In what is potentially the most heartwarming story you’ll hear all day or even all week, a deaf man has taught his rescue puppy sign language after discovering that his new pal was also unable to hear. The experience not only brought the two together, but represents “an absolute fairy tale ending” that neither the pet’s owner Nick Abbott nor Emerson the dog could ever have expected.
- Nick first came across Emerson on Facebook. Talking to WABI-5, Nick said that he saw Emerson was looking for a home from a post on the page for NFR Maine, a rescue group he follows on Facebook. “I said, ‘Oh, he’s deaf, too,'” Nick recalled. “Maybe I can go check him out to see what he’s all about.”
- Emerson was rescued when he was only six weeks old. When he was found in Florida, Emerson was infected with canine parvovirus and was even having seizures. As Lindsay Powers, who works with NFR Maine, told Good Morning America, “Once we got him home from the vet’s office from Florida, we realized he had hearing difficulties. He had such a rough start to life.”
- Nick knew he wanted Emerson from the moment they met. “He kind of picked me. And I knew right then and there that we would get along and understand each other pretty good,” Nick recalled. Soon after, he took Emerson home and the two have been inseparable ever since.
- Nick has even been teaching Emerson sign language! When Nick swipes his hand in a straight line, that signals to Emerson that he should lie down. Meanwhile, creating an S-shape means to sit down. When Nick pulls his earlobe, Emerson barks. “The bond that we have is awesome,” Abbott told WABI-5. “We understand each other very well. I’d like to think it was meant to be. He’s special.”
