Deaf Woman Finds Missing Hearing-Ear Dog

PARIS, Ky. (AP) — When Arwin Tin Tin disappeared, Luci Christian not only lost a dog that helps her hear, she also lost her best friend.

Christian and the 2-year-old German shepherd were reunited Wednesday.

“I’m elated with joy,” Christian said. “When we first saw each other, it was just unbelievable.

“She was yelping and I was weeping. My knees were falling out from under me.”

The dog disappeared Saturday from the farm Christian leases near Paris.

A Clintonville couple found Arwin Tin Tin Sunday and were caring for the dog at their home, about eight miles from where she disappeared. Christian and her dog were reunited after the couple’s neighbor saw a newspaper article describing Christian’s plight.

Christian’s hearing is degenerating because of a rare disease. She relies on Arwin Tin Tin to alert her to a ringing phone, a knock at the door or a foal being born. The dog even warned Christian of a burglar trying to break into her garage when they lived in California.

Christian has suffered a number of setbacks since she moved to Kentucky from Hollister, Calif., a month ago to breed 15 Orlov-Rostopchins. The rare Russian horses were raised for Catherine the Great and only ridden by czars and their families before the Soviet Union came into existence in 1917.

Christian relied on photographs to find a farm in Bourbon County to lease. But when she arrived in Kentucky, Christian discovered the farm and its pastures did not look like the pictures.

“Things weren’t as they were represented,” she said.

Then Christian was told she could not live in the farmhouse she had leased. She was forced to clean out a tiny, filthy apartment and make it a temporary home. She now is searching for a new place to live.

But the biggest blow for Christian was the loss of Arwin Tin Tin.

“I felt like a part of me was lost,” she said. “Not only was she a family member, she was my best companion. Some people have their kids. I have my dogs.”

Arwin Tin Tin disappeared in the fog Saturday night as she, her fiance and a friend were moving her horses to a temporary but more suitable pasture. Arwin Tin Tin was in heat and Christian had let her dogs out for only two minutes when she realized something was wrong.