Princess the Deaf and Blind Koolie

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Princess the Deaf and Blind Koolie Princess sadly passed away from cancer on 31/10/23. Princess brought joy to a lot of people, she also helped other dogs like her.

Through this page, her legacy will continue with the help of Sprite, who is a Deaf and 80% Blind Double Merle Koolie x girl. Princess was born without eyes and is deaf as a result of Merle to Merle breeding, she is what is known as a ‘Double Merle’. We hope to spread awareness to prevent other dogs being born with these 100% preventable disabilities. Before being adopted in 2017, Princess spent ov

er 6 years in an enclosure as she was kept by hoarders. Sadly, in that time she did not receive the training or mental and physical stimulation that every dog needs, which has had a lasting impact on her. Thankfully though, she has come a long way and now lives a life worth living. One of the aims of this page is to raise awareness of the dangers of breeding two merle coated dogs together, in hopes that it may prevent other dogs from being born with hearing and vision impairments, as these impairments are 100% PREVENTABLE. The other aim is to show people that dogs with hearing and/or vision impairments are still ‘normal’ and can live happy and fulfilling lives when in the right home. You can help raise awareness by sharing the pinned post on this page!

15/01/2025

Sprite is so adorable when she’s having a dream, especially with that little tongue poking out. 😍

Last Friday we took Sprite to visit her foster Mum, AKA Aunty Dee, so she could see how much progress she has made.We we...
08/01/2025

Last Friday we took Sprite to visit her foster Mum, AKA Aunty Dee, so she could see how much progress she has made.

We were all curious to see if Sprite would be excited to see Dee, after being in foster care with her for 9 months. Dee met us out the front without the rest of the dogs, Sprite was a bit unsure to start with.

As we went inside, and Dee let her dogs out one by one to say hello, Sprite realized where she was she relaxed and started greeting all her foster friends. But, the biggest reaction came when she saw Ari, who she was best friends with. They both lit up with excitement and got so playful together. They even took a dip in one of the water troughs in the back paddock together.

Dee, who is the owner of Adelaide Canine Behaviour and Training, has some exciting things going on in the background that I’ve had a very small role in helping with. It’s still in the planning and approval stage, but we were fortunate to be shown where everything will be and what she plans to do. Without saying too much, what is in the works will be wonderful for dogs like Sprite, and any other dog that needs extra care and attention to live happy and fulfilling lives. I can’t wait to see it all finished!

On this particular visit, a big win for me was progress made with Dee’s gorgeous Maremma x, Daisy, who I refer to as a ‘giant Sky’ as she is really anxious like our little old girl was. Whenever I visit, I bring a box of doggy cookies and each time Daisy has gotten a little bit more comfortable with me. She has gone from eating a cookie I’ve tossed into her crate, to stepping out of her crate, to walking up behind me and taking the cookie if I’m not looking at her, to this time SITTING NEAR ME and allowing soft pats from me without any whale eyes or moving away. I could not be more proud of this girl, she even gave Lee a little kiss!

As always it was great to visit Dee and her dogs, time always flies when we’re together. 💜

What a difference a week can make!For Christmas/New Years this year, we did a 2 day road trip to spend Christmas with Le...
06/01/2025

What a difference a week can make!

For Christmas/New Years this year, we did a 2 day road trip to spend Christmas with Lee’s side of the family in Port Lincoln.

We stayed with my brother and sister in law, their 3 young daughters and Maple their sausage dog.

Not only was staying in a house with 4 adults, 3 kids and a little dog new for Sprite, she also met various other family and family friends on our trip.

We knew this was out of her comfort zone, and were a little worried about how she’d cope.

I’m pleased to say that Sprite did better than we ever imagined she would, after a few days she snuggled up to Lee’s brother on the lounge, and started to follow the kids around. She handled every social gathering beautifully, eventually even walking up to new people for a treat or sniff.

She also made friends with Maple, her sausage dog cousin. They did zoomies and played bitey-face just about non stop.

