It is a sad fact of life that dogs with disabilities have a difficult time getting rescued from the shelter. A deaf man decided to step up to the plate, however, by rescuing a deaf, visually impaired puppy and giving him a forever home. He even upped his game by teaching him sign-language so they can communicate.
Nick Abbott adopted the puppy, whom he named Emerson from North Florida Rescue center when he was a 12-week-old puppy.
Emerson and the other puppies in the litter were taken in with they were only eight weeks old. They were suffering from seizures and Emerson could not eat or drink. He also developed the parvovirus, which is very serious.
Fortunately, Emerson was able to pull through but because of his health problems, he was left behind when the other puppies were adopted.
Then Nick showed up at the shelter.
“He came straight to me at the door and sat right away at my feet and stayed there,” Nick said.
“So you can tell he kind of picked me. And I knew right then and there that we would get along and understand each other pretty good.”
Nick is also deaf so he decided to teach Emerson sign language. He wanted them to be able to communicate with each other.
When Nick signs the letter ‘S’, Emerson will sit down. When he draws a straight line, Emerson will lay down on the floor.
“The bond that we have is awesome,” Nick added.
“We understand each other very well. I’d like to think it was meant to be. He’s special.”
Nick had read a Facebook post about Emerson and decided to adopt him. The post said that Emerson was still searching for a forever home and that all of the other puppies in the litter had been adopted.
Since Nick was born deaf, he really felt a closeness to the pup right away. He reached out to the center to see if things could work out.
“We just had a really tough time finding him the PERFECT home,” a Facebook update from NFR read.
“Nick reached out with interest in Emerson because he too is deaf! Nick said he was interested in meeting Emerson because they would understand each other, being that they both share the same hearing difficulties.
“When Nick and his Mom walked into the house to meet Emerson, Emerson made a direct line for Nick and sat at his feet. That’s all it took. I was sold that this was fate, and these 2 belonged to each other.”
