Deaf dog learns sign language to help owners herd sheep

The nine-year-old border collie has learnt to understand her owners’ hand signals (Picture: SWNS)

A deaf dog whose owners gave her to the RSPCA because she could no longer herd sheep has been taught sign language. 

Border collie Peggy is ‘proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks’ as she successfully helps her new owners shepherd their livestock.

The elderly dog, aged nine, enjoyed years of rounding up sheep before losing her hearing due to unknown causes.

She was signed over to the RSPCA’s Mid Norfolk and North Suffolk Branch, where animal welfare manager Chloe Shorten, 28, fell in love with her. 

Chloe, who realised Peggy ‘wouldn’t be going anywhere’ decided to take the dog in with her and her shepherd husband Jason, aged 34.

‘We knew Peggy wanted to be working so we started the long process of teaching her how to herd and work with a shepherd without relying on voice commands,’ Chloe said. 

Just to be safe, the couple fitted Peggy’s collar with a GPS tracker in case she got separated from her family and couldn’t find her way back to them without hearing them call for her. 

Then, they started teaching her to watch them for guidance. 

Usually sheepdogs learn to help their owners by responding to words such as ‘away’, ‘come-by’ and ‘steady’. 

Chloe and Jason used the same positive reinforcement techniques which trainers use to teach dogs these verbal commands, to show Peggy hand signals. 

Peggy has learnt that an outstretched, flat palm means ‘stop’ (Picture: SWNS)

Chloe said she is happy her and her husband have been able to teach Peggy how to recognise praise (Picture: SWNS)

Chloe said Peggy loves being back in the field, helping to herd sheep (Picture: SWNS)

Chloe said: ‘She’s still learning new things and improving all the time.

‘The main thing for us was being able to tell her that she’s a good girl and reassure her she is going to be okay.

‘It took her a while to learn that we loved her and to gain her trust, but it’s been so rewarding knowing that she now understands our praise.’

It took some time for Peggy to learn to look at her owners in the first place, but now she knows to watch the couple’s body language. 

But it was not just Chloe and Jason who helped Peggy get back to work – she also had the help of two other working sheepdogs, Sid and Nora. 

The power team got Peggy to a place where she can understand that a thumbs up means ‘good girl’, a flat, outstretched palm means ‘stop’, a point in any direction is an indication of where Peggy should go, and a slow, waving gesture means ‘slow down’. 

If Chloe and Jason want Peggy to come to them, they will pat their knees as owners usually do anyway. 

Chloe and Jason have to sometimes keep her at home so she is not ‘pushed too hard’ (Picture: SWNS)

Peggy has a GPS tracker on her collar so her owners can find her if she runs too far away to see them (Picture: SWNS)

Chloe said: ‘It can be difficult with a deaf dog, because you have to wave at them to get their attention, and sometimes she doesn’t realise straight away.

‘But she’s such a happy little dog. She’s no spring chicken, and she is generally retired – but she loves going out to work with us and running around in the fields, helping out.

‘We don’t always take her out with us, just so as not to push her too hard. But I think if she had the chance she’d do it all the time.

‘She absolutely loves running around like a nutter but it’s amazing to see her with this new lease of life and enjoying her life with us.

‘She’s proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks, and is a wonderful example of the capability of a dog, even if they do lose a sense.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8291209 https://ift.tt/3cHuZwZ