CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A Cincinnati man who taught his dog to respond to sign language commands is trying to help people with hearing loss by teaching their dogs too.
Christopher Alsop says he has severe hearing loss, but has trained his dog, Goldie, to respond to sign language. Communication with her is something he says means so much to him.
“It’s a challenge. I’m going to try and do it. Even though I’m deaf, and hard of hearing, I’m going to teach the world how to teach your dog sign language,” Alsop told FOX19 NOW.
Alsop was born 95% dead, and has never been able to communicate with dogs like most people. However, he says dogs could tell that he communicates differently than others.
“They feel it. They know you’re deaf,” he said. “If someone’s knocking on the door, she’ll bark, but she’ll come get me and bark and let [me] know. She might put her paw up, go to the door and come back.”
He started teaching Goldie American sign language when she was 5 months old.
“They pay attention, if you [are] around your dog, love your dog, take care of your dog, she’s going to follow what you do.”
Alsop says the training requires a lot of love and treats.
Some of the commands are more basic, like sit or stay, but Goldie has learned how to even close the door.
Alsop says he started posting videos showing Goldie responding to the commands, and many people who have kids who have hearing loss wanted him to train their dogs. This inspired him to create a podcast to teach people how to train their dogs to understand sign language commands.
“It means a lot to me. I think about when I was young and I always had a dog, but I never had no dog that knew sign language. To be able to give a dog something that I never had, really means a lot to me,” he said.
Alsop’s podcast, called “Deaf Boy Podcast,” will launch on YouTube Nov. 21.
More information can be found with the link above.
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