A "lethal white" is a term "stolen" from Lethal white syndrome in horses. It is commonly used in describing an Australian Shepherd which was born from the pairing of merle to merle patterns [1] in the dam and sire. This genetic abnormality will produce 25% of the litter to typically be deaf and/or blind. They are also predominantly white. When a breeder, which are typically "back yard" breeders that cross a merle to a merle, will cull the pup immediately after birth. After all, these breeders are only about profit. Who can sell a deaf and/or blind pup?
I am the very PROUD owner of a lethal white Australian Shepherd. I rescued him and his mother, who is a pattern white - an Aussie who was born with a predominantly white coat, but does not carry the homozygous merle genetics. She carries the blue merle gene and was bred with another merle, thus bearing a litter which included two lethal white pups. The owners dropped her and her litter off at the local shelter shortly after the litter was born. The female lethal white pup was both deaf and blind and was adopted out from the shelter, but sadly she died. We believe sensory deprivation as she literally sat in the middle of the room. Would not eat. Would not interact. Therefore the shelter decided that the male lethal white could only be adopted along with his mother. That is when I came along. I took them both and have not regretted it even for a milli-second.
The boy is completely deaf, but blind in one eye, so he does have some sight, although full sunlight is blinding to him as his pupil will not dilate properly. I ended up calling him "Dork" because he is a happy-go-lucky boy that would bounce off of furniture, trees, and anything else in his path, then turn and look at it like he was thinking, "Where'd that come from?" then immediately dismiss the thought and proceed on down his merry ol' way. Always happy. Always. When I first adopted him and was brainstorming for a name, I laughed at one of his antics and called him a dork.... It stuck.
Dork is now trained with approximately 20 hand signals and touch commands. Luckily since he can see out of one eye, I was able to train him with a "come" command that entails me waving my arms fully in the air. His "stay" command is using my full hand to press down firmly on his face. His "sit" command is tapping his nose. He has also learned to understand I am giving him directions to move by touching him in certain spots on his body.
His sense of smell and touch is extraordinary! He has learned what the vibrations feel like when dogs bark, for example. Utterly amazing! He knows the vibration of my voice when I yell, or speak very loudly. When playing hide and seek, which is an excellent training exercise, he finds me with his nose.
His mother is what we call a "grateful." A rescue that went through a horrible past and is so grateful for being in a safe and loving him that there is no end to her devotion. She was horribly abused and has deformed ears either from abuse or defending herself from other dogs. I thought she was deaf, too, when I first rescued her as she was non-responsive to me. I ended up calling her "Mama" since I didn't think she could hear me anyway. I soon realized I was wrong - she had been through so much trauma that she just tuned out people. With some love and devotion, she now listens to my every word. As a pair, they are Mama and Dork. After teaching Mama her basic obedience commands, they both have passed their AKC CGC tests (Canine Good Citizenship) and are both certified CGC dogs. I also enrolled Mama in canine agility and she has earned her Novice titles. Due to her age, however, she has become somewhat arthritic and I have retired her from competition.
As far as myself, I don't really have any desire to carry on much. I am a very proud Purdue graduate with a degree in Graphic Design, specializing in computer graphics (1987), and have extended studies in Earth Science Education. I originally started Purdue studying Computer Science, so my knowledge of computers is above average, but definitely not at an IT or programmers level. I use WordPress when building websites as well as the full Adobe products such as Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Dreamweaver, and so on. I am also a member of the Mensa Society boasting in IQ of 160. I am rather a "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" type person. I love to learn and know about anything and everything, but rarely become an expert. Although dog training is one of my exceptions. Although technically not an expert, I am just as knowledgeable as those who have a piece of paper saying they are.
That is about it for now. I have been using Wikipedia for years now as a solid reference source, but just started editing when I saw a description in the Australian Shepherd reference about lethal whites that was incorrect. So any of you "old-timer" editors, I'm open for pointers, do's and don'ts, and anything else you may want to share. I love to learn and who better to learn from but an experienced Wiki editor.
UPDATE 15 May 2014: Sadly, I had to put Mama down last week on Wednesday, 7 May 2014. I miss her terribly and will never forget her. Dork is doing well. He was a bit lost for a few days, constantly looking down the hall and out the door waiting for her to appear. But we have both moved forward with our grief.