Deaf Therapy Pit Bull Gets Caught 'Sleeping on the Job' and Total Cuteness Ensues
Kathleen Joyce
February 14, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Being a therapy dog must be such hard work. I mean, sure, your job is spreading love and affection to people who really need it, but that means a whole lot of playing and cuddling and meeting new folks every day and... OK, it honestly sounds like a lot of fun. Still, that work requires a lot of energy and attention, and it can really take it out of you!
Cole, a deaf therapy Pit Bull who works with kids, hit his limit one day in the middle of his "shift" with an elementary school music class. The tuckered pup got caught sleeping on the job, and adorable hilarity ensued!
Hmm... looks like someone clocked out for his break a little early! Since Cole is deaf, the ruckus all around him couldn't stop him from passing out cold on a comfy beanbag, ears flipped over, little legs sticking straight up in the air. He looked like he was having the best nap of his life, the kind you wake up from wondering if you've been asleep for three hours or three days. If only we could all nap this hard on the job!
Related: Irish Wolfhound Therapy Dog Sweetly Helps Puppy Injured in Attack Learn to Trust Again
Just as Cole was "100% unbothered" by the children's chaos, the kids didn't seem too offended by the Pit Bull's choice to sleep his way through music class. If anything, he became the star of the show as all the kids circled around him to play their instruments in an almost reverential way.
"He thinks he's being worshiped by the tiny hoomans," laughed @nacholoz123. No, Cole doesn't think -- he knows.
"The feet!" cried @brandhopkins7. "I aspire to be this level of unbothered in the literal middle of chaos."
"Had a deaf dog for 10 years," @megrandle8. "Slept like he was dead! Had to wake him with a treat under his nose." Hmm... makes me wonder if this is all just a long con from Cole to get more dog treats...
Cole the Deaf Therapy Dog
Cole's dad and trainer, public school music teacher Chris Hannah, likes to say that "disability is not an inability, it's a superpower." That is definitely true of Cole, who uses his superpower to show kids that it's OK to be different and to embrace themselves for who they are!
Cole's story started off sadly. Chris Hannah adopted Cole in 2017 from the South Jersey Regional Animal Shelter, where he'd been passed over by multiple families who deemed him too "broken" to adopt. Cole proved that was far from the truth; he just needed someone like Chris to give him a chance! Cole quickly picked up sign language from his new dad and became a therapy dog at the Dr. Mennies School in South Jersey where his dad works, inspiring a unique social-emotional learning project there. Eventually Chris and Cole would found the Team Cole Project therapy dog program, serving schoolchildren, veterans, care home residents, and other people in need of Cole's kindness and uplifting spirit all over the state of New Jersey. The Team Cole Project has since received the Presidential Silver Service Award, and Cole himself was named the ASPCA's National Dog of the Year in 2023, along with receiving numerous other awards for his service.
That's a lot of accolades for one little Pittie! Cole has come a long way since his heartbreaking humble beginnings, and he has touched so many people's hearts all across his home state, and to an extent, across the entire country as well. With that all in mind, I think he's earned the right to nap on the job... and maybe a few extra treats in the bargain.