Deaf dog learns sign language
By Trevor Sochocki and James Paxson
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BEAVERTON, Michigan (WNEM) — A mid-Michigan woman taught her dog sign language with help from a book.
“And we do this one for Cage, this means stop and this means bad,” said Beaverton resident, Joanne Sparkman.
Joanne Sparkman had to teach 14-year-old Maya, her deaf Jack Russell Terrier, hand signs.
“We kept trying to get her attention and talk to us and it’s like, we noticed that when we’d speak, she wouldn’t turn her head and look at you. She never did none of the stuff. So, we said I don’t think she can hear us,” Sparkman said.
Sparkman said many dogs born blind or deaf end up euthanized, but that wasn’t an option for Maya.
“By that time, we’d already fallen in love with Maya, we weren’t gonna give her back, we weren’t gonna give her up, so the best thing to do is train her how to communicate with us. Or train us how to communicate with her,” Sparkman said.
Sparkman did some research and found the book ‘Living with a Deaf Dog,’ by Susan Cope Becker.
“In the book it says to use treats or something to get them to where they look at you, and then once they start looking at you, then you give them a sign as to what you want them to do. Then every time they do what you want then you give them a treat as a reward,” Sparkman said.
So, both the dog and owner are set about learning a new language.
“It was probably harder on me to learn all the signs. And some of them we had to improvise on, because if they’re too many movements in them it’s harder for her to catch them. If they’re just simple one hand or two hand commands, then she can follow them better,” Sparkman said.
Just like any other dog, Maya still won’t listen when she doesn’t want to.
“She thinks she’s like everybody else, so. And when you’re born deaf you don’t realize you’re missing something. So, to her she’s not missing anything,” Sparkman said.
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