When I met him and saw how sad he was…
Solo the dog has lived a life that no dog wants to live. He spent a whole decade alone on the streets of Los Angeles. As the years passed, Solo became increasingly sick and unable to keep up with the other dogs.
Finally, he plopped down on a woman’s porch because he couldn’t walk anymore. When the woman spotted the dog, she named him Solovino (Spanish for “he came alone) and called Rocket Dog Rescue for help.
The rescue brought Solo to San Francisco, where he lived with a foster person. Sadly, Solo has been adopted many times but over and over again through no fault of his own.
Until one day, Carol Messina saw a photo of Solo online and knew right away that she had to save him.
When I met him and saw how sad he was, I knew he would be with me forever no matter what,” Messina told The Dodo.
Because of Solo’s past, he is very timid and still doesn’t fully trust people. He doesn’t react to those around him in the typical fashion and he will flinch whenever someone caresses him.
But Messina quickly realized that this was not a matter of trust but a matter of hearing. Turns out Solo’s hearing is worse than anyone thought – he’s deaf in fact.
This explains why he will flinch when someone touches him; He doesn’t feel comfortable when someone sneaks up on him when he can’t hear them coming.
His teeth are also very bad and cause him a lot of pain. Thankfully, Messina helped him with surgery to fix his teeth, and after that, he was acting like a whole new dog! It was clear that the pain had influenced the way he acted.
Today, Solo is a very happy dog and loves to run around outside and even meet new dogs to play with. Messina has also learned new ways to deal with the anxiety caused by her deafness.
Whenever they go for a walk, he wears a harness that says “deaf dog” so people won’t pet him without asking. Messina also turns the lights on and off as she walks into the room so he knows she’s coming and doesn’t startle him.
Although Solo is getting older, he still has a lot of life thanks to Messina. Now, he will live the rest of his days in a loving home and never have to worry about living on the streets again.
“I’m very proud of his progress,” Messina told The Dodo. “It was the best thing I have ever done in my life and he inspired me to get more senior dogs in need of hospice care.”