This blind and deaf puppy is learning how to bring comfort to others as a therapy dog

A dog on a walk.
(Image credit: iStock)

Erin Baxter and her family didn't expect to adopt Ruby, a blind and deaf puppy, so soon after the loss of their elderly dog Scarlet, but when she climbed into the lap of Baxter's daughter Avery last year, they felt it was meant to be. 



Ruby quickly became accustomed to their house in Wilmauma, Florida, and attached to their other two dogs. Ruby, who was likely born blind and deaf due to careless breeding, loves sitting with people and licking their faces, and in January, the Baxters met trainer Rick Carde, who said he would do everything he could to train this special dog. After a lot of trial and error, he found that she responded to pressure — when Ruby is touched between the shoulders she knows to lay down, and when someone pets her under the chin, she follows them.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.