How to prove your love

"I had the feeling that I could understand him"

Deaf man adopts deaf dog – their love needs no words

"Destined for Each Other: A deaf man adopts a small puppy with hearing loss. The two can still communicate – with sign language.

Monmouth- Love is a language that the deaf can hear. This saying seems to be made for young man Nick Abbott and his adopted dog Emerson. Because both Abbott and his black Labrador are deaf- but they can still communicate! That’s because the dog’s owner has taught his married four-legged friend sign language. He enthuses, "The bond we have is great.“ What a happy coincidence that the two found each other! It was also fate when a blind man adopted a blind dog*- the little guy now has exactly the loving home he needed, as kreiszeitung.en* reports.

"Destined for each other": Deaf man adopts dog with no hearing

Little Labrador Emerson was rescued from a Florida shelter at the tender age of six weeks and brought to the nonprofit foster home NFR Maine. Once there, however, the puppy did not get along very well at first. Emerson suffered from seizures and was diagnosed a little later with the parvovirus. Parvovirosis is a highly contagious viral disease that is widespread worldwide and poses a great, sometimes fatal danger, especially for unvaccinated dogs. But thanks to the loving care of NFR Maine, Emerson survived.

But the vets noticed another deficiency in the puppy afterward: Emerson suffered from partial hearing loss. The vets could not say whether this was present from birth or whether it was caused by the seizures. But the fact was that it made it much more difficult to adopt the little rascal. Because while all of his siblings had already found new homes, prospective buyers were probably reluctant to take in a deaf dog. That is, until Nick Abbott came across a post of the cute pup on Facebook – and he was promptly smitten. Love at first sight was also experienced by a young police officer with a lonely kitten he found on patrol- and immediately adopted*.

Love at first sight: Deaf man immediately attracted to deaf dog – "because we had similarities"

"I was immediately drawn to him because we had similarities," Abbott tells "CBS News," continuing, "I felt like I could understand him." NFR Maine’s Lindsay Powers also quickly took a liking to the 31-year-old’s application, "He immediately said, ‘I’m deaf, too, and I think we’d get along,’" Powers reports on "Good Morning America". That is why the first meeting between the dog and its future owner took place a few days later.

Also this went apparently smoothly: "He came directly to me at the door and sat down immediately at my feet and remained there", Abbott enthuses to "wabi.tv". „So you can say that he kind of chose me. And I knew right away that we would get along and get along well together.“ The two of them were made for each other from the start. A similarly quick decision was made by a reporter, as a shelter dog snuggled up to him until he adopted her*.

So you can say that it somehow chose me. (. ) I had the feeling I could understand him.

Nick Abbott

Deaf man Nick teaches his deaf puppy sign language: "We understand each other very well"

Abbott and his new puppy have even developed their own way of communicating with each other. Nick uses sign language to educate and communicate with Emerson. Since the adoption, Abbott has already taught the young puppy all kinds of commands. If the 31-year-old, for example, were to call "S paints in the air, Emerson sits down. Moreover, it follows the visual orders for "lying down", Stay" and other short commands. Besides sign language Em, as Nick affectionately calls him, also reacts to certain tones and pitches. Their deafness does not seem to limit the sweet team at all. Pure happiness has also been experienced by a dog-grandpa, who was finally adopted after years of fate- and now even smiles in her sleep*.