Keller is a dog with a cause
Like most dogs, Keller likes to go on walks, exploring her surroundings and cuddling with her owner.
But life is a little different for Keller compared to the average canine. The 3-year-old Australian shepherd is deaf and visually impaired.
“She was born to a greedy breeder, and they wanted to shoot her because of her disabilities,” said Keller’s owner, Amanda Fuller, who rescued the pup in July 2013.
Keller is what’s known as a double merle, a type of dog that can be born when two dogs with merle coats are bred together. Double merles have a high probability of being deaf, blind or both, Fuller said.
Keller has been leading a happy, healthy life under Fuller’s care — and gained a bit of celebrity. The Cecil County resident made a Facebook page for Keller to help educate people about disabled dogs, and it “gained quite a following,” Fuller said. (The page has over 20,000 likes.)
So Fuller decided to take it a step further. She created Keller’s Cause, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of merle-to-merle breeding and promoting the adoption of special-needs dogs.
“You can just see people come up to our
Pet people
dogs and have skepticism all over their face … and then they realize, ‘Oh wow, they’re normal,’ ” Fuller said.
Keller may be “normal,” but she’s certainly not boring.
“She has a lot of little quirks to her and is constantly entertaining me,” Fuller said.
Ultimately, Fuller hopes to share what she’s learned from Keller with as many people as she can. “She’s taught me a lot,” she said. baltimoresun.com/unleashed. baltimoresunstore.com