Continued from page 1: Alice, the Endearing Deaf Dog
students in the school residences.
The dog's full name was Alice Mowat Whitney, formed by combining the surnames of the
author and the school’s namesake. The Mowats named their pets after the royal family in Great
Britain. Victoria and Albert were Alice’s parents. Alice was named after Princess Alice of Battenberg
who was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law to Queen Elizabeth II.
She was deaf, just like many of the staff, the students, and the dog at SJW school.
There were eight pups in the litter, and Alice’s littermates found homes in many parts of the
world. Farley and Fiona lived with the Pierre Trudeau family. Druzba (‘Chum,’ in Russian) lived with a
daughter of Alexei Kosygin, near Moscow. Moby lived with Dr. Joe MacInnis, an underwater
specialist. Edward, Alice’s deaf brother, lived with Farley and Claire Mowat and Goofy lived with
author Scott Symons. It is unknown where the eighth pup went.
Everyone at SJW school loved Alice! She lived in both the girls’ and boys’ senior residences
depending on where her handler was working. At Christmas in 1972, Alice received a dog bed at the
girls’ residence Christmas party as a gift from the students and staff. Whether she used the bed very
often was a good question, for she preferred sleeping on the students’ beds both for comfort and
human company! Residence counselor Wendy Pleizier recalls the times when she was on night duty,
and Alice liked to sleep with her. Alice was a bed hog in spite of her medium size. Wendy also
remembers her as a beautiful dog and very good-natured.
Alice’s foster family was that of Rosemary Ryer and her family at their farm south of Belleville
in Prince Edward County. Rosemary looked after Alice on the weekends and holidays. The family
loved her as much their own dogs. Alice loved the Friday home-goings as much as the SJW students
did. She would get excited when it was time to go to Rosemary’s home.
(Continue on the next page)
Alice in her first year at the Ontario School for the Deaf
The Power of ASL
8
Summer 2019 – Issue 14