When Brandi Guillet adopted Connor as a baby, she knew he’d have special needs. That’s why she wanted to get her bright and bubbly 6-year-old a new best friend who he could relate to beautifully!When mom Brandi set out to find her son a special friend, she had no idea that she was about to find the perfect companion for Connor. She began searching for dogs in need of homes at the Coastal Boxer Rescue of Florida, where she volunteers.
That’s when she met a white Boxer named Ellie who is deaf, but responds to sign language – a language that her son uses to communicate.The rescue is decentralized, meaning that there is no one “shelter” area; all its dogs are fostered by volunteers. So Brandi decided to take Ellie home and see how well she’d get along with Connor, and their connection was immediate.It’s only been a couple of weeks, but the pup fits in perfectly with the Guillet family. And just as Brandi hoped, the special pup is particularly attached to her son.
“Connor is on the autism spectrum and has meltdowns to where he is on the floor crying very loudly,” she told iHeartDogs. “Ellie always stands over him as if she knows he needs comfort.”
The two don’t need words in order to understand each other, and Ellie seems to be especially intuitive to how her human is feeling. Plus, there’s the language that they both understand.
“It is the most beautiful thing in the world to see my son be able to communicate through sign with Ellie,” Brandi said.
The beaming mom says that she would recommend a sensitive dog like theirs to anyone who could use a helping… paw.
“I also believe that special-needs dogs are amazing for kids with special needs (or adults),” she told us, adding, “there is something beyond special about Ellie.”
The Guillet family is technically fostering the pup at the moment, but after their short time together, they could not imagine their lives without this big-hearted Boxer. Luckily, Ellie’s adoption will be official in just a few days – talk about a match made in Heaven! We know that they will all enjoy spending their lives together.