We watched Sprites confidence grow in leaps and bounds. Although she still needs to gain trust in you to allow you to pat her, she seems more willing to approach people when she sees that Mummy and Daddy are friendly with them.

Such a big, brave girl! 💜

31/12/2024
31/12/2024

2024, the year Sprite joined our family!

For the first few months we focused on gaining her trust and settling her in, only allowing my parents and close friends to interact with her. Now we are putting her out of her comfort zone with meeting more people and a few select dogs.

In the 8 months that we’ve had Sprite she has changed so much, from a dog who was so terrified she hid behind everything she could, to a happy girl growing her confidence daily.

We have shared so many cuddles, Sprite is the most cuddly dog we’ve ever had. Not only does she love cuddles, but she will sometimes demand them by climbing onto your lap. She has such a beautiful nature when she’s comfortable with you.

Sprite and Shayla have a great bond too, Sprite has used Shayla as a bit of a guide and comfort blanket, which has helped her so much.

This little Munchkin has come so far and I know she will only continue to expand her comfort zone. Months ago I accepted that she may never be as confident around strangers as Princess was, but seeing her progress excel recently I’m now hopeful that she one day will be as outgoing as her big sisters.

I can’t wait to see Sprite continue to transform in 2025, and for all the adventures and cuddles we will share in the new year!

💜 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 💜

We met Sprite for the first time 1 year ago today.When we met her, we were still deep in grief after losing Princess, so...
30/12/2024

We met Sprite for the first time 1 year ago today.

When we met her, we were still deep in grief after losing Princess, so we weren’t in the frame of mind to view her as our next dog.

Sprite was so terrified of strangers that she stayed in her crate and growled when I tried to give her a treat. After that I let her be and that was the only interaction we had.

Now, with the help of her amazing foster Mum setting her up for success and mine and Lee’s experience with nervous dogs, she has really come out her shell.

She is still unsure of the world and new people, but her confidence has grown so much that she even pushes the boundaries on her own with her Mum and Dad there for support. We can see that she gets proud of herself when she realizes that a new person or environment aren’t so scary after-all.

There’s really nothing more rewarding than seeing an animals transformation when they’ve had a rough start to life, as many Double Merles sadly do.

29/12/2024

Sprite had her first trip to the beach today and she absolutely loved it!

I can’t wait to take her to another beach tomorrow.

28/12/2024

Looks like Spritely has a new best friend in her cousin, Maple. 🥰

28/12/2024

We’ve been staying with my brother-in-law and family for the past 4 days and today Sprite started playing with her baby cousin, Maple the Dachshund. 🥰

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🐶🎁🎅🏻🤶🏻🎄This is Sprites first Christmas with us, Santa Paws made sure she got spoilt with both girls get...
24/12/2024

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🐶🎁🎅🏻🤶🏻🎄

This is Sprites first Christmas with us, Santa Paws made sure she got spoilt with both girls getting new lickimats and toys.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Love Sprite and Shayla 💜

‼️ A few weeks ago I was contacted by a reporter from the Advertiser who was tasked with writing an article about SAHARA...
23/12/2024

‼️ A few weeks ago I was contacted by a reporter from the Advertiser who was tasked with writing an article about SAHARA formerly SA Dog Rescue, which is where Princess came from. (Princess was at their Black Springs property, the reporter visited their Morgan property)

SAHARA have been getting reported to the RSPCA for many years by volunteers, foster carers, adopters and at least one vet.

Carole Morris, who founded SAHARA formerly SA Dog Rescue, and her partner Shane Jones, were finally convicted of animal cruelty in 2022 after pleading guilty to avoid going to trial.

Despite the above, they still play themselves out to be the victims, not the animals. If a volunteer leaves and reports them to the RSPCA they are labeled as “disgruntled volunteers” or “haters”.

Because of this, to show the Advertiser reporter that the information he was provided with was not from alleged “haters” the reporter was also supplied with statements from 14 other volunteers. Although with a limit of 800 words for the article, most of the evidence and information that was supplied couldn’t be included in the article.

