Clover is
a lovely Border Collie that we were fortunate enough to have join our family
in the fall 1991. She came to us at a time of turmoil in our lives.
My husband's company had moved to Phoenix and we chose not to go, dreading
the idea of living in the heat. Two months before the company moved, we decided
that the best plan for us was to return to Humboldt State University, where
we both had graduated from in the late 1970's, and have my husband enter
the Teacher Credential program at the ripe old age of 39. We were very torn
at making the change at this point in our lives, having two children and
a comfortable income, yet we knew we could never enjoy living in the desert
and so far from the ocean. My husband interviewed for the program in early
May of 1991 and we were thrilled he was accepted! Three weeks later were
we shocked by the unexpected death of my sister. The first five months
of 1991 were not pleasant ones for my family and I. We packed up our house
and put most of our belongings in storage and headed off to Humboldt County
with our cat, Sassy, and our son's dog, Molly.
I am extremely fond of dogs and my "best friend", Nuska, a beautiful Alaskan Malamute, had died of old age three years before our move back to Humboldt. I was lonely for companionship while my husband and children were off at school. I began checking the ads in the newspapers for a "new friend". I really had no idea what kind of dog I wanted, but I was sure that I did not want to try and replace Nuska, as nothing could ever take her place. I decided to check the local humane society, but did not feel a connectiveness with any of the dogs there. Since this was to be a lifetime commitment, it had to feel right for me and the dog. I spent the next few weeks scanning the ads until one day...in the "livestock" section, I got that familiar tingling sensation that this was it. It was an ad for Border Collie puppies from a sheep ranch in the small town of Orick. I showed my husband the ad and we made an appointment to go see the puppies the very next day while the kids were in school (so as not to have to take the whole litter)!
We arrived at the sheep ranch in Orick the next day, filled with anticipation. I was greeted by three friendly, but strangely marked dogs as I got out of the car. I had never seen a Border Collie before and I was intrigued by their blotches of white on black scattered here and there. Soon their owners emerged from the house and took us to where the puppies were kept. There were nine in the litter and seven were black and white. The other two were a very weird mixture of white, silver, and black. The owners explained that this type of coloring was called blue merle. I stepped into the puppy area to play with them and see if any were attracted to me. All of them, except for one, bounded to my feet and immediately attacked my shoe laces, pants hem, and whatever else they could grasp with their puppy teeth. I was curious about the shy one over in the corner. Her eyes were warm, indicating to me that she was not fearful. I walked over and picked her up and fell instantly in love. She licked my faced, nibbled my chin, and pulled my hair. This was the one for me, as she let me know that I was the one for her. I turned to my husband with pleading eyes and he said lets go home and talk about it and if this was the dog for me, I could return later that day with the kids and pick her up.
Later that afternoon I went to pick up the kids from school. I told them we were going to go for a drive up the coast to do some whale watching. They were excited at the possibility of seeing whales in their own habitat. Soon we came to the cutoff to the sheep ranch in Orick. The kids were beginning to wonder why we were driving in the opposite direction of the beach. Brushing aside their curiosity, I told them I had something to show them before we went to the beach. Arriving a few minutes later and greeted by the same three Border Collies, the kids finally figured out what mom had up her sleeve. They rushed to the puppy pen with grand smiles upon their faces. Soon the lady who owned the puppies came out to see us with a knowing grin planted on her face. My kids, Erin and Bryan, asked if they could enter the puppy pen and the lady complied. Bryan, at that time, was seven years old and was known to all dogs as the live "chew toy". Erin, then 10 and the more reserved of the two, went immediately to the strange looking blue merle puppy that was off to the side.I watched their happiness soar as they were amongst the puppies, hoping that this might be a good thing for us all to focus on, instead of the past year's tragedies. I told them I had already chosen my puppy and, of course Bryan sighed, wanting to take home the entire litter. Erin knew somehow that the one she was holding was the one whom was destined to join our family. She took the puppy over to Bryan and handed her to him. He agreed that his puppy (or any one of the other eight) would be just fine.
We took our new puppy down to the beach that day and frolicked with her. We were also fortunate to see two grey whales a short distance from the shoreline. After an hour of play and getting acquainted, it was time to take our puppy to her new home. I arranged a nice box as her bed and placed it next to my side of the bed. That night I was awakened two times for outside duties. The next day a large storm came in from the north, bringing constant sheets of rainfall with no breaks. The day was spent inside with our new puppy, named Clover, and all seemed well. That night, while taking her out for her yard duties, I began to notice something wasn't right. Standing in the pouring rain, I called her several times, yet she never acknowledged my voice. I thought to myself...hey, this is a puppy with a mind of her own! Then she turned to look at me and I motioned and called her to come. She responded immediately and came bounding to my feet. I picked her up and headed into the house, not giving another thought to her deliberate attempt at avoiding my calls.
