Australian Shepherd and Rainier Veterinary Hospital’s September Dog of the Month—they were patient, understanding, and supportive while Zuri learned to trust them. It took about a year, but neither Alexis, Tyler, nor Zuri have looked back.
Only for the sake of getting to know Zuri’s story, let’s go back to September 2016, when the couple adopted this sweet pooch. “We don’t have a ton of information about Zuri’s background, but we believe there was an irresponsible breeder who bred two blue merles together, trying to achieve the beautiful white coloring,” Alexis explains. “Zuri had two litter mates that we’re aware of—his sister was also deaf, and his brother was fully deaf and fully blind. Zuri is deaf with partial vision loss.”
Alexis and Tyler are both hard-of-hearing, and the couple uses American Sign Language (ASL) at home, so they specifically were looking to adopt a deaf dog. “We know that deaf dogs aren’t as popular and can be euthanized. We figured that since we don’t care if he can’t hear, he’s the perfect fit!”
Enter the Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue (SPDR), a Redmond-based non-profit organization. SPDR’s Herding Breed Representatives Bob Lee and Michelle Tragesser quickly went to work to locate a deaf dog for Alexis and Tyler. “Once we found Zuri, who was named Curly at the time, Bob was kind enough to drive all the way to Kansas to pick him up and bring him back to us!” Alexis remembers. “When we got Zuri, he was quite thin and wary. He was afraid of brushes, wary at being touched on his head, and resistant to showing his belly for pets. He was very slow to trust and attach to us. And he hadn’t learned how to run yet, likely because he wasn’t afforded much room to run. He had this quite exaggerated seesaw gait that was inefficient and slow.”
Fast forward six months, and Zuri learned to tuck his hind while running and, as Alexis says, “discovered his zoomies and speed.” And in another six months, Zuri finally bonded with the couple. “We were able to discover his wiggle-butt personality and his goofy half smiles and his love of belly rubs,” Alexis says. “He now trusts me to take care of him and even begrudgingly allows me to brush his teeth, assuming there are plentiful treats involved.”
And now that Zuri trusts his owners, his whole world has opened up to new human friends. Every day, Alexis takes Zuri to work, where he has quickly become the office’s favorite dog. He snuggles with her office mates and is always on patrol for attention. And when people squat down to give Zuri a pet, he prances right up to them with his goofy smile and buries his face in their hands to get most petting possible. But that’s not the only way he “works” people.
“In the office, he is known to come up to you when you have food and ask for pets,” Alexis says. “As you pet him, he’ll look for an opportunity to move closer to the food so that he can eventually steal it. We’re working on this conniving quality, but in some ways, it’s also sort of endearing.”
Also endearing is that Zuri has learned some ASL as well as made-up signs, including his name. “Sign names are an important part of Deaf culture,” Alexis explains. “Instead of spelling your name, oftentimes you choose a sign name that is representative of your personality or a physical characteristic. Zuri’s sign name uses the pinky finger and traces under the eye, representing the eye liner-esque coloring that he has around his eyes.”
Zuri also knows sit, down, stand, and stay as well as “sitting pretty” (which is combined with the sign for “beautiful”) as well as “leg weave” (signaled by opening up the stride and pointing through the legs). “We’re also working on teaching him different object names so that we can play hide and seek with toys,” Alexis says. “He learns the signs just as you would teach a dog a vocal command. Initially, we use a treat to guide him into the position or action we’re looking for, and then give him the thumbs up sign, which indicates that he did something correct. Then, we start introducing the chosen sign before guiding him into the position and giving him the thumbs up. Then finally, we start to use the chosen sign and wait until he does the desired action without guiding. He’s usually very quick and only needs a few sessions before connecting the sign to the action.”
When Zuri is not learning new tricks or stealing people’s food, he loves playing tug-o-war with any of his rope toys or other tug toys that he can whip around. His most favorite game is wrestling with Alexis and Tyler. Luckily, Zuri has learned to be gentle, and although he makes lots of noises while being pet ferociously, he only mouths at his humans’ arms.
But the apple of Zuri’s eye is Kallie, the couple’s 14-year-old calico who weighs in at about 5 pounds. “He desperately wants to be her best friend and is always looking to snuggle up with her or play with her,” Alexis says. “She does a great job of playing with him when she has the high ground and keeps him in his place otherwise. He calls to her when he wants to play, making the oddest deaf dog sound we have ever heard.” (Listen and watch for yourselves.)
And even though Zuri can’t hear her, Alexis talks to him constantly, calling him Little One and Goober. In Basque, Zuri means “white,” and in Swahili, Zuri means “beautiful.” And we are so lucky to have this beautiful, trusting, goofy dog—not to mention Alexis, Tyler, and Kallie—as part of the Rainier Vet family.
About Our Dog of the Month Program
How our Dog of the Month program works: Each staff member provides a nomination for the distinguished honor, and then we vote. The highest vote wins! Any pup who visits us during the prior month is eligible.
