Bentley

He is a blast ..Very outgoing personality and you never know what he will do next ..Very fun fellow ....

Bentley is enjoying the spring weather. He seems to truly enjoy being outside, not like some of the other Boxers in this house.....LOL 
     We have been walking on a public path, Bentley does pull in the beginning of his walk, but once he gets the rhythm, he is fine. He is a very strong boy, so when he pulls you do need to pull him back and get him to listen....but even that is not an issue. We stopped to talk with the neighbor tonight, and Bentley greeted the neighbor very politely, then stood there for a little bit, and then laid down until we were done talking. I mean, how awesome is that? He wasn’t jumping or licking her.....such a polite guy! 
     He continues to be a good boy and continues to work on learning sign language and manners of our home. Overall, he is just awesome! 

Bentley will be at Cherrybrook in Garwood, NJ Saturday morning, so stop by and see how handsome and well behaved he is! Please see the website for more information.....

B – is for the beauty of his soul 
E – is for the energy that is never ending 
N – is for the noises he can’t hear 
T – is for the tenderness he displays 
L – is for the love he has inside of him 
E – is for excellent behavior that exhibits 
Y – is for your home he is waiting for 

Bentley is truly a wonderful dog. He continues to be well behaved and is a true love bug to any new person stopping by our home. Bentley would like a home with the following criteria....... 

1) He would love someone to allow him a spot on the couch next to his human or canine friend.....he is not allowed this luxury here, but he tries desperately every night to get up beside us on our couch, so we end up on the floor with him. 

2) Someone that “might” allow him some bed space – but as long as his bed is next to yours, he will be fine. 

3) A fenced in yard to run around and drain some of his energy.....we are told that he is 3 years old, but has the energy of a much younger dog.  He could possibly be a great running mate. 

We had Bentley on a walk the other day and a little girl (maybe 3-4) wanted to pet him......they were eye to eye.......Bentley stood still and enjoyed her pats and rubs......for that small moment, he seemed so gentle....he was such a good boy. 

Please don’t over look Bentley because he can’t hear. We treat him just like our hearing dogs. When we want his attention from across the room – we stomp on the floor and when he looks at us we wave him to us. He is well behaved and does listen.....he is truly a wonderful boy!

Bentley has been in our home for just over two weeks and continues to be a joy in our home. He is welcome to stay as long as he needs a safe place to live. He is aged at three years old but he still has puppy qualities and puppy energy about him. He continues to wear out my 5, 6 and 9 year old dogs. 
     I think he half understands our sign for sit. Bentley is my first deaf dog and I must say that I am amazed at the amount of things I don’t need to say to him. For example.....he goes out into our fenced in yard and does his business and then looks for us almost immediately to come back inside. He understands that in order to get his breakfast or dinner he must sit and then be released. I don’t need to sign to him to sit in order to get this accomplished. He is just SO smart! 
     Personally speaking, one of the best things we have found about having a deaf dog is in the morning......when we all get up, Bentley doesn’t hear us and we actually have to touch him so he knows it is time to get up. He plays hard all day, and then sleeps all night. He is now sleeping out of the crate with the others. It is also nice at nighttime when we are watching tv and the other dogs hear a noise and start to bark.....Bentley just keeps sleeping – LOL. He is still being crated during the day when we are not home just like the other dogs. He is now use to his crate and as long as a treat is involved he will go right in. 
     Bentley is very loving and thinks he is a lap dog. He has shown no signs of aggression and over-all is just a very sweet, and handsome boy.

Bentley arrived here in Pennsylvania yesterday morning after a long transport. He is the most absolutely, sweetest dog I have ever met! He immediately took to my 17 year old daughter. He follows her around non-stop and when she leaves he paces and cries for her for a minute or two and then comes to find us to settle down. Bentley does not seem to be crate trained but may have been a long time ago and just needs to get reacquainted with it. We put him in the crate in our bedroom last night and he cried and tried to get out for about 5 minutes, but then settled down for a long nights sleep. Bentley is deaf but does “wimper” so he can get your attention if needed. 
     Bentley wants to do nothing but to play with my three dogs. He is consistently play bowing to any dog that walks by ......so far only my female rottie will actually “play”. I think playtime will get better after the dogs get more familiar with each other. They all lay together to sleep. 
     Bentley shows no signs of food aggression (and no other aggression)....he actually eats very slowly. We feed him in a crate partially because it takes him so long to finish his food and the other dogs want to be friendly and “help him out.” LOL 
As I said – Bentley is deaf, and currently it seems as though he doesn’t know any signals or if he does know signals, we have been unable to figure them out. We are going to start with teaching him to sit....but we need to find something that will motivate him to learn......he is not food motivated, at least not yet. 
     Bentley is just the greatest dog. Don’t rule him out because of his disability, he is just like any other dog. This dog is kind and gentle....