They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but one animal lover has set out to prove that isn’t true at all. After receiving a nine-year-old border collie that had lost its hearing, Chloe Shorten decided to try and teach the dog sign language. Now, the sheepdog is using non-verbal communication to herd sheep on their farm.
Peggy, the nine-year-old border collie was handed over to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after it lost its hearing. After seeing the dog struggle, Chloe Shorten, who is an animal welfare manager at the RSPCA’s Mid Norfolk and North Suffolk Branch in Norwich, England, along with her shepherd husband, decided to help the dog out. “We used repetitive and positive reinforcement and instead of pairing a verbal command with an action, we'd use a physical hand gesture… For example, thumbs up means 'good girl,’” Shorten said of the training process.
While Peggy is still learning, she can now follow nonverbal commands for stop, slow down and change direction, according to Fox News. With these new skills, the dog will hopefully continue living a happy life. Now, it just needs to learn how to fetch items from the fridge.