It's February 2010, And a Little Dog Shall Lead Them

Rudolph

Blind. Deaf. Living in a puppy mill. That's three strikes, and most players would head for the showers at that point. Throw in a few failed adoptions, and you would think that the game would be unwinnable.

None of that stopped Rudolph.

With the help of Marcia F., who gave him his Forever Home, Rudolph is a regular visitor to elementary schools, teaching children that being different and having disabilities are challenges to be surmounted, but that those challenges can be surmounted. Because he can neither see nor hear, Rudolph depends on his sense of smell to get around. And so he came to be named after a certain reindeer who led the way with his marvelous nose.

As if his school visits weren't enough, Rudolph is the hero of a story/coloring book. (We will tell you at the end of this article how to get a copy for yourself.) And he recently became the poster dog for anti-puppy-mill legislation. Did we say poster? No, Rudolph is cooler than that. Literally. An recent Ice Festival in Michigan featured an ice sculpture of Rudolph in support of the legislation. You can see it by clicking here.

We spoke with Marcia recently, and she told us she doesn't know a lot about why Rudolph's first few adoptions didn't work out, but she found him on Petfinder, and there was no doubt that, as a lover of dachshunds, she would take him. We could hear the love she has for this little fellow – and for what he's doing – in her voice. We also heard confidence in her voice, and it's clear that she never doubted that she and Rudolph would work well together.

Yes; work. Marcia is a strong believer in volunteerism, and she adopted Rudolph with the idea that he would be brought into her efforts. What she didn't know was where and how he could help. Dogs do best when they're having fun, so the kind of work a dog is chosen to do should suit his personality. After Marcia saw how gently children treated Rudolph and how much he seemed to love them, she decided what his mission would be.

First, of course, Rudoph would have to be trained. How do you train a blind and deaf dog? By touch. A different touch for every command, and a kind of touch, perhaps a light tap on the back end, that would not be used in everyday petting or in any other time. When the dog performs the desired action the touch is applied. The action and the touch are soon programmed together in his mind.

Walking on leash was the most difficult lesson Rudolph had to learn. Marcia had heard that blind dogs hate to be pulled, and she found that to be true. She found that touch that would make him go, but how, then, to make him stop? Counterintuitively, by slacking up on the leash. Today, Rudolph is comfortable on the end of a leash.

Overcoming more obstacles than most of us could manage, this little seven-pound bundle of love and inspiration has come far, and will doubtless go farther.

About That Book We Mentioned

Marcia wrote a story that's sort of about Rudolph and commissioned an illustrator to turn it into a coloring book. The Rudolph in the story is the object of scorn and derision from all the other dogs until a crisis situation arises that only he, with his unique skills, can address. Your kids and grandkids will love it. We loved it, too, and we don't even have kids and grandkids. You can get a copy of the book by visiting its special site, rudolphsnoseknows.com and following the instructions you find there. They're only $5 per copy, so you'll want to stock up.

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