Deaf Girl Uses ASL To Communicate With Pet Dog

VIDEO: Deaf News - Deaf Albuquerque girl uses American Sign Language to communicate with pet dog.

KRQE ALBUQUERQUE -- A Deaf New Mexico girl is using sign language to communicate with her pet dog. “She does everything with him,” said Neeva’s mom Chelsea Goff. While Neeva, 4, eats, her dog Baxter cleans up her crumbs. When it’s time to go outside and play, he is by her side.



“He is just always with her. If she’s asleep in bed, we can guarantee that he is in her room with her,” said Goff. Neeva and Baxter aren’t your average pair.

“We found out right away after she was born that she didn’t have hearing,” said Goff. Neeva goes to the New Mexico School for the Deaf in Santa Fe. She communicates using sign language. “So really that is our primary language with her, therefore it’s her primary language with our animals,” said Goff.



Goff went to Animal Humane of New Mexico in August to find a dog that could fit in with her family, particularly one that had enough patience to care for Neeva.



“They had some animals that they thought would fit with our family and sure enough Baxter was one of them,” she said. “It was kind of that love at first sight kind of thing, so we brought him home and things have been great.”



Neeva has taught Baxter how to sit, stay and even go using sign language. Goff said Baxter listens most of the time especially if there is a treat involved.



“To watch them interact and really have active communication is really spectacular to watch,” said Goff. She also said the constant communication between the two has helped Neeva with her signing.



“In the Deaf community you get a sign name and it is usually assigned to you by another Deaf community member, so Neeva gave Baxter his sign name,” she said. Goff said the pair’s relationship is a silent one, yet powerful. Neeva’s family got Baxter for free from Animal Humane after another family who fell in love with him at the shelter, but couldn’t have him paid for his adoption fee. Source



Related Post - Tag #Deaf Dogs

Cop Runs Over Deaf Dog 3 Times, Then Shoots

VIDEO: Deaf News - Canadian cop runs over old, Deaf dog 3 times, then shoots her, the community outraged.

COLLINGWOOD, ONTARIO - Merrick, a beloved family dog who just happened to be Deaf had managed to make it all the way to 21 years of age.



Still, she never lost her talent for sniffing out an adventure. When a storm blew open the back gate at her home in Collingwood, just north of Toronto, the old dog ventured off into the night.



But then in an unexpected and tragic turn, Merrick was run over three times by a police cruiser before she was finally shot dead.



Her crime? Police thought she was a coyote. In fact, she was a cattle dog. The disturbing Monday night encounter was captured on video.

This is not a humane method to euthanize an animal in any situation. It is reported that this animal did not move when nudged by the officers car before the officer decided to run it down three times before shooting it.



Karen Sutherland, the dog's owner, told reporters that Merrick suffers from dementia, and had slipped through a gate in her backyard during a storm.

Karen Sutherland shows a picture of her dog Merrick, the animal struck and killed by an OPP officer @CityNews pic.twitter.com/z3UH5HbpBp

— Amanda Ferguson (@CityNewsAmanda) October 21, 2015

"I'm a little bit in shock ... I didn't watch the video until Wednesday morning. It was enough to make me a lot more upset than I was last night," Sutherland told CityNews.



Christine Soti, a Collingwood resident who witnessed the incident, told the Globe and Mail that Merrick was still moving after being hit by the car a third time. "The eyes were opening and closing."



In the wake of Merrick's killing, police are facing tough questions about how officers deal with animal situations.



The Ontario Provincial Police did not immediately return a call to The Dodo, but Inspector John Trude told Postmedia Network that there had been complaints from two residents about a coyote on the loose.



"When the officer got there, it was growling," he said. "The actions of the dog caused the officer to believe it was still aggressive... Read More: https://thedodo.com/merrick-dog-shot-police-canada.html