Casper the Dog Is Not Deaf—He Just Speaks Swedish

Wednesday, June 6, 2001 - UK

FLAMBOROUGH — A UK couple from Flamborough, east of Leeds, is getting a lesson in linguistics today, courtesy of a certain canine named Casper.

When Eileen and Tony Garnett adopted the six-year-old Rottweiler from a rescue in Colne, Lancashire, they understood that the dog had been trained by his prior family.  That's why they were completely baffled by his apparent disregard for all authority.

"We thought he was the daftest dog," says Mr. Garnett.  "We would call to it and it just ran away.  It just would not do anything he was told."

After Casper's crazy antics degenerated into a serious behavioral issue, the couple decided to contact the shelter where they had adopted the problem-pooch.  Maybe the poor thing was deaf.

As it turns out, he's Swedish.

Mr. Garnett goes on to explain, "It had a perfect pedigree but we thought it was brainless.  So we called the rescue centre and one of the staff told us they had forgotten to mention it was brought up by a Swedish couple."

As a matter of fact, Casper's last teacher was football star Mangus Hedman, goalie for Coventry City.  Mr. Hedman had trained the dog in his native language, Swedish.

"We have now got one or two Swedish words that he understands but we are now teaching him English.  He is getting the message when we tell him to sit," says Mr. Garnett, indicating that they would now like their dog to be bilingual.

Casper is apparently unfazed by the task, since he can still mutter all sorts of nasty things about them that they won't understand.

Above: We couldn't get a picture of Casper, so posing in front of the Swedish flag is Roc, who may be available for adoption from RecycledRotts.org.  To adopt a shelter Rottie anywhere in the USA or Canada, click here.

Below: The Scoop's Senior Editor "Wags"
poses with a plate of Swedish meatballs.

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