Reggie may not be able to come when you whistle, but he already knows ‘sit’, ‘down’ and ‘drop’ in sign language.
The six-year-old crossbreed is deaf, and is thought to have been born without his hearing.
It hasn’t stopped him being a responsive and ‘wonderful’ old boy keen to learn new tricks, however, say staff at the kennels where he lives.
His previous owner died three months ago, and since then Reggie has been with the RSPCA.
‘As a deaf dog, Reggie will find it harder to find his new forever home,’ staff said.
So they have been teaching him sign language to try and give him an edge when it comes to finding an owner.
You might wonder if this is a special type of sign language (DSL: Dog Sign Language?), but the centre say he is learning the signs in British Sign Language.
He already knows eight words, so if you want to signal ‘hi’, ‘sit’, ‘down’, ‘paw’, ‘come’, ‘drop’ or ‘wait’, he’ll know exactly what you mean.
After all that you may want to tell him ‘good boy’ – and don’t worry, he knows the sign for that too.
Next on the list to learn is ‘sleep’ which will be his cue to go to bed, although whether he will choose to actually follow the command after learning what it means is another question.
If Reggie looks like your perfect next companion, he’s currently being looked after at the Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford & District Branch, in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Animal Centre manager Claire Kendall said: ‘Reggie reads our hand signals and body language as a way of telling what we’re asking him for.
‘For example, thumbs up means “good boy”.
‘And he’s currently learning the BSL signal for sleep – which will be his cue to go to bed.’
She added: ‘We ensure his training is done in a calm environment with no distractions and the sessions are kept short and fun, with lots of tasty treats as rewards.
‘Reggie is a very clever dog and he’s picked it up like a pro. He’s a wonderful example of just how resilient animals can be.
‘We’re really hoping there’s someone out there who’ll be able to devote the time to continuing his training and give this wonderful boy an amazing life.’
It’s thought the cross breed dog was probably born deaf because of his receptive nature to hand signals, movement and light.
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