Deaf Hero Therapy Dog Emma Saves The Day!

Because it is Deaf Pet Awareness week this week we really wanted to highlight a deaf Therapy Dog this week. I ran across a Facebook thread last week about an amazing deaf therapy dog named Emma. I was so excited to read about Emma the deaf Catahoula therapy dog who alerted the staff at a Alzheimer and Memory Care facility to two patients who where in need of help. Deaf dogs are ultra sensitive to our smells and our body chemistry changing. They make excellent “medical alert” dogs and therapy dogs! Thanks to Sandi Walker for sending Deaf Dogs Rock the details of each event. We are going to add Emma to our Deaf Dogs Rock Therapy Dog Wall of Fame. She is a natural Therapy Alert dog! If Emma was standing in front of me now, I would give her the ASL sign for “Good job Emma!” ~ Christina Lee – Deaf Dogs Rock

Deaf Hero Therapy Dog Emma Saves The Day! By Sandi Walker

Emma, a deaf Catahoula mix, came to Second Chance Farm, a special needs rescue in Texas, from a Bastrop, Texas Animal Shelter. Emma was taken by volunteers to several adoption events but they had no luck finding someone who would adopt her. Then Sandi Walker the Founder of Second Chance Farm (SCF), partnered with Silverado Memory Care Community in Ft. Worth, Texas to supply them with resident therapy dogs. The administrator of the care facility chose SCF to partner with their rescue of special needs animals to go with their special needs residents. Emma seemed like she would be a great fit and a natural so she was the very first dog on the list to go to the Silverado community. She fit right in and she even had run of the 54,000 square foot memory care facility.

Two days later, Sandi got this message from the administrator of Silverado Memory Care Community – “Emma started barking last night outside of a residents room. The resident had a seizure not long after that. Emma REFUSES to leave her side and has spent the night by the resident like this…” The family wanted SCF to have a picture of his amazing sight so she sent one. She had only been there 2 days. “I have heard of dogs sensing this, but I never knew it would be one of my shelter rescues who would have that remarkable ability”, said Sandi. We were so happy and all of us where in tears! This makes all the long days and short nights worth it to run SCF. Happy, happy day. Love you, sweet Emma!



We thought that was a remarkable feat, but a few weeks later, we took another therapy dog to visit the center. Before leaving Silverado Care that day a resident’s daughter told the administrator, Karen, and Sandi, Emma had been lying in her dad’s room a few days earlier and her Dad had dozed off watching TV. She said all of a sudden Emma sat straight up , stared at her father and then started growling. The weird thing about what she told the administrators is Emma never growls at anyone or anything. The patients daughter stated Emma did it a second time so she took notice. She looked to see what Emma was growling and looking at and much to her surprise it was her dad she was growling at. She noticed immediately that her dad’s lips had turned blue. The daughter jumped up and started shaking her dad to wake him! Finally after a couple of hard shakes he woke up and although he looked startled he was breathing again and fine.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised at this wonderful deaf therapy dog who is part of the staff now came to the rescue not once but twice within a two week period. Emma is a natural medical alert and therapy dog.

A few of us were joking and beginning to think our sweet deaf rescue dog has super powers and maybe we should get her a cape! In our opinion deaf therapy dog Emma totally ROCKS!