Good Dog Award Winner – Keller the Double Merle

The Good Dog Blog will be awarding a weekly “Good Dog Award” for dogs doing good things and those doing good things for dogs. This week’s Good Dog Award goes to Keller, the Double Merle and her person Amanda Fuller. Amanda rescued Keller as a puppy when her breeder was going to shoot her because Keller wasn’t worth any money.  Keller thrived under Amanda’s care and now they’re on a mission to educate, advocate, and change the world for special needs dogs.

Keller was born with hearing and vision impairments, due to merle to merle breeding. Merle is a coat pattern of dog breeds such as Australian Shepherds, Border Collies, Great Danes, Shetland Sheepdogs, and others. When breeding occurs between two merle patterned dogs, each puppy from that litter has a 25% chance of inheriting the merle gene twice. The result is a puppy with a mostly white coat along with vision and hearing problems. These problems can range from slight deficits to complete blindness or deafness but are 100% preventable though education and more responsible breeding practices.

Due to the lack of resources on double merle breeding and special needs dogs, Amanda and Keller created Keller’s Cause, a non-profit organization dedicated to education, advocacy and making life better for special needs dogs and their families. Amanda and Keller travel to events across the US, demonstrating the special needs dogs are smart and beautiful and spreading the word about double merles.

Join Keller and Amanda in their mission by following them on Facebook, and donating to Keller’s Cause. Amanda and Keller also have a wonderful blog, Keller’s Cause, that contains valuable resources and information for those living with, training, and caring for special needs dogs.

Thank you Keller and Amanda, this week’s Good Dog Award winners, for creating awareness and being an inspiration for dogs with special needs!