Meet Colin - The deaf American Bull Dog pup who spent time being fostered with Sarah Fisher and her partner, Anthony Head, before appearing on BBC1's "Animal Rescue Live' on July 30th, 2007.

Colin has now been rehomed - read Colin's updates, from Sarah, here on his very own web page.

Colin is an American Bull Dog pup who is on foster with us here at Tilley Farm. He belongs to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and is being filmed for BBC Animal Rescue Live.

Colin came to the farm on Friday 22nd June and will stay with us until the 30th July learning to sit, lie down, walk to heel and so on. As he is deaf we cannot work with a clicker but he is a very fast learner and loves to work. We are teaching him sign language and we are using a little American flag to ask him to sit and lie down so that we can show that deaf dogs are easy to train and great fun.

During his stay Colin will be going out and about so that he can meet people, other dogs, horses etc. He has already been shopping in Bath with Tony, Daisy and me and naturally he gained many admirers. He was invited into a couple of shops where he worked his charm on the assistants. When he met new friends he behaved impeccably and enjoyed all the fuss.

Colin and Sally. Enlarge image

Colin has regular interaction with other dogs which is a very important part of puppy development. His best friend is Sally, a young Springer Spaniel who came to live with my assistant, Tina, at the farm last autumn. He is learning to be gentler with his mouth (those puppy teeth HURT!) and is grasping the concept of dog body language although naturally he is at a slight disadvantage because he cannot hear the

other dogs when they vocalise.

On the plus side, deaf dogs do not mind about thunder, are not disturbed by noises at night, ignore the vacuum cleaner and do not kick off if they hear another dog barking in the neighbourhood.

We will add more to this web page as we go along and will let you all know when Colin finds his new home.

If you are considering adopting Colin you must have had previous experience with Bull breeds and must obviously be an appropriate home. For more information please contact Battersea Dogs and Cats Home (not Tilley Farm).

June 27th

Colin went to the seaside. He came with me to Suffolk when I went to stay with my mother who is also a TTouch Practitioner. He loved the beach and even went to check out a piece of modern art. He was perfect in the house

More fans joined the Colin Club as we walked around Aldeburgh and he enjoyed meeting a group of school children on the sea front. He was perfect in the car both on the way to Suffolk and back even though the journey was long and boring due to the awful weather. He is truly a remarkable, engaging pup who is a joy to have around.

July 4th

Where do you take a young American Bull pup on Independence Day? Well somewhere frightfully British of course so we packed his bags and went to The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst for an overnight stay at Government House.

Here Colin made more acquaintances and gained yet more fans including two young Labradors who reside here with their owners who are our good friends. He played, barked, raided the bin, slept, ate, played, ran around the house, slept, ate more, played more and crashed early after an exciting day sleeping through until 8.30am.

After breakfast he walked around the grounds with Tony, played with his new canine friends, and then slept all the way home in the car.

Click on the thumbnails below to view pictures of Colin's day at Sandhurst:

July 7th

The crew from BBC Animal Rescue Live came to film Colin here at the farm. He was a star of course and for the most part was very focused although he briefly changed behaviour the moment we started filming and barked and barked and barked in great excitement as he was showing off his flag routine!!!!!! Mmmmmm - more for me to work on over the next few days! He is learning to turn left and right with a signal from the flag and will be learning more over the weekend. We are having such fun with him. He is a real delight.

July 8th

Colin continues to grow and is eating like a horse although it doesn't show much. We think the food is all going to his bones, muscles and brain! He remains a delight and is getting gorgeous floppy jowls.

My good friend Marie Miller came to the farm for the day to meet Colin. She was very impressed with his flag routine, which he executed perfectly in front of his admirers. She started to teach him to target a large red button, which says 'That was easy!' in an American accent. Of course Colin can't hear the voice but he started to really get the hang of it by watching Marie's own dog push the button with her paw.

July 9th

I had to go away for four days teaching workshops with service dogs so I packed Colin's pyjamas and he went to stay with a friend, Cat, in Stratton on the Fosse. He played with a neighbour's dog and went across the road for more play dates with another dog. He came to the farm every day with Cat who keeps her horse here with us and in the evenings curled up on Cat's lap to sleep. He looked HUGE when I returned and was rather vocal!!!! I think he missed his training sessions and was thrilled when the American flag appeared. He hasn't forgotten a thing. He is one smart pup!

July 15th

We are filming some animal sequences for another BBC show and the crew came to the farm along with a presenter to watch me work with a lovely pony called Flame. Colin joined us for lunch in the barn and showed off his little routine, which we are adding to on a daily basis. I put the red button on the floor and Colin ran straight to the button and bashed it with his paw. We haven't practised this since Marie's visit so it was very impressive. Had he not already been deaf he would have suffered hearing loss from my screams of excitement. Clever, clever pup. Colin then helped the presenter with her piece to camera. It had rained a lot and Colin dragged the presenter all over the place. He had sussed quite quickly that she didn't know anything about dogs - in fact she was scared of dogs and took full advantage of the situation. Despite his behaviour Colin won her over and she thought he was gorgeous even though she was wet and muddy by the end. He definitely played to the camera and it should look very funny. Perhaps he should have a career in television.

Click to enlarge image

The last two weeks of Colin's training was fun and rewarding as usual.

He was a star and proved that to the nation when he made his television debut on Animal Rescue Live  on July 30th, 2007

He performed perfectly and behaved impeccably even though he had to show off his routine in lead as the area we were filming in was completely open. He would probably have been just fine off lead but with so many distractions and only a few minutes to show just how incredible this pup was, I felt it best for all parties

The phone lines went mad after his routine and Colin was finally rehomed to a couple near Cardiff. Colin lives with cats, sleeps quietly in his bed on the landing at night and is learning sign language as one of his new owners is Deaf. A perfect home for this perfect pup. (And I apologise to his new owners for the early demise of their Yucca)