DOG PROFILES

• Drunken Noodle

Despite being deaf and neurolgically challenged, Noodle has become a happy, functioning, loving member of our family

Drunken Noodle is by far our silliest dog. She always makes us laugh. She is an all white pit bull mixed with Dalmatian and maybe even Great Dane. She is completely deaf, as most all-white dogs are, and she has some neurological challenges as well.

Her depth perception is not very good, and she cannot gauge the distance of a step, the edge of her kennel, or even where the water level is in the water bowl. Her equilibrium is also off, as she tends to run in clockwise circles a lot and is not very coordinated. She also hops everywhere instead of using the alternating 4 legged mode that all dogs and cats use.

Noodle displaying her signature hopping technique.

When we first saw her in 2003, she was in a group kennel with 3 or 4 other dogs at Clackamas County Dog Control. It was so precious to see her lying there asleep while her kennel mates barked their heads off. The pleasures of being a deaf dog at an animal shelter. Since most people erroneously believe that deaf dogs are more aggressive or much harder to train, she was not getting adopted. Add to that her neurological challenges, and she stood almost no chance of ever finding a home. Since we already had one deaf dog, we took her without question.

Short of getting her an MRI, we do not really know what is wrong with her. She could have a seizure disorder, brain damage, retardation, birth defects, etc. But her attitude teaches us a lot about life, as she overcomes many obstacles to be the happiest dog we have.

Noodle shows off her speed during an outing in the snow.

She is friends with everybody and will chase the other dogs for hours if we let her. She enjoys lying in front of the heater and snuggling under the covers with us. She and Maui were both spayed on the same day, so they bonded as they recuperated together, and are now the best of friends.

She was named Drunken Noodle because she appears to be intoxicated when she walks or runs (Stumbling occasionally, going in circles, and hopping around running into things). Andshe is very skinny and white like a noodle. And Darren’s favorite Thai dinner is the very spicy Drunken Noodle. She is also known as Little Grub and Baby-nood.

Noodle gets her exercise during a hydrotherapy session.

Since arriving at our home, she has become far more coordinated with physical therapy and can now run full speed after Squiggle, who used to wait for her patiently to catch up. She has befriended pretty much all of our other dogs and loves playing and running around.

While at first she couldn’t climb the front two steps to our house or jump onto the couch unassisted, now she leaps these all day long with ease. Her next goal is to be able to jump up onto the bed unassisted, and we think she will do it soon.

She loves human companionship so much that she will follow us everywhere, even into the bathroom where she will actually jump into the shower with us. Noodle has taught us more about not letting anything hold you back and having a positive attitude despite anything in your way. She is a resilient and amazing dog.