What’s more likely, that there’s a group of “haters” trying to destroy a rescue for no real reason, OR, a lot of former volunteers have witnessed animal cruelty, hoarding and neglect with their own eyes and want to give the animals a voice.

There’s also always mention that the RSPCA are “targeting the competition”, “harass rescues and sanctuaries”, and are “only interested in money”. If that were the case, then other sanctuaries in SA, such as Freedom Hill and Furever Farm, would also be getting raided, but they don’t have any issues with the RSPCA or any other animal welfare animal agency.

The excuse that the RSPCA are trying to get money is laughable. The investigation in 2019 was handed over to The Department of Environment and Water due to a conflict of interest with SAHARA and the RSPCA SA each receiving a bequest of $1.8mil. So there was nothing for the RSPCA to gain, and Carole/Shane/SAHARA had plenty of funds to defend themselves.

I’m fairly sure that Oscar’s Law isn’t a “hate group”, they too have tried to help the animals. In 2022 they posted drone footage of the Morgan property, which showed horses eating garbage, a blind dog (that wasn’t blind when he arrived) with green slush in his water, and laying on rocks, no bedding whatsoever. The footage also showed another dog trying to escape being attacked by flies, he had dug a hole next to a bush to try and escape.

SAHARA recently had their charity license revoked by the ACNC and CBS, I suppose they are ‘in on it’ too.

The most laughable excuse that has been given for the article reflecting them badly is that the reporter is supposedly “in a relationship” with a “hater”. That’s funny, because the other firmer volunteer is 70, so certainly not in the same age group at the reporter. I’m in a long term relationship so definitely not involved with me. But the funny part is, the reporter likes MEN and all the former volunteers who speak out against SAHARA are FEMALE.

The excuses are ridiculous, and the lengths Carole, Shane and others associated with SAHARA continue to make to take the attention away from their animal neglect and cruelty are an absolute disgrace.

When you have 70 horses in your ‘care’, posting photos of a few that look decent is not proving anyone wrong and is not a valid defense. They also posted photos of a pregnant horse, named Nutcracker. It is allegedly an old photo, but regardless of when the photo was taken, Nutcracker was BORN at their Black Springs property in January 2016. No genuine rescue or sanctuary BREEDS their animals. There is no excuse for a animal to fall pregnant with a rescue or sanctuary, if they can’t afford to have the males castrated then you keep all males and females separated. I witnessed many long term animals pregnant, so this was not a once off.

There is no excuse for animal cruelty and neglect, and anyone who reports animal cruelty is not a hater anymore than someone who reports child abuse is.

‼️ The article text, as well as other photos and links are in the comments.‼️

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Sprite and Shayla got their Christmas presents early from their Nanna and Grandad. Even though they each got given the same toy, Sprite still wanted whichever one Shayla was playing with. Typical, annoying little sister, hey Shayla. 😊

Spritely has been showing more and more interest in playing with balls lately. Being deaf and vision impaired, she may not be able to play fetch over longer distances, but she does sometimes get to the ball before Shayla when we play at home. 💜

The biggest challenge I’ve faced with Sprite is her destruction of toys. Shayla LOVES plush toys, she babies them and one of my favourite things she does is pick up a toy in the morning and run to the back door with it. Unfortunately, we had to put ALL the soft toys away as Sprite was destroying them, but thankfully we did this before she could get to Shayla’s favourites Moo and Gingerman. I bought numerous toys for ‘aggressive chewers’ and still, within minutes they had ‘exploded’ all over the floor. I hate to admit that for a time I was stressed about not being able to meet Sprite’s needs, no matter how hard I tried. BUT… We have made progress! Although Shayla’s toys are still on ‘vacation’, Sprite can now have supervised play with soft toys. As well as being redirected with something she can chew on, Sprite also seems to be learning from Shayla about what soft toys are for. I’m so happy for this progress! 💜

Someone’s got the ZOOMIES! Yes, Sprite, Mum saw you slide into the back door, crazy girl! 🥰

