From Unwanted to Heroine: Deaf Senior Sheltie Alerts Mom to Intruder

Shortly after losing her 15 year old sheltie, Tonka, and after a long day of yard work in late November, 2016, my best friend’s deaf 13 year old sheltie, Tova, started barking like crazy while she was in the shower. Sensing that something was wrong, Beth put on her robe and rushed to see what Tova was barking about. At the bottom of the steps to her basement was a man with a gun. Beth grabbed Tova and ran out the front door to her neighbor’s house and called the police.

The intruder had gained entry to Beth's house through an unlocked basement door. Nothing was taken from the home – including a chainsaw that was sitting beside the door the intruder came through. Tova, who earlier in the day hadn’t barked when someone rang the doorbell repeatedly, somehow sensed the intruder and alerted her mom to danger. The police think that there were two individuals working in tandem – one who created a distraction in the front of the house while another scoped out a way to get into the house in the back. Fortunately, their timing was a little off and they didn’t realize that a formerly ‘unwanted’ dog would thwart their evil intentions.

Beth adopted Tova when she was two as a companion to Tova's non-littermate brother, Tonka. She was returned to the breeder because she ‘just wasn’t working out’ with the new sheltie puppy (from another breeder) in the house. According to the owner, Tova played too rough with the puppy, barked too much, would spin, chewed up her toys, dribbled water when she drank and wanted to run around the back yard.

While none of the issues that resulted in her being returned were that significant, Tova does have some ‘quirks’ that would test a less patient and loving owner: she barks at the microwave and whenever someone sneezes; freaks out over aluminum foil; plays incessantly with empty soda bottles, and when she could hear, she’d howl to theme songs of certain tv shows. She has a fear of tall trees and sometimes has to be coaxed to go outside during the day. Tova has frequent ‘accidents’ in the house due to chronic urinary tract infections and Tova would even ‘forget’ her mom and bark at Beth like she was a stranger when Beth would come to pick her and Tonka up after they spent the weekend with me.

Whenever Beth would share Tova's antics, I would tell her that Tova lucked out when she came to live with her since most people wouldn’t put up with all of her idiosyncrasies. Now, I think Beth is the lucky one. Her rescue rescued her. I thank God that Beth 'listened' to Tova's warning and that Tova sensed the danger in her home. Interestingly, Tova didn’t bark at any of the policemen – all strangers – while they were interviewing Beth. Just goes to show that even an older, deaf, and (formerly) unwanted sheltie can still exhibit the best qualities of the breed when it counts: loyalty, intelligence, and love.