Great American Shelter Dog 2008 - National Dog Day- Luka

In November of 2006 we received a phone call from Laura Hudson of the "Safe Animal Shelter" in Middleburg, Florida asking us if we would be interested in taking in a special case dog. She informed us that she never calls anyone about adopting a particular animal, but she thought this dog was special. Being that we had just adopted a special case in September from them, we were reluctant to agree to the request. After discussing this for about 5 minutes, we decided we needed to at least go and see this dog. Since he was a few hours away from being euthanized by the Clay County Animal Control, where he had been left off overnight, we had to make a decision. We quickly went to the shelter. Upon entering the shelter we saw this four month old puppy that had been starved and abused and in need of his life being saved. At the time, no one was aware of the fact that he was totally blind - they told us he had vision problems. It ended up he was born without eyes. But we didn’t care about that. We immediately fell in love with him.

They gave him some shots and later that day we brought him home. Luke and Laura on "General Hospital" had reunited that day on TV, hence the name "Luka". We began training him right away with a clicker and guiding him around the house and outside. The clicker training only lasted about a week, as Luka became comfortable in his surroundings. It took him very little time to learn the layout of his home and to win the hearts of his owners and brothers and sisters. He now lives with 6 other dogs.

Our 1year old (at the time) male Golden Retriever, Jack, took Luka under his "paw" and allowed Luka to depend on his guidance to run free in the backyard. Luka will lean into Jack and the two of them run together (fast)! To see this, is truly a remarkable thing. Luka will play ball with the other dogs - of course that means just running with them when they run, or sometimes he runs in the backyard by himself and, if he is not sure of where he is, will jump straight up in the air with his legs out like a gazelle to check if anything is in his way. When he's thinking or listening, he tends to remind us of Stevie Wonder, turning his head from left to right as he processes the moment. Because of his handicap it has been difficult to teach him tricks. Luka tends to miss his mark at times and falls into the pool, or hits a tree, or takes out a plant or two. But the love that he gives us, makes up for all the mishaps that occur.

We are not sure how bad his life was for the first 4 months, but this 20 pound dog that was broken and bruised is now a 75 pound fun and loving member of our family. He has great intelligence, curiosity, and a wonderful sense of humor. Luka is the reason why people should go to their local shelter and save a dogs life. Handicapped or not, he is truly a gift and we cherish each day we have with him.

We were very excited when we heard our son Luka was chosen to represent the 2008 Great American Shelter Dog. We feel he truly exemplifies all dogs that were born without silver bones in their mouths. This is the perfect award and attention for an imperfect dog born in an imperfect world. We are truly grateful to be able to accept this award on behalf of Luka and all the shelter dogs in the United States. We hope that when people read Luka's story, they will want to adopt a Shelter Dog (or two) whether they are perfect or not. It just takes love.

We thank Colleen Paige and the staff of the Animal Miracle Network for honoring Luka with this wonderful award!

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