Piggy the Foster Puppy is Blind, Deaf, and Positively Pink, Becoming a Heartwarming Ambassador for Disabled Pets Everywhere

If you close your eyes and cover your ears, what senses do you have left? It’s pretty vulnerable to lose your two main senses, sight and hearing, but one doggo has managed to turn his Helen Keller situation into an amazing advocacy for disabled pets all over the country. Meet Piglet, a dachshund-chihuahua mix who got the short end of the stick with his genetics. He was born blind and deaf, but possesses one very eye-catching trait that has earned him some fame online… HE’S PINK!

u/pinkpigletpuppy

Piglet, also nicknamed ‘Piggy’, was rescued from a hoarding situation as a puppy along with his three litter-mates and his mother almost 6 years ago. When he arrived to his foster family’s home, he weighed only 1.5lbs and had a very distinctive pink color because the ultra thin white fur covering his body revealed the pinkish skin underneath. Almost immediately, his foster family noticed that he wasn’t responsive to visual or verbal commands and they realized he was blind and deaf. 

What was originally meant to be a 2 week foster ended up the way many foster-fails do and his foster family immediately fell in love with their little piglet. Piggy was officially adopted after stealing the hearts of his foster family. 

The reason that Piggy is both blind and deaf is because he was the result of breeding two “dapple colored” dogs, which posses a recessive gene. That means that the entire litter had a 25% chance of being “double dapple” which is a recessive color pattern that is linked to ear and eye defects which can result in deaf and/or blind puppies like Piglet. 

Because of his sensory disability, Piggy had some big behavioral problems early on, making it difficult for his new furrever family to train him. However, after learning the ropes and integrating Piglet into their dog pack at home (the family has 7+ dogs at a time usually due to their fostering), Piggy quickly became a member of the family. They learned that his fears were largely because of his size and his lack of senses, so they formed a strong bond with him, allowing a firm trust to brew between them and now Piggy is confident as ever. In fact, Piglet has become the ambassador of an educational awareness program that helps families overcome the same problems his family did. 

The Piglet Mindset Education Program has taught thousands of children and families about pet disabilities as well as inclusion, kindness, and resilience. Piglet has become an ambassador for diabled pets and people and has starred in several children’s books to help bring his message to the masses. 

Heat-seeking puppy

The sweet side of Piggy

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