Name: Radar (5 y/o) & Piper (3 y/o)
Family Members: Christina & Brian, Chihuahuas: Emilio (10 y/o), Gabi (7 y/o), Little Miss Birdie Smalls (3 y/o), Foster Pup - June (3 y/o)
How long have Radar and Piper been in the family? Radar was rescued 5 years ago at 8 mths old and Piper was rescued 3 years ago at 12 weeks old.
Professions: Christina: Attorney and Board Member of Laskey's Lucky Ones & Volunteers, Brian: Software Developer
Location: Duluth, GA.
Nicknames: Radar: Buddy Piper: Pipes
5 of the best words/phrases that describe Radar & Piper?
Radar:
- Smart
- Anxious
- Observant
- Cuddly
- Power-Chewer
Piper:
- Goofy
- Loving
- Lively
- Smiley
- Outgoing
What makes Radar & Piper unique? Radar's breed mix is pretty spectacular, we did his DNA test, 50% American Staffordshire Terrier, 25% Rat Terrier and 25% mixed breed, he is 30lbs full grown. Piper was born deaf and we’ve trained her on about 12-15 different hand signals.
Radar and those amazing ears!
Piper, a natural born model!
Rescue Stories: We adopted Radar in January, 2012. At the time we had a dalmatian (he passed away in December, 2012) and two chihuahuas (Gabi and Emilio - both still a part of the family). We were specifically looking for a medium-size dog. We saw Radar's picture online and we drove about an hour to meet him at Petsmart. The rescue told us that he had been pulled from Clayton County Animal Control several days earlier. The chihuahuas (sort of) approved and we decided to take him home. They told us that Radar was a "terrier mix." We both kind of laughed because we knew that was code for "pit bull" mix. We hadn't owned a pittie before and really had no experience with the breed but we didn't have any hesitations. Just for fun, we did Radar's DNA test. He is 50% American Staffordshire Terrier, 25% Rat Terrier (ears!) and 25% mixed toy breeds. He's full grown at 30 lbs. We call him our "Half Staff."
Piper, her mom, and her entire litter were surrendered to animal control when the puppies were only a few days old. The mom was so emaciated that she couldn’t feed them. The puppies had to be bottle-fed. Unfortunately, they all also got Parvo and half of the litter died. Piper’s foster mom did an amazing job of keeping her happy and healthy until we adopted her at 12 weeks old. We saw her picture and story on Facebook and knew that she was supposed to be a part of our family. Our deaf Dalmatian had passed away about 8 months prior and we were happy to open our home to another deaf baby.
Radar's Gotcha Day!
Welcome home Piper!
What is your favorite pastime as a family? One of the favorite past times of all of our dogs is lounging outside, in the sun, on the deck sofa and daybed. We also enjoy taking our dogs to pack walks.
What is life like since you rescued Radar & Piper? Radar has been a part of our family for five years now. I won't lie, he has been a challenge. We have invested a great deal of time, energy and money into Radar's training. We never thought about giving up on him. He is a family member and we love him dearly. I'm happy to say we've found the perfect training program for him and he is much more well-adjusted and easy to manage. We're so thankful that we rescued him!
We don’t have human kids. Our dogs are a huge and important part of our lives. We love them unconditionally, and they give it right back.
Photographers Note: 6 dogs!! A new Shine A Light family photo record, although I will admit it may be slightly tainted by the fact that 3 of the dogs are easily handled due to their size! It was so much fun meeting this family and their crew. Between Radar's ears (and the goal of getting them to stand up), Piper's very expressive face and June's antics, going through all of their family shots to choose the final had me laughing. Upon our arrival, (my mother was visiting from Michigan and got to join in on the fun) we tried our best to ignore Piper and Radar to give them a chance to relax and get use to strangers being in their house. Thankfully we had Miss Birdie to keep us occupied, such a love that one! After the calming period, Radar is by far more reserved then his younger sister. Piper just wants to give/get love and lots of kisses. Not having a lot of experience with deaf dogs, being able to communicate with her via sign language was pretty special. I especially enjoyed her trick of not looking at you, if she thought the signal was going to be something she didn't want to do, like " No". Smart girl!