Deaf Dog Knows Sign Language, Finds Forever Home With Deaf Woman
A deaf dog trained in sign language found her forever home with a deaf woman looking for the perfect pet. Rosie, a Pitbull mix, had spent three months residing at the Central Nebraska Humane Society. Shelter volunteer Tracie Pfeifle realized the reason Rosie wasn’t responding when called was because she couldn’t hear. She made Rosie her project and taught her sign language.
“[Rosie] was pretty scared at first. I don’t think she had a good first four years of her life,” Pfeifle said.
One of the numerous signs Pfeifle taught the three-year-old dog was thumbs-up for “good girl.” Pfeifle said it was as if Rosie didn’t know how to be a dog despite how far she’d come with the extra work to improve her chances for finding her forever home.
It’s hard for people to own a deaf dog because they don’t understand normal commands like sit, down, come, stay, outside, or walk. Only a special type of person can own a deaf animal due to the time and patience required.
Huffington Post reports that Rose met her soulmate pet owner when Cindy Koche entered the picture. Cindy is a deaf woman who was desperate to find the perfect canine companion, and her wish came true when she was introduced to Rosie.
Cindy said she wanted a deaf dog because she wanted an animal she shared a common bond with.
“Because I’m deaf and we want to relate to her, and understand how she feels — want to communicate with her through signing, teach her signing,” Cindy said.
As CNN reported in the story, Koche knows Rosie is “a smart dog, she can pick up fast.” The deaf woman will teach Rosie her sign language.
This is a heartwarming story about a dog that had far less chances of finding a home compared to normal shelter dogs. Most of those animals never find homes and are eventually euthanized. In the case of Rosie, she was fortunate by finding such a loving pet owner who’ll care for her and provide the understanding she needs. The two will have an unbreakable bond for life.
In the midst of so many tragic headlines dominating the news, animal stories like this maintain some sense of balance in the good news department. Inquisitr has a large library of touching animal stories. One of many is about Arbor, the painting dog that helped Oklahoma tornado victims last June.
When you see something in the news about a deaf dog finding her permanent home with a woman sharing the same inability to hear, it can’t help but make you smile. It proves just how powerful fate can be.
[Image via Twitter, Central Nebraska Humane Society]
