Back in April my husband and I were strolling up Congress Avenue in Austin and we stopped in to the Austin Pets Alive location to visit with the dogs who were looking for new homes. Austin Pets Alive rescues dogs that are in dire situations. Being dog lovers ourselves we always stop by when we are in town to at least make a small donation and give the resuced dogs a little love. We had ZERO intantions on adopting a dog that day but....there was a very special puppy there...and ....well....you know the rest.
Our newest addition is Edsel a Bull Terrier and Blue Heeler mix ....they think! You can definately see the Bull Terrier in him.One of the things that makes Edsel so special is the fact that he is TOTALLY DEAF! This is one of the reasons we just had to adopt him once we figured it out that day. We feared that if we didn't bring him home someone else might get him and not understand that he was a special needs dog and something bad might happen to the dog.
Edsel has had some training since then through a deaf dog class and we are all learning American Sign Language. Things like sit, stay, lay down, in, out, good boy, love you, etc. But a big challenge is keeping Edsels attention and getting him to come when he is "called". So Edsel has to either be on a leash or behind fencing ( for the time being) which limits our use of some of the great dog parks that are in Austin and the surrounding towns.
But we keep Edsel quite busy. He goes kayaking with us at Lady Bird Lake in Austin and there are lots of dog friendly restaurants where we go for lunch afterwards. And if we want to let him play we take him to the Riverside Bark Park which is located right at Riverside and the I-35 in downtown Austin. This Bark Park is fully fenced and has seperate large and small dog play areas. Edsel loves his play time there. 
We also take him to the Bastrop Bark Park and the Smithville Bark Park here in Bastrop County when we don't have time to drive in to Austin. Both of these Bark Parks are also set up with small and large dog areas and although they are newer that the Riverside Bark Park and they don't get as many dogs visiting they are set up well and are getting more and more use every day.
Although having a deaf dog presents it's problems, Edsel has been a wonderful addition to our lives and we love taking him to the Austin area Bark Parks!
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