Helen Keller is her Nickname

I guess that I should start by providing you with some information about my Helen Keller. Her name is Tehya according to the Veterinarian's office, however since she is deaf it does not matter what you call her. She can't hear you anyway. Her daily name, or nickname, if you will is Helen Keller. While you may be asking " Wasn't Helen Keller both deaf AND blind? Then why is her nickname Helen Keller?" Well the truth of the matter is, when I brought her into my home she was completely deaf and about 85% blind. As her age has progressed, her eyesight has diminished to approximatel 95% blindness.

How HK came to be in my life is quite the story. At the time, I was working for a prison in a podunk little town made up of about 1500 people in eastern Wyoming, of which the prison housed approximately 900 of those 1500 people. I was the low man on the totem pole in my position and therefore I was required to stay later than most. This led me to getting to know the officers that worked the swing shift and often helping them out. Now, as one can imagine, there is not a whole lot of activities to be done in a town the size of which I lived in other than meeting at the bar or the local diner. The night that I received the interesting gift that is HK, I was sitting at the bar waiting for my officer friends to get off work and have a few drinks because it had been one hell of a week. As I was waiting, alone, sipping on my quickly approaching room temperature beer, I over heard a conversation occurring at the other end of the bar between two women. Now I don't remember verbatim what was said but it went something like this:

Woman 1 " What do you mean Rodney is just gonna shoot her?"

Woman 2 " He said that she doesn't serve a purpose and that she is a waste of money. It would just be easier to kill her than to take care of her. He doesn't want to pay a vet bill either to put her down. I don't know what I am going to do with her but he said he will do it by the Sunday."

Woman 1 " I thought y'all said you got her from a reputable breeder? How did this happen?"

Woman 2 " That is what he told me but, Rodney got her from a backyard breeder who didn't know what they were doing because it was cheaper. I feel so guilty knowing what he is going to do but there is nothing I can do about it and she is just a baby. I just can't argue that she is a hassle on the farm though because she is and she can't serve her purpose."

It wasn't until this point in the conversation that my ears had perked up and I started intently listening. I must have been half listening and not really comprehending what they were initially saying because I realized that these two women were speaking about an animal. I have always had an affinity for animals and have always believed that animals should be given a chance. I thought maybe, depending on the animal, I might be able to help.

Woman 1 " Have you looked into just taking her to a rescue or something? It would be better than what Rodney has planned for her."

Woman 2 " I have tried but I don't want her to just sit in a shelter and never know love. Plus, most rescues do not want the hassle of special needs."

Right then I decided that it was time to introduce myself and let them know that I had been listening in on their conversation. So I proceeded to walk up and introduce myself, ask for forgiveness as I had been listening to their conversation, and then ask about what kind of animal they were talking about to see if I could offer some help. I was forgiven for listening in and the two women explained in full detail the situation. It turns out that the woman and her husband Rodney were allergic to cats but were having a terrible time of keeping the rodent population down on their ranch. They had decided that keeping Dachshunds around the house and the barn would help and it had done wonders as the dogs were happy to have a job. Rodney had recently acquired a new 10 month old puppy to add to the pack, who was cute as a button, however the puppy was completely deaf and they had been trying to work with that set back so that they could keep her but she just wasn't able to do what they had intended and the woman was worried that she would escape to a pasture and get trampled or run over on accident because she could not hear. Her husband was a man of the old school opinion that all animals on a ranch must have a purpose and be capable of performing the duties that go along with that purpose. If the animals could not serve their purpose, he would then dispose of the animals. Such was the case here.

By the time that my coworkers had finally gotten off work and made it to the bar I had managed to convince the woman that I could help, or at least foster her until I found a rescue that would work with her. We agreed that it would be best for me to take HK sooner rather than later. So, I asked a coworker to go with me and together we followed the woman 65 miles out to her ranch to go pick up HK, in the middle of the night, not having any clue as to where we actually were.

Now as you can see from the picture above, HK is adorable. She is a mini merle Dachshund and even though she is 6 years old this year, she still looks like a puppy. I wound up trying to no avail to find her a rescue or a foster that would take her in and work with her. I had attempted to place her through two different rescues with three different families. However, she was returned each time because the families did not truly realize how much getting used to it takes to have a special needs dog.

Because I took her on as my responsibility, she is a current resident at my home to this day. She has two Chihuahua cousins in Las Vegas that live with my mother and one Catahoula and one Labrador cousin that also reside in Las Vegas with my younger brother and sister - in - law. When I took her in I had recently taken in a Border Collie who was roughly the same age. The two girls and I have moved from Wyoming to North Carolina, from North Carolina to Las Vegas, and from Las Vegas back to Wyoming. In addition to the two girls, the family has grown by two Australian Shepherd brothers, an Australian Shepherd/ Border Collie mix brother, a human dad, and coming soon a human brother or sister. She has lived with all shapes and sizes of dogs, doesn't like cats, and is welcoming, even if it takes a few minutes longer, to any dog that I happen to bring home that I found running the streets.

Helen Keller has been a definite learning experience, and there are some days that I imagine life without the hassle of her. But, she is the best cuddle buddy and lap heater on a cold winter Wyoming day. She does go hiking with me and she enjoys camping even though she does have to be tethered. She navigates her surroundings surprisingly well and it may take a week of adjustment, but she manages to learn her surroundings pretty quickly. HK maybe special needs but she is definitely the Queen of this house and rules the pack while only being the size of her siblings' heads.