You don’t need to call her when it’s “dinner,” say the word “ball,” or ask if she wants her “bone” to make this dog go nuts. Eowyn the corgi has leaped beyond the world of words and sounds, following her deaf owner, and barks for joy on seeing sign language hand signs.
Dog owner Emily Cassese, 32, was born deaf or near deafness but completely lost her hearing as she grew up. When she moved in with her husband, Derek, four years ago, she introduced a new form of communication into his life. They now navigate their marriage through the silent language of signs.
Derek, 34, an Orlando-based engineer for a packaging company, owned the fluffy, 9-year-old corgi Eowyn, with her short legs and huge ears, ever since she was a puppy and spent plenty of time training her. He says his corgi is “very intelligent” and “stubborn.”
“If she doesn’t like what we’re doing, she will definitely let us know,” he told The Epoch Times. “But she’s very loving and protective.”
After the couple got together, Eowyn became part of both their lives. They began to notice how intelligent she was when she started joining their silent discourses in her own canine ways. The prospects of “going out for a walk” or “for a drive” began to spark joy in Eowyn, though no words were uttered. The simple hand sign “D” (for dinner) beside the mouth had the dog scrambling.
“Eowyn was staring at me at the time and just jumped off the couch and started barking,” Derek told the newspaper. “And I turned to Emily, and I went, ‘I think the dog learned signs just from watching us.’”
They say they never intentionally taught Eowyn sign language. She just started associating signs with what followed next and picked them up naturally, though the couple say they were shocked by it.
“When we’re communicating at home, it’s just sign language. There’s no speaking,” Derek said, adding that Eowyn found inaudible ways to join his wife’s soundless world. Rather than bark to get breakfast in the morning, the corgi went over to Emily’s bed and gently bumped it until she awoke to feed her.
(Courtesy of Derek Cassese)
Although many signs spark joy in the corgi, Eowyn is less impressed with others. Some turn her off completely, Derek said.
“She does not like the sign for bath,” he said, laughing, making a gesture of scrubbing his shoulders with both hands. “And for some reason, she does not like the sign for failure. We don’t know why she doesn’t like that one, but she just does not like that sign.”
When asked why it attracted so much attention, Derek said, “I think that it’s inspiring a lot of people. They’re not only being inspired to learn sign language, but they’re seeing that our life is not that different from theirs.
“We might communicate a little bit differently, but even our dogs recognize us the same way their dogs recognize them.”
Derek said he wants to encourage others interested in teaching their dogs sign language to try; the prospect has brought the deaf community and the hearing a step closer together. He loves that.
“I’ve had tons of people reach out to me and ask me, ‘What’s the best way to learn sign language?’” he said. “Tons of people have actually seen this video and then begun their sign language journey.”
The couple have a message to share about life, and Eowyn the corgi has been their megaphone for telling the world: We’re all the same.
“We’re not going to say we’re normal people. We’re weird. We’re nerdy,” Derek said. “But we’re weird in the same way that everybody else is weird. Being able to show people that we’re just like everybody else has been overwhelming.”
