Charlotte Little found the Great Lakes Humane Society near her home on a bike ride two years ago.
Since then, Little, 14, has returned almost every day. She’s currently working with an 8-month-old puppy named Penny.
The Jack Russell/pitbull mix has a condition called merle ocular dysgenesis. Penny was born deaf and partially blind.
According to Tuscola County Animal Control, someone gave Penny away in a Walmart parking lot.
A few weeks later, the dog was surrendered to their custody.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, a foster family took Penny in. But after some time, she was returned to the animal control facility, then to the Great Lakes Humane Society.
Although Penny’s conditions may seem like a challenge, Linda Gottwald, executive director of the GL Humane Society, said the young puppy has had many successes — thanks to Little’s help.
“I don’t know what we’d do without Charlotte,” Gottwald said. “Charlotte just has this gift with the animals.”
Little said her life experiences help her relate to the dogs.
“I was in foster care for a while of my life, sometimes I know what they (the dogs) are going through,” Little said.
“After two years of hanging out with dogs, you can tell what they’re thinking and what their mood is by how they’re acting.”
Little is training Penny how to sit and lie down. She uses hand signals to direct Penny.
“It’s pretty great, she learns pretty fast once you do the training and practice attention techniques,” Little said. She said Penny does well with sitting but the next task is to help Penny get the courage to jump off of the counters.
Little said most importantly, Penny is learning to get along with other animals. Gottwald said it was a concern that was brought to her attention prior to receiving Penny.
Gottwald and Little agree that Penny has come a long way. Right now, at the shelter it’s just Penny and a pitbull terrier named Hawkins. The small dog is getting along with her roommate, after Little introduced them to one another.
“I eventually let them both out, but I had them on leashes,” Little said. “Then the tug-a-war rope came out and they were just best friends after that.”
Gottwald said the shelter has had dogs who are deaf and some who have poor eyesight but never one with both, like Penny.
“It’s just remarkable how well she does.”
Little said the small dog knows how to stand up for herself, sometimes she can be bossy but for the most part she has a “happy-go-lucky” attitude.
“Nothing really bothers her, it’s just like ‘everything’s happy, everything’s fun!” Little said. “It’s just her joyful nature.”
Gottwald said in Little’s free time, she researches ways to help Penny.
“I can’t say it was easy, but it was different,” Little said. “I can’t use voice commands, since she can only see the lower half of what we can see, I get down to her level.”
Just like the other dogs Little has helped, she hopes one day Penny will get adopted.
“I hope she has kids around, anybody that can get her energy out and run around the yard with her,” she said. “She just needs somebody that will spend time with her because she’s got quite the character.”
Little helps with the adoption process, from introducing people to the dogs, to sharing dogs’ history that made them who they are.
She hopes Penny can find her forever home.
“My favorite thing about helping the dogs is seeing them go to homes because of some of the things that I’ve trained them (to do), help them get adopted,” she said.
This story was produced as part of the Michigan News Group internship program, a collaboration between WCMU and local newspapers. You can see the print edition of this story in the Sunday, July 5 edition of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
