Featured Animal

Nollie
Australian Cattle Dog/Blue Heeler / Great Pyrenees / Mixed (medium coat)

​

Jax is as cute as they come! His blue eyes, Ewok ears, and wavy coat add up to a completely adorable pup. And his sweet, playful personality put him over the top on the cuteness scale.

Jax was picked up as a stray, so we don't know anything about his parents. We're guessing that one of them is an Aussie carrying the double-merle gene that gives him his blue eyes and deafness. Based on his size, we're not sure whether the other parent was an Aussie or maybe a Great Pyrenees. His size at his current age seems larger than we would expect for a full Aussie, but it's hard to say for sure how big he will get.

Jax appears to be completely deaf, so he will need a special adopter who will work with him to teach him hand signs for commands. We have limited experience with deaf dogs -- Jax is only our second rescue with this issue -- but about the only challenge we face is getting the dog's attention. Since he can't hear us calling his name, we must usually get close enough to touch the dog to get his attention. We've been told that using a shock collar on the lowest setting -- VIBRATE ONLY -- is a good training tool, but we haven't tried that yet. The most important thing -- other than loving him and giving him the same good care you would give to any puppy -- is to keep him safely confined to home with supervised excursions to a well-fenced yard, or on a secure leash attached to harness. This is because Jax can't hear potential dangers -- menacing dogs, speeding cars, all the things that a hearing pup might run away from.

If you're interested in Jax, please complete an application on our website at www.bluebonnetrescue.org.