Deaf dog Ollie finds a home

Ollie wasn’t an ordinary dog.  He was deaf, and the folks at Wiregrass Humane Society knew it would take a special adopter to give a home to the spotted puppy. When all of the rest of his litter had been adopted, he still awaited a home. He was, of course, waiting for Chloe.  Chloe Bryant of Troy, Ala., had been waiting, too. In her case she was waiting  for the day when she could adopt a dog. And at last that day had arrived-when she moved into a house where the landlord allowed pets.  She began to search on Petfinder.

When she saw Ollie’s photo, love struck.  “I’m a sucker, “she says, “for the dog nobody else wants.”   Now the only possible hitch was Chloe’s boyfriend. How would he take the news that she wanted to adopt a deaf dog? She did her homework, reading everything she could find online about training a deaf dog, and called the shelter to make sure Ollie was still available.  He was.  Now she was prepared.

“When my boyfriend, Gaige, arrived home that night,” Chloe says, “I spilled my long rehearsed plea for the small deaf puppy. I included all the training tips I’d read online to prove I was ready for the ‘special needs’ pup.”  It worked. Gaige agreed, and Chloe then charmed him into going shopping right then, even though it was 11 p.m., because she was planning to adopt Ollie the following day.

Today most people don’t realize Ollie is deaf. He responds to hand signals and shakes, gives high fives and goes to his kennel at a signal.  “He was no more difficult to train that a hearing dog,” Chloe says.  “He is hardly ‘special needs.'”  What he is, as it turns out, is just a really special dog.

Adopt, don’t buy.