Speaking Cloud

Words and Images by: Isabela Sala

On December 15th, 2022, for my upcoming 15th birthday, I picked up my long awaited first puppy. She was an all white pitbull with beautiful green eyes, a pink and brown spotted nose, cute floppy pink ears... and she was born deaf. Her name is Nube which is cloud in spanish, and when she got home she immediately became a part of my family, but first there was one thing we had to do, we had to learn how to talk to her. My mom searched for ways to train deaf dogs, she bought books and she even hired a trainer. We were committing a lot into making sure Nube could communicate whatever she needed. When you think about deaf, the first thing that comes to mind is ASL or American Sign Language. Why not use that. My mom created a system to talk to Nube in our own special but doable way. We would simplify sign language hand gestures to give her commands.

You're probably thinking...how is a dog going to learn Sign Language? Well think of this... when you point does your dog look to where you're pointing? And if you gesture for them to calm down, don't they seem to follow your lead? It's a known fact that dogs are creatures that can understand more than words. Like service dogs with their ability to understand body language or farming dogs with their knowledge of understanding what gets sheep in one spot. So if dogs can do all that, Nube can learn Sign Language. So as we created our language to help with any kind of situation she might have had, we filled in the blanks with new signs. And being the smart baby that she is, she learned quickly. Do you want to learn some?

Tutorial Time:

Let's start with the basics, the command for sit. In American Sign Language the sign for sit is to place your index and middle finger of your dominant hand down onto your other hand's extended pointer finger, like they were two legs sitting down on a seat. For Nube, we simplified it to something easily done with one hand.

1. Take your pointer finger and the middle finger of your dominant hand and just fold them downward

Now you have a sitting puppy.

Not only do we teach her commands but she has learned to have conversations with us, simple yes or no questions. For a deaf dog she does know how to be loud, barking whenever she wants our attention-when she does we ask her these questions. If she stands that means no and if she sits that means yes.

1. With a closed fist stick the tip of your thumb out from between your index finger and middle finger

   
   

2. Then you shake that fist from side to side

You just signed the word bathroom.

Now for the second word.

1. Take your dominant hand and close it into a fist.

   
   

2. Now nod that fist like your nodding your head or knocking on a door

   
   

You've just signed, "bathroom, yes?" If she sits that's a yes so you should proceed to take her outside. If you still have a barking puppy still on her four feet we move on to the next question.

1. Take out three of your fingers

   
   

2. Tuck in your thumb and pinky until they connect across your palm

   
   

3. Then tap the edge of your palm to your chin

And if you end that with a nodding fist. You've just asked, "water, yes?" If she sits, you take her water bowl and fill it up again. But if all you get is that sad little puppy look, you can still ask her one more thing.

1. Stick out your thumb and pinky

   
   

2. Close the rest of your fingers on both hands and twist your wrists

And with the nodding fist you can definitely get my puppy excited, because what you just signed was, "play, yes?"

So if she finally sits her little butt down you can sign one more thing to seal the deal.

1. Let all your fingertips meet on your dominant hand

   
   

2. Place your dominant hand into the palm of your other hand.

This is loosely based on the sign for "put" so when you show it to Nube she will swiftly pick up her favorite toy and put it directly in your hand.

Speaking Nube takes a lot of time and love, but when you get the hang of it there's no better feeling like seeing my baby happy when I give her jazz hands (which is the sign for cheering) and her little tail wags without a single sound from my mouth. Breaking the bonds of communication to an animal that can't hear you is an accomplishment I am proud to say I have conquered, and if I can do it with my dog, you can do it with your loved ones or people you care about as well. Sign Language was made to help break that barrier between hearing and deaf, it's a language that pushes people to come together, to put in the effort to talk to someone willing to talk to you. Hopefully you feel accomplished too, now that we're done with our little lesson. And if you ever see a cute little white pitbull with beautiful green eyes and a spotted pink and brown nose, don't be shy to give her a classic rock and roll hand gesture to tell her "I love you."