This afternoon I did a quick training session with Sprite to teach her ‘lay down’. Using her Koolie super smarts, she picked it up after a few goes, although she’ll need more practice before she’s got it down packed. I’ve also been teaching Shayla the same hand signals Sprite uses for things such as ‘good girl’ and ‘come’. This will streamline things a bit when communicating with both girls together. 💜

Sprite giving a check in with Mum then it’s back to play time. Being deaf and vision impaired it’s so important to have a reliable ‘check in’. We were in an enclosed area today, so didn’t use treats, but when out in the open, we bring the treat pouch with us just incase. I’m loving your progress, little Spritey Whitey!

💜 Sprite has been a part of our family for SIX MONTHS today! 💜 That time has gone so quick. We are absolutely smitten with our little Spritely. There have been some challenges over the past 6 months; Sprite has done a great job of pushing our buttons at times. But I feel that we are, finally, over the hill and she’s started to settle down. Having said that, I couldn’t be more proud of the progress Sprite has made in a short time. She still has a long way to go, but her confidence has grown so much. She rarely uses her ‘safe space’ anymore, and although she won’t yet go up to people on her own she doesn’t often retreat when people come to visit. Sprite will also happily sit on my parents lap, but only if I’m near her. Due to her low vision, she can startle easily on our walks, mainly when the wind blows something like a leaf and she doesn’t see it until the last second. But approaching people, and even kids on bikes ,which I was worried about after the incident where her lead broke and she ended up on the road, she will check in with me and/or Shayla and when she knows we’re not fussed she is a lot calmer. I am learning a lot from Sprite, while I am experienced with an anxious dog, I feel that her low vision plays a big part in her being a bit jumpy and unsure of the world. That’s where building our bond and her trust in us makes all the difference. We have mainly focused on helping Sprite feel safe and being able to be off lead, and now that she’s doing well with that we’ve started to focus more on other areas with her training. She is a smart girl, as Koolies are, and has picked most things up fairly easily. Sprite and Shayla have a wonderful friendship; Shayla is being an amazing big sister and tells her little sister off when she’s being a bit of a turd during play. It makes me so happy seeing them run around together. I have a feeling Sprite is getting an interest in balls too, so we’ll see if she pick the ball up du

Younger siblings always want the toy their older sibling is playing with… 😊

Dog’s ears are loaded with nerve endings. When you rub them, they send signals to the brain that increases endorphins, the feel-good hormone.

My first cuddle with Spritely on Princess’s swing. Sprite was quite content, I’m glad she likes it so we can enjoy many more cuddles on it together like Princess and I used to. 🥰

Sprite loved having her breakfast in the snuffle mat this morning, giving that snoz a good workout! This particular one is special as it was gifted to us after Tyra the Deaf and Blind Koolie passed away, so I always think of Tyra when using it. You can see a snippet of Shayla enjoying her snuffle mat too, it shows how bouncy she gets due to her condition, Cerebellar Ataxia.

Shayla making sure Sprite has a clean face, what a good big sister! 🥰

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Princess’s Story

Princess was born deaf and blind, she doesn't have eyes as they never developed.

Princess, along with the rest of her litter, were taken in by an organization called SAHARA formerly SA Dog Rescue not long after they were born. When Princess's fully abled siblings were old enough, they were adopted out into homes of their own. Sadly, Princess was denied this opportunity and was kept in various enclosures for over 6 years, she was not up for adoption.

Princess shared a kennel with her also deaf and blind brother, Elmo. Elmo was a healthy puppy but sadly died at the shelter, those responsible for his safety would never explain what happened to him. However they told me that Princess escaped various times and they were worried that if she got into a "dog aggressive" area that she would be killed.

It took a lot of convincing for the supposed animal rescue to allow Princess to be adopted, but thankfully they eventually did. In the beginning we watched her like a hawk in case she tried to jump the fence or try to escape, but she hasn't done either. She wasn't an escape artist, just a desperate dog who wanted a better life.