As many pet parents know, adopting a dog can be a life-changing experience. That’s certainly the case for a family whose recently adopted deaf pup has boosted their autistic son’s spirits after the boy, Walker, lost his hearing.
A Deaf Dog Finds a Forever Home
Dave, a six-year-old Bully mix, transferred to the Humane Society of Midland County (HSOMC) in Michigan from the local animal control center. His previous family had often left him to roam on his own, and he frequently got into tousles with porcupines, Newsweek reports. They surrendered him to animal control when the authorities picked him up.
Dave’s gentle, sweet demeanor melted shelter volunteers’ hearts.
“At HSMC, Dave was an immediate staff favorite. He was gentle as can be and great with other dogs. Dave was adopted on the final day of Empty the Shelter when a family with a son who is deaf and has autism saw Dave’s story and came to meet him. It was an instant connection,” Brittany Schlacter from the BISSELL Pet Foundation told Newsweek.
The Foundation had organized an “Empty the Shelters” event at the end of July.
“The two are now inseparable and have clearly saved each other,” Schlacter added.
Dave the Dog’s New Family
According to Newsweek, Mindy Cousineau, Walker’s mom, said they decided to meet Dave after seeing his picture on Facebook and noting he was older and deaf.
Older pups and those with hearing impairment or other health issues are less likely to be adopted. But Dave has helped the family just as much as they’ve helped him.
Cousineau said Dave and Walker bonded immediately.
“It was like they had always been together,” she told Newsweek. “Dave was so sweet and just laid on Walker.”
Cousineau said Dave seemed right at home in his new abode, and it took the family just two days to learn his sign commands.
“Dave has been such a calming presence for Walker. Dave knows when Walker is getting upset, and he just calms him down. Walker is learning more signs for himself and also so he can ‘talk’ to Dave,” Cousineau told Newsweek. “Walker is feeling better about losing his hearing now that we have Dave, wearing his hearing aids all the time now and doesn’t feel out of place. The boys are inseparable. Neither one can be far from the other’s sight. They sleep together and honestly do everything together since we got Dave.”
