After months at shelter, deaf dogs find forever home

EVANSDALE — Call it puppy love.

Blue is a blue-eyed, energetic American bulldog, always ready to run and play. Lady, a pit bull, is a sweetheart, somewhat shy and a little lazy.

The dogs are inseparable, each other’s shadow — a devoted pair. And they’re both deaf.

Blake Delagardelle and his wife, Nicole, adopted the dogs from Cedar Bend Humane Society in Waterloo, but at different times.

Blue won Blake’s heart first. After the loss of their 17-year-old pointer Princess, the couple took a kennel, toys and other items to donate to the animal shelter in July 2023.

“Nicole said, ‘Let’s just take a look at the dogs,’ and there was Blue in one of the kennels. I thought she was cute. She jumped up on a wall and inched her way over to me,” he recalled. “That face, those bright blue eyes and the slow way she inched over to me … it was adorable.”

And he was smitten. He didn’t know Blue was deaf until shelter workers told him.

“We thought about what it would mean having a deaf dog. We decided it wasn’t a problem, that we could figure it out,” he said.

They filled out paperwork and planned a meet-and-greet for Gizmo, their 17-year-old Chihuahua, with the 65-pound American bulldog.

Someone else was interested in adopting Blue, too. But several days later, Blue still was at the shelter. Blake Delagardelle called Cedar Bend and spoke with adoption counselor Ann Barnard.

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Blue originally came into the shelter as a stray on Aug. 8, 2022. She was returned to the shelter in April 2023, adopted again on June 1, 2023, and returned the next day “because she was too much to handle,” said Barnard.

Delagardelle had no qualms. “I told Ann, ‘I want Blue,’” he said. On July 6, Blue was on her way to her new forever home.

“She’s a super-happy dog, always ready to play and has lots of energy. I’m an athletic guy, and I like being active, too.”

Blue loves going to the dog park with Delagardelle where she runs and plays off her energy. Until Lady, Blue’s best friend was a Corgi.

“We made a mistake of not socializing our pointer with other dogs, and we didn’t want to make that mistake again,” he said. “There’s a group of 13 of us who text each other — ‘Are you going to the park tonight?’ — and new friends have been brought into the group.”

Delagardelle regularly took Blue out to Cedar Bend to visit with counselor Barnard, who has a soft spot in her heart for the big dog.

“Blue is a handful — an escape artist, exuberant and excitable. She’s a special-needs dog and just a special dog. It’s an emotional thing for me. I love seeing how far she’s come,” said Barnard.

Lady’s story is similar. She came into the shelter as a stray in February 2023 and was reclaimed by her owner. In October 2023, animal control brought her into the shelter again and the owner relinquished ownership to Cedar Bend.

“She was another beautiful, white deaf dog. No one was looking at her. She became one of our longest residents. These dogs shut down in the shelter. Lady rarely came to the front of her kennel, and she never really knew what was going on around her,” Barnard recalled.

On a whim, she called Delagardelle in January. “I said, ‘you’re not going to believe it — we have another beautiful, white female deaf dog.’ I told Blake I didn’t want him to feel like I was pushing him into it, but I wanted him to see this dog.”

The Delagardelles met Lady and, again, there was an instant connection. “My wife wasn’t sure if she wanted another big dog. She wanted a cuddle dog, but I said, ‘come with me and take a look.’ She fell in love with Lady,” Delagardelle said.

“Adopting Blue was partly, ‘Who is going to adopt a deaf dog? Nobody.’ So I said I’ll give it a try,” he said. “With Lady, her chances were not very good for getting adopted. We brought her home as a foster. With two deaf dogs, you never know how it’s going to go.”

Blue was excited — “a little sketchy at first,” he said, but she calmed down. When they arrived at home, the pair jumped out of the truck and started playing. “They instantly became friends.”

Barely one day after getting Lady home, the couple made the adoption final. Of course, it’s not been all hearts and flowers.

“There have been hiccups along the way, but Blake has never given up. He’s so patient with the dogs and willing to work with them. I look at them now and they’re both happy and goofy — and Blake absolutely loves them both,” Barnard said.

The dogs are roughly about 2 years old. Lady loves napping, but when it’s time to play, she plays hard. Blue likes to wander and pester Lady. They adore peanut butter smeared on Milk Bone treats and love gnawing and squeaky toys.

“Blue likes her daddy time playing tug of war,” Delagardelle said, laughing.

The Delagardelles work patiently to communicate with their deaf dogs using eye contact and hand signals. They also talk to their dogs so the pups will recognize facial expressions.

“Blue knows her hand signals and Lady is still learning. Eye contact is vital,” Delagardelle said. “They have to see you to know what you want. The only thing is, when we’re at the dog park, I can’t call them to come back. I wave and Blue will come. Lady watches Blue to see what she’s going to do.”

Deaf dogs are as smart and can learn as quickly as hearing dogs. Socialization is important.

Because they can’t hear anyone approaching from behind or while sleeping, they can be easily startled and react defensively. The Delagardelles are diligent in desensitizing their dogs to touch with frequent, gentle touches and “good-girl” treats.

Tail wagging is a universal language.

“Blue and Lady are leaps and bounds ahead of where they started. Having two deaf dogs in the shelter and one person adopts them both, that’s so special,” said Barnard.

“We’re adapting to the lifestyle of having deaf dogs. I absolutely love it. My wife loves it 90 percent of the time,” Delagardelle explained, with a laugh.

“Finally, these dogs are having happy lives. For me, it’s giving dogs a forever home who might not have another chance. There are so many dogs at the shelter who need homes. It’s not fair for a dog to live its life in a kennel,” he said.

Bernard added, “It breaks your heart to see dogs out here who need homes. These dogs got lucky and found their forever home.”