The Animal Rescue League of Boston (ARL) is training a 10-month-old puppy who was born deaf how to understand hand signals in hopes of finding her a permanent home this holiday season.

The white Labrador Retriever mix, aptly named Snow, came to the ARL from one of the organization’s Southern rescue partners. Despite facing unique challenges, ARL’s Animal Behavioral Manager Laney Nee said she is happy, affectionate, and eager to learn.

With the help of ARL staff and volunteers, Snow has been working hard on hand-signal training and confidence-building, and they say she is showing improvement each day. When Snow sees a “thumbs up,” for example, she knows she’s made the right choice.

“One of the things that’s most important is to be able to give her different signals so she understands wha

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