Deaf Dog Learns Sign Language, Finds Home at School for the Deaf

Feb 11th 2011

Sparky, a 1-year-old dachshund, looks like your typical wiener dog, but this little guy is rather special -- the dog is deaf but understands a number of commands in sign language, reports the Fulton Sun.

The hard of hearing pooch got his start in a Puppies for Parole training program at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Mo. The program pairs adoptable pups with prison inmates, and in his eight weeks of training Sparky learned signs for "no," "sit," "lay down," "stay," "stop" and "heel." After that, the inmates thought the dog should live with people who could appreciate his skills, so he was relocated to his new home at the Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton, Mo.