Adopting a dog can be one of the most-rewarding yet possibly challenging ways of owning a pet, especially if that animal has extra care requirements.
One owner who knows the challenges and joys of owning a differently abled dog is James Coburn, 35, from Boston. He is the owner of Poundcake and more recently, Milkshake. Both dogs are deaf.
"When Poundcake's best friend Dunkin moved away, he was definitely a bit depressed," Coburn told Newsweek. "He would constantly look out of the window. He always look sad. He was often bored when we worked from home, and he didn't have his friend to play with."
In a video posted to Coburn's page @make.life.happen on June 22, with over 230,000 views, the owner captured the moment that Poundcake met his new sister, Milkshake, for the first time.
"Milkshake, formerly Prissy, originally comes from Georgia, and as we understand it, she originally started in the prison system working with either inmates or parolees," said Coburn. "I'm not quite sure on the details, but I'm told she didn't do too well in that environment. She ended up in a rescue center in Buffalo, New York, and wasn't able to find a permanent home for three years largely because she was born deaf, just like Poundcake."
Are Two Dogs Better Than One?
The video shows the two dogs took no time at all to become best friends. This is despite Milkshake's three years hopping around shelters, and Poundcake being raised as an only dog. The two pets have only been together for two weeks and already been filmed playing, snuggling and walking together. "Already, it's extremely difficult to separate them. They want to do everything together. They cuddle together, play together, walk together, you name it," said Coburn.
Dogs are pack animals, and often do well when they have animal companionship, as well as human. "There are some dogs who really struggle due to trauma or other reasons, and cannot be with other dogs, but, for the most part, I would highly recommend anyone with one dog bring home another," said Coburn.
Consider a Dog With Disabilities
Dogs with any kind of special requirements struggle to get adopted and often spend years looking for a forever home, sometimes never finding one. Pet adoption site Petfinder.com says that, while a typical pet spends about 12 weeks on its website before being adopted, special-needs pets took nearly four times as long waiting for their forever home.
"The reason we wanted to adopt another differently abled dog (deaf, blind, etc.) had little to do with Poundcake being deaf, but sadly, these dogs are passed over due to fear and misunderstanding and are often put down because they can't find homes," said Coburn. "We already knew how capable and loving these animals were because of our experience with Poundcake. We knew there were so many out there who simply hadn't been given a chance to show that to anyone."
Coburn said that originally he didn't want a dog, "only because I was worried that myself and my wife would just be stuck at home. I've always loved dogs, but I didn't think it would work for us. One night, we were browsing shelter websites. We wanted to adopt and knew there were many differently abled dogs who often don't get adopted and are put down as a result."
Describing himself as "fearful", Coburn said that both he and his wife knew that, with enough research and time focused on providing a loving and safe environment, they would be fine, "and we fell in love with Poundcake instantly."
Coburn said that deaf dogs are incredible learners and have heightened senses due to their lack of hearing. There are many positives to having a dog with deafness. "Hand-signal training is not as challenging as people think, and with a little bit of research, anyone can do it," said Coburn. "We find whenever our dogs are a little bit stressed, sitting down with them and spending 15 minutes working on training is something that they love to do, and it calms them down."
Coburn added: "Fair warning, when they don't feel like listening to you, they will simply refuse to look at you, so they don't see the hand signals. Poundcake will often turn his head if he knows we are signaling him to go out for night potty. In his mind, if he doesn't see it, he doesn't have to go."
Users on TikTok loved the sweet video. "Tears. So happy for both of them. Sweet babies," commented one user. "Damnit. Now I'm looking up other senior pups in my area," wrote another, while a third person on TikTok posted: "Ohh!!! Poundcake opened up many doors for others that want to adopt! Complete Pupalicious!!"
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
