The Deaf Dog
It’s a scene you have witnessed many times, you’ve been away for a short time and finally, arrive home. You are greeted at the door by your very enthusiastic dog.
Jumping up, offering a favoured toy as a present, spinning around, barking, licking your face as you bend down to receive this wild approbation. The whole experience occurs regardless of how much time you have been away. Be it 5 minutes or 5 hours this greeting is the same. You can barely get through the door as you struggle to push your way indoors and divest yourself of the shopping and if you have more than one dog this chaotic state of affairs is multiplied manyfold.
In fact, all this is normal. It’s what you expect. You would probably be rather disappointed if it didn’t happen, however, there are folks who can get through the door, calmly put the shopping away, put the kettle on, make a cup of tea, shower, change their clothes, turn on the tv and watch their favourite soap well before this rapturous greeting takes place.
Welcome to the world of the deaf dog.
I know, I have one!!
Mine is also a geriatric who sleeps a lot. A bit like me!!
Common causes
First of all, we need to know why. The most common are either:
- The result of chronic ear infection
- The consequence of old age
- It can be congenital. (Born like it) It is connected to a lack of pigment and is associated with predominately white dogs.
(Chloe is white although it is generally accepted that her deafness is more associated with old age.)
Having found out why the next important issue is to dispel the myth that deaf dogs are more likely to be aggressive. Total Rubbish. Deaf dogs are usually very attentive and make great companions but we have to be able to adapt to their world. After all, we don’t abandon deaf children. We don’t put a deaf person in an institution so why do some people think it is ok to dump a dog in a shelter because they cannot hear. As with all difficulties in life when faced with a problem you have to be flexible, adapt, adjust and if necessary improvise.
One of the areas where we must adapt is waking our dog up. We cannot just call, and shaking the dog will startle it so to wake a deaf dog you stamp the floor gently and the vibration should be enough. If children are in the house they must learn very quickly how to approach one of these dogs. Deaf dogs can never be off the lead near traffic as they are unable to hear vehicle noise.
In the future, a major concern for the safety of both children and animals is the introduction of the electric car which at the moment are allowed to be almost silent.
Whilst this is highly desirable regarding noise pollution the consequences will lead to lives being lost both human and animal unless manufacturers are mandated by legislation to create a degree of sound to their vehicles to warn of their impending arrival.
Like all creatures including humans coping with deafness leads to an awareness that other senses need to compensate and with dogs, this takes the form of paying attention to their owners.
In fact, the relationship between owner and dog is enhanced because of this disability. The owner needs to pay much more attention to their dog’s requirements, recognise the dangers posed and the dog spends much more time looking at the owner waiting for guidance for what to do next.
Ideally training a deaf dog starts as young as possible but unfortunately, this problem often goes unrecognised for many months as puppies behaviour is dismissed as a puppy being “not very bright.”
One of the advantages of the internet is the advent of tutorials on virtually any subject including dealing with deaf dogs, however, those of you who have no experience may benefit from professional assistance from a trainer with specialist knowledge of this subject if you intend to adopt a deaf dog. See how you get on.
Training
Those who have lived with a deaf dog have found that the bond between themselves and their pet is so much stronger and using hand signals and body language brings a reward denied to the owners of hearing dogs.
For those who adopt this type of dog you will find that there are printable copies of sign language for those who need them, however, please be aware that there is no right or wrong signal for communicating. It is very personal but these copies can assist you not to use conflicting signs plus making sure that your signals are very clear and concise One of the most important signals that all owners and deaf dogs must learn is how to indicate how pleased you are with your dog’s behaviour.
This is generally done with a simple thumbs-up.
Plus of course one of the most important signals. “Watch me”
This is normally done by showing the dog a tiny treat, raising it up to your face and using your finger to point at your eyes, whilst mouthing the word “watch”
Obviously having a well trained, well behaved, older dog in the house is an advantage as when the old dog returns, particularly for food, the deaf dog is almost certain to follow.
Another aid is the vibrating collar, however, whilst they can be very successful in getting some dogs attention on others they can be a total failure as I found when I tried one in Chloe. She completely ignored it!! Didn’t even look up.
Finally, please remember to still talk to your deaf dog. They will concentrate more on your face than a hearing dog and they definitely don’t want to come toward a miserable face so keep smiling!!
“You think that dogs will not be in heaven. I tell you that they will be there long before any of us.”
Robert Louis Stevenson