Woman Shares Special Bond With Rescue Puppy After Discovering He's Deaf

Having a dog with special needs isn't for everyone, but if you can rise to the challenge, it can be an entirely rewarding experience, for both pet and owner.

One woman who met the challenge was Rita Brown, 45, from San Diego, who owns rescue dog Kekoa, who happens to be deaf. In a video posted to her Instagram account @kekoatheheeler, Brown wrote that, as soon as they got Kekoa home, "we immediately knew something wasn't right."

"I found Kekoa on a rehoming page in Facebook during the pandemic," Brown told Newsweek. "My husband and I were very excited when we got him. We had never had a dog together so we sent a picture to his best friend who is a vet."

The couple's vet acquaintance was then able to break the news just from seeing a photo that Kekoa was almost certainly deaf. "His coloring and eye color gave it away as it means he has a recessive gene," said Brown. "The next time he fell asleep, my husband got out his cymbals and banged them together, and Kekoa did not even blink. It was later confirmed with Kekoa's vet."

Kekoa has a light gray coat, with light blue eyes, coloring that is associated with congruential hereditary deafness, according to a study in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Dogs may lose their hearing for a range of reasons. However, if they are born deaf like Kekoa, it is known as congenital deafness.

As soon as she found out, Brown began researching how she could support Kekoa. "I handled the situation just like anyone would for someone they love. I started researching and trying to figure out what it would take to give him the best life possible. There are obviously no hearing aids for dogs, so I knew training would be very important.

"I put a post out on Instagram as soon as I thought he was deaf, asking for advice," Brown added. "My friend, who was starting her new dog-training company, reached out and said she would love to volunteer her services to help us. I am pretty sure she came the very next day, and she helped me to teach him to look at me. Then we progressed to adding hand signals.

"Kekoa always knows to look to me for direction and he knows so many hand signals. Once we had the foundation down, training him was just like training a hearing dog. He has also been trained with a vibrating collar for recall," Brown said.

"We now have a second dog named Kaya and she is trained in recall, so when we call her, he always follows. Recall is so important for his safety, so we have tried to come up with a few techniques."

The American Kennel Club estimates that about 5 to 10 percent of dogs in the United States suffer from deafness, either in one ear (unilateral) or both ears (bilateral).

The effort learning to support and train Kekoa was completely worth it, according to Brown.

"Kekoa is the sweetest boy. We worked really hard on teaching him to check in with me and he has to look to me for direction, which basically makes him my sidekick everyday all day," Brown said.

"I think owning any dog is rewarding, but owning a deaf dog requires a different kind of communication, with a lot of eye contact strengthening the bond between us,." Brown added.

"Kekoa lives in a quieter world, so he is gentle and loves everyone. He doesn't have anxieties from fireworks, thunder, motorcycles... He prefers to sleep touching us, but does have a centralized place in our house that he can nap and feel if we start moving around.

"Deaf dogs are just as capable as hearing dogs. They are just as trainable. It's really us who needs the training. They don't know they are deaf, so it does not bother them. They can and will live their very best life using their other senses. There are a ton of resources and a great community for support," Brown said.

The video has been viewed over 484,000 times on Instagram, and users were full of admiration for Brown.

"I love that you not only decided to keep him but also gave him the time, attention and training where he can thrive. Bravo you," wrote one user.

"He's beautiful and he is lucky to have you as his family who never gives up on him," posted another.

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