Tammy Pusateri Puckrin finds fulfillment in giving a good home to rescue dogs.
She, her husband, Steve, and their children, Alyssa, Grant and Teresa, already lived with Frances Ernestine, a basset hound; Carmella Nicoletta, a pomeranian-dachshund mix; and Ernesto “Ernie” Antonio, a Dachshund-whippet mix, when Teresa learned of a deaf, three-legged pitbull-dalmatian that had been taken out of a dog-fighting environment in the South. The female had been relocated to Cleveland – where its leg was removed to save it from gangrene – before being moved to the
Humane Society of Erie County, the thinking being the animal may be more likely to be adopted in a rural area.
“And I’d forever wanted a dog with three legs because I know nobody else wants them,” says Pusateri Puckrin, author of her first book, “The Adventures of a Deaf Tri-Paw.”
The lifelong Perkins Township resident and graduate of St. Mary Central Catholic High School in Sandusky wrote it from the point of view of the dog she would come to name Gennie Marie, who turned 4 on July 28.
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Courtesy of Tammy Pusateri PuckrinGennie Marie shows off her owner's new book.“I know – funny dog names, and a lot of people ask about that,” she says. “They’re actually named after my relatives. All of our dogs have always been named after my relatives that are no longer with us. And it is very strange, but they truly have the personality of that person. I know that sounds like I’m a crazy dog woman, but they truly do. Gennie is named after my great aunt.
“(She’s) go-go-go and sweet as pie and just like her.”
It was a journey to get to that point, starting with the family taking their dogs individually to the Humane Society facility on the west side of Sandusky to get to know the traumatized animal.
“They vet you, literally,” she says. “It’s very thorough. They track your references and the whole nine yards. And I think even probably more so in a situation where the dog starts out with medical situations.
“We weren’t allowed to bring her home the next day. This went on for a long time.”
Once in the Puckrin home, there was an adjustment period, largely due to Gennie Marie being “food-aggressive” because she hadn’t been fed well in the abusive situation.
“That was a very big challenge for our family because all the other dogs – you put their food in, they go to their bowl, they’re done, they walk away,” Pusateri Puckrin says. “That wasn’t how it was for her because she didn’t get to eat. She basically ate out of puddles and stones. And when we first got her, she was trying to eat stone because that’s what she was used to eating. We would have to literally pick up the stones so she wouldn’t eat them.”
Hard for Pusateri Puckrin to write, the not-so-pleasant background material resides in the book’s first chapter, “The Place of Dirt,” which she says may have content parents reading to young children may want to leave out. She adds that the book is appropriate for middle-school age and older.
“There are so many lessons to be learned in the book,” she says. “It’s really about overcoming your fears.
“It’s not scary,” she adds.” But it’s factual.”
It’s also meant to be funny and uplifting, as Pusateri Puckrin details some of the lighter moments in the house and overcoming obstacles.
“There’s a part in there about how she approached the steps (in the home) for the first time. She was like, ‘What is this? Are you kidding me?’” Pusateri Puckrin says. “And that was one thing I asked, actually, before we even looked at her. I said, ‘We live in an old house that was built in 1880 – we have steps.’ And they assured me it was going to be fine. … She does them.”
Plus, the family had to learn how to communicate with a deaf dog, much of which involves making sure visual commands are done with large gestures away from the body.
Like many people, Gennie Marie has her challenges but is living a full life.
“She can run like you wouldn’t believe. She can do anything any dog can do,” Pusateri Puckrin says. “It’s pretty amazing.”
For the visual elements in the book and her website, Pusateri Puckrin worked with graphic designer Grant, founder of the drone-based business
Nineteenth UAS Precision.
“We didn’t want it to be all about (Gennie Marie),” she says of the site, which pays homage to her Italian heritage. “We wanted to be something that would encompass me forever.”
To that end, she is three-fourths done with her next book, which will not be dog-centric but instead consist of pairings of Bible verses and reflections with content generated for her.
“I used to be a nanny, and when the little ones began to talk, I started writing down all the wisdom, the silliness – you know, the things kids say, the out-of-the-mouths-of-babes kind of thing,” she says. “I used to put them on social media, and people thought they were hilarious. And I’m like, ‘I really should do something with these.’”
Tammy Pusateri Puckrin will sign copies of “The Adventures of a Deaf Tri-Paw” from 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 24 at Sandusky Book Bar, 2101 W. Perkins Ave. Contact the coffee shop at 419-285-6543.