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11 years ago
Unwanted Deaf Dog Finds Perfect Forever Home With His Deaf Human (PHOTOS)
Connor the dog finally found the perfect forever home after living for months in a Colorado shelter when he was adopted by a hearing impaired man. Oh, did we mention that Connor is hearing impaired himself?
Just look at that sweet face!
Coming to the shelter at approximately one-year-old, employees began to notice that Connor didn’t respond well to commands. Suffering from a congenital condition called Cerebellar Hypoplasia, it was quickly discovered that Connor was completely deaf. In other situations, he may have been considered unfit for adoption, but not to the kind people at Teller County Regional Animal Shelter.
Cute and compact. Now, that’s hard to beat.
They began teaching him sign language, which Connor picked up with lightening speed. However, his disability prevented many prospective pet parents from taking him home for fear that he would need a level of care that they couldn’t provide. That was until his story hit the news and a hearing impaired man decided that the best place for Connor was with him.
Eager to learn, Connor picked up on his new language with ease.
Arriving at the shelter without an interpreter, Connor’s new pet parent communicated with staff by writing things down. Technical difficulties aside, the adoption went off without a hitch. “[He’s] a person who will truly appreciate [Connor’s] disabilities,” said Nancy Adams, speaking on behalf of the shelter. “And the nice thing is it made people aware [animals] with special needs are very adoptable and very good pets.”
Seriously. That face. Look at it.
Making the decision to bring a new family member into the home, special needs or not, is one that should be carefully considered. Space limitations, financial concerns, and time constraints all need to be factored in when deciding which pet would make the best addition, not just for you and your family, but for them as well. It’s a commitment to provide them a safe and loving home for the life of your pet, so making sure they’re the perfect friend for you is imperative.
Special needs or not, every dog benefits from proper training and time spent with their person.
Notice we didn’t say the perfect friend and merely leave it at that. We said, the perfect friend for you. Too often we overlook animals (and let’s just face it, people too) who might fall outside of the stringent definitions of “normal.” Maybe they’re a little bigger or smaller than average, or there’s something they can’t do that the rest of the group can.
In the grand scheme of things, that stuff isn’t a big deal. As long as we have the means to accommodate whatever needs they come to us with, we could find ourselves with one of the best companions ever if we just give them a chance.
Lead image source: King 5
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Our dog Rosie went deaf. It was no trouble- to get her attention we just tapped out feet on the floor near her- she felt the vibration and looked our way. She was really smart, and since we\’d always used hand signals when training her those still worked fine. Actually, we found that we couldn\’t break the habit of signing the word "walk," which we started because when she could hear she learned ever word we used for it- even perambulate. We kept signing it, and just did it so she couldn\’t see if we didn\’t want her to get excited. Somehow some people seem to equate disability with a lack of value, but that isn\’t true. Whether human or animal, disabled individuals find ways to cope and lead full lives. I hope that this article inspires someone else to give a disabled dog or cat a chance at a happy life.