Enjoy a peek into Buster’s life… straight from his Foster Mom:

Buster is quite famous in his foster family’s neighborhood and among their friends.  Everyone who has met him wants updates and pictures and stories. He seriously steals your heart with his intense gaze- and his stories of escaping the crate are pretty funny.

 Of course, he was very anxious when he first came to us. Since he’s deaf, we couldn’t communicate with him and he couldn’t understand what we were trying to tell him. He’s challenged us as a family to be more creative and more patient. I guess we were in a foster family training rut we didn’t know we were in. So how have we taught Buster his hand signals? Well we noticed he really looked to his foster brothers and sister for guidance. So we’d verbally tell one of our dogs to sit, lay down, etc. while we held the hand signal up for Buster. He’d do what the other dog would do and they’d both get a treat. The bonus has been that our dogs have learned the hand signals now, too. It’s been fun coming up with what hand signals we are going to use to mean what. The most debated signal we’ve had has been for “good boy.” I try to keep them simple and only requiring one hand, but the kids and their dad wanted it to be more ridiculous involving both hands in the air over their heads. So Buster has learned two signs for “good boy.” We are all just hoping we haven’t inadvertently taught him something offensive! Buster seems to take the signals from our 12 year old son the best. Not sure why he wants to please him the most?? We’ve found there are advantages to his deafness. He sleeps through things that would regularly wake him and he doesn’t bark at the front door when someone knocks.

Buster is just the sweetest, most handsome boy. He only took a couple days to stop whining in the crate and he does great now. If given the chance, he will escape the crate so we use zip ties when we’re not in the house. He is fine to sleep out of the crate through the night without getting into anything, but we don’t want him to lose any “good” habits we’ve taught him so continues to sleep in the crate at night. He LOVES being outside as long as it’s not raining. He likes watching the walkers and cars go by as he basks in the sun and he’s made no attempt to escape or dig. He’s fine outside without his foster brothers and sister but he loves playing with them outside as much as he can. Buster loves exercise and he’s quite athletic. Like most boxers, he is just a happier, less anxious boy once he’s gotten his energy out. Our deck is 6 steps up and he can clear them all in one leap when it’s time to come in. At night he uses the porch light as a signal that he’s being called in, but during the daylight you have to walk out and get his attention. His favorite inside activities are bed snuggles while watching soccer and chasing a golf ball. He LOVES the golf balls. He is just so goofy as he chases them and chews them and snuggles them. Luckily we live near a golf course so we can snag outlying range balls for him.

Consider fostering or adopting a deaf dog!