On Wednesday, the third day of Clover's life with her new family, we made the discovery that she could not hear. She was asleep in her box and Bryan was running around the house blowing a whistle...she never budged. I took the whistle from him and blew it right over the top of her box...she didn't stir. When my husband returned home from school that day, I told him the news between sobs of grief. I had been shattered to the thoughts of first his company left us, then my sister died, and now I have a deaf dog. "Why me?", I cried. "Why must I be hurt so badly over and over?" My husband and I talked it over and decided that we did not want a deaf dog because of the possible repercussions it would entail. We decided to return her the following day to the breeder and get another dog when the right time came. After returning Clover to the sheep ranch, we drove back to our town and drove to the school our kids attended. We were greeted by Erin's tears and Bryan's anger. Erin said she didn't care that Clover was deaf, she loved her anyway. Bryan's statement was most profound: "So what! Nobody is perfect. If I were deaf, would you have given me back?" Both my husband and I tried to explain that we didn't know how to raise and train a deaf dog and the responsibility of keeping her safe from harm's way would be tremendous, and frankly, we didn't want a deaf dog. Even Molly and Sassy were sad that Clover was gone. Sassy stopped eating and Molly stayed in her dog house throughout the day and night.
We stopped talking about Clover completely until Sunday night, while watching TV, I got an idea. I turned to my husband and asked him if there was any kind of remote device that we could use to train her to come. He said it was possible but that he didn't know of any. The next morning everyone took off for school and I began my Monday housecleaning ritual. My best thoughts come to me while vacuuming and once again, one hit me. I thought about how Clover accepted US and loved US as we were; why could we not do the same for her? I turned off the vacuum, got in the car and drove back to the sheep ranch with determination. The lady greeted me with tears and open arms. We cried for a time together and then went to the puppy pen where Clover laid off to the side and alone. I went in to the pen and picked her up and held her close to my heart. I knew I was doing the right thing for all of us, though I was a bit apprehensive about how I was going to explain this one to my husband.
The drive home was one which I will never forget. I kept thinking about how I was going to make Clover's life with us safe and what I needed to do in order to insure her of this. I arrived home a few hours before my husband was due and quickly had to think up a way to break my news to him gently. I put Clover outside with Molly after Sassy the cat welcomed her, and finished cleaning the house. When my husband arrived home, I said, "I did something today." He looked at me then said, "How much did you spend?" I told him to first go look at it in the garage. Curiosity overtook him as he slowly went to the door. He stepped out into the garage and found Clover curled up asleep next to Molly. He came back in with tears in his eyes and as we held each other he whispered, "I am so glad you went back and got her."
The time had come to go pick up Bryan from school. Steve decided he would do the honors while I stayed home to fold some laundry. I greeted Bryan as he came into the door with a hug and asked him to go empty the trash can into the large one in the garage. He went out the door to the garage and for two full minutes we heard nothing. The door opened slowly and he stuck his head in and asked, "She is still deaf, isn't she?" I answered, "Yes, is that okay?" He nodded yes and the door closed. It was time to go back to school and pick up Erin. Steve had a class he had to go to at Humboldt, so Bryan, Clover, and I went to collect Erin. We parked in our usual spot and Bryan got in the back seat and held Clover in his arms. Soon Erin arrived at the car with a really angry look on her face. I knew that look and it indicated too much homework! She got into the front seat and began to spew her angry thoughts about the teacher while Bryan sat in the back asking Erin to look. After his third time of asking her to turn around, Erin got angry and finally complied. When she turned and saw Clover, she quickly released her seat belt and jumped in the back seat and held Clover and cried. That final gesture was all conclusive; Clover was meant to BE.
During the next few weeks many wonderful things began to occur. We had her examined thoroughly and were given the final result of permanent genetic deafness. We accepted the final diagnosis and I proceeded to begin training Clover with hand signals. I was prepared for the times of utter frustration, but to my amazement, Clover easily learned her new hand signals in no time at all. We began to build a remote control vibration collar device from an old Radio Shack car that Bryan gave us for the project. It took us a few weeks to perfect the device and finally it worked. We used a canister that rolls of film are packed in to put the motor in. The receiving device was placed in a small plastic electrical box and the wires went from the antenna, to the box, then to the motor. To keep all the units waterproof, I sewed individual covers for the box and motor. These units were attached to a normal dog collar with velcro. The whole unit was lightweight and small, but did look a little funny around Clover's neck. The day came for the final test. Would Clover feel the motor spinning inside the film canister? We were ready... The first push on the remote control startled Clover to her feet! It worked! She felt it! All of us hugged and cried tears of joy at the same time. The only thing left was to train Clover to come to us whenever she felt the motor spin. This training took a total of three days for a 100% response. Now we had a dog that could run the beach unleashed safely with Molly and a dog that could enjoy her freedom.
Clover is now a healthy eleven year old deaf Border Collie and perhaps the best trained dog I have ever had. She no longer wears her remote device, as she has a Motorola pager we set on vibration mode and her own phone number. When we travel, Clover never needs to be leashed, although we do for our own piece of mind. She has taught us so many valuable lessons. The greatest lesson we learned is that perfection is only in the eyes of the beholder and one does not have to "hear" the words I love you, only FEEL them. We are blessed...
Clover crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Valentine's Day 2005. We miss her deeply...
