You don’t need to say “it’s time to eat”, you don’t need to use the word “ball”, and you don’t need to ask if it wants a “bone” to make this dog excited. Corgi Eowyn has stepped out of the world of language and sound, following her deaf-mute owner, happily barking at sign language gestures.
Owner Emily Cassese, 32 years old, was born deaf or close to deaf, but completely lost her hearing during her upbringing. Four years ago, when she moved in with her husband Derek, she introduced a new form of communication into his life. Now, they navigate their marriage through silent sign language.
Derek, 34 years old, is an engineer at a packaging company in Orlando. His Corgi, Eowyn, with her short legs and big ears, is 9 years old. He describes her as “very smart” and “quite stubborn”.
“If she doesn’t like what we’re doing, she’ll let us know,” he told The Epoch Times, “but she’s loving and very protective of us.”
After the couple got together, Eowyn became a part of their lives. They began to notice her cleverness as she started to join their silent conversations in her own way. The prospect of going for a walk or a drive started to spark joy in Eowyn’s heart, even though she can’t speak. A simple sign “D” (meaning dinner) by the mouth will make the doggo frantically busy.
Derek told our reporter, “Eowyn was staring at me, then jumped off the couch and started barking. I turned to Emily and said, ‘I think this dog just learned the sign by observing us.'”
They claim they never deliberately taught Eowyn sign language. She simply began associating signs with forthcoming actions and naturally learned sign language. However, the couple expressed their astonishment.
“We communicate at home using sign language, no speech,” Derek added. “Eowyn finds a way to join her wife’s silent world. In the morning, instead of barking for breakfast, the Corgi goes to Emily’s bedside and lightly nudges her until she wakes up to feed her.”
Even though many signs make Eowyn happy, some gestures don’t sit well with her. Derek mentioned that there are certain signs that she completely dislikes.
“She doesn’t like the sign for ‘bath’,” he chuckled, making a gesture of scrubbing shoulders with both hands. “For some reason, she also dislikes the sign for ‘failure.’ We don’t know why, but she just doesn’t like it.”
They have a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@TheSigningD) where they share content related to the deaf-mute community. They filmed Eowyn’s sign language journey and uploaded it online, expecting just a few thousand views. However, they were taken aback when over 80 million viewers marveled at her sign language.
When asked about the reason for attracting such attention, Derek replied, “I think it motivates many people. They’re not only inspired to learn sign language but also see that our lives are not that different from theirs.”
“Our way of communication might be a bit different, but our dog recognizes our way just like theirs recognize theirs,” he added.
Derek hopes to encourage others interested in teaching their dogs sign language to give it a try; the prospect of sign language bridges the gap between the deaf community and the hearing community. He finds this concept rewarding.
“A lot of people ask me what’s the best way to learn sign language. Many people have started their sign language journey after watching this video,” he shared.
The couple aims to share a message about life, with their Corgi Eowyn acting as their megaphone to convey to the world: We are all the same.
“We wouldn’t say we’re normal people. We are peculiar. We are nerds,” Derek expressed. “But our kind of peculiar is just like everyone else’s kind of peculiar. Being able to show people that we are just like them, that really excites me.”