Libby
Hi, my name is Libby (it was Xena at rescue) and this is my story. Well … first. I’ll tell you about Mom, Dad and my older brother. Mom met Dad in the military, and they adopted my brother, who is almost 11 years old. He was a puppy mill dog sold in a pet store, and his name is “Zack.” When Zack was 5 months old, he became very sick and almost died and then he was dropped off at a high-kill shelter in Maryland! Luckily, a nice lady from Lizzy’s Lodge rescued him and Mom and Dad adopted him!
Zack now has asthma, a collapsed trachea and has to take daily medication so he can breathe better. He is not as active as he would like to be …. so, Mom and Dad decided that they wanted another rescue JRT.
Mom researched and found the GA JRT Rescue; Mom said this place looked amazing! They rescued all kinds of Jacks from all over the state of Georgia. Mom and Dad live way up in the mountains near the Tennessee/Georgia state line. They drove 2½ hours just to come and see all of us precious fur babies at the (ranch).
When they arrived, they met the nice lady there and some other nice humans and their names were Mama Donna, Mike and Kim. They showed them all around the rescue. There I was in my kennel, as I had been many times before, jumping around and excited to see everyone interested in me.
I was so happy to get out of my kennel! I ran endlessly in the grass, played ball ’til I was exhausted and ate lots of snacks out of their hands … and even jumped in the water bucket just for good measure. I was pretty sure they would get a kick out of that! I tried really hard to get everyone’s attention like I had many times before when lots and lots of other people came to see me. Sadly, they left me behind. This time, I had hoped things would be different. I had heard through the grapevine that the visitors who came to the ranch to see me told Mama Donna and the other volunteers that I ignored them and would not play with them or their children and that I was in my own little world or was way too hyper and that I might even be feral.
I was so misunderstood, so I decided this time I was going to do something different and unexpected. I was playing ball and running all over the place and then I noticed that my new mom-to-be was sitting cross legged on the ground. I I decided to run up in her lap and give her lots of kisses on the face. Yup!!! That would get her attention for sure!! I tried so hard to make sure everyone noticed me by … running around all crazy and excited, strutting my stuff….. not coming when they called me….I could not make anyone understand that I was deaf and I couldn’t hear a single thing anyone said.
Hooray!!! Mom and Dad took a chance and adopted me!
After I found my furever home, Mom and Dad came home from shopping and they saw that I was fast asleep in my kennel and the noisy garage door opened and closed and I was still asleep. Mom and Dad suspected that I was deaf and they took me to the doctor to find out. The nice lady doctor told them … yes, I was deaf. Yes! Now everyone knows about my little secret …. I’M DEAF … I am finally understood! Mom and Dad now use hand and arm signals to call me.
I’m still learning to be well behaved. I’m still a sassy little girl who loves everyone, loves to play ball, swim in my pool, chase squirrels and play with my grumpy older brother. Mom and Dad show me everyday how much they love me and how adorable I am. They show me with love and compassion how much I complete their lives. I may not be able to hear them tell me love me, but I can feel it when they pet me and snuggle with me and I can see it when I look at them and they smile at me. Some things you don’t have to hear with your ears beause you can hear it with your heart.
Thank you, Mama Donna and Team Russell volunteers for rescuing me and giving me a second chance to live a great life!!
