What behaviors does your deaf dog demonstrate?

[SLW]

Quick background, my 13 year old Jack Russell is 99.9% deaf. He can sometimes hear my husbands shrill whistle but not always. He has cataracts in both eyes so his vision is weak.

Other than the hearing and vision loss he is fit as a fiddle and active. However, something new has happened. If he is left in the house when we go outside, even with our other Jack (11 years old) inside with him, Slash cries and quite plainly screams. Has this happened to others with deaf dogs? He does not destroy anything, just wails.

Is living with a deaf dog just a heck of a lot of common sense or are there other things I can do to make/keep his world safe?

[Laurierace]

I only have a sample of one which really isn’t indicative of anything but my sheltie was more or less the same condition as yours and he didn’t have a problem with being left alone. I think my dog saw better than he heard but he didn’t do either real well.
Just a thought, any way you could tether your two dogs together so the older dog could feel his presence? It sounds like separation anxiety to the max, maybe that way he would know he wasn’t alone?

[NRB]

nope, one deaf dog we had would bite people who accidently woke her up from her naps. She just got startled easily. The second deaf doggie no longer went into a blind panic in thunderstorms after she lost her hearing. Both dogs lost hearing in their old age.

Your situation does sound like separation anxiety.

[SLW]

I agree that it is separation anxiety but he never use to be this way. He was a Type A obedience and agility guru in his youth- shown, socialized and crated.

I think Slash knows Micro is with him because they are both in the den.

I just thought of something…a month ago we had to euthanize our 15 year old whippet and this behavior has happened since then. The trio has been a pack all their collective lives. I think I have found my reason but I don’t understand the why.

[Jaegermonster]

I bet one dog was his eyes and the other his ears, now you just have to figure out which one the whippet was.

[Thomas_1]

Our elderly golden retriever is in her dotage and does the following:

Site at the corner of the house looking like Mutley on guard and on the look out for the Wiley Coyote and when a car pulls past her on the noisy gravel drive she peers round with a sort of “I heard that… pardon” look! Her eye line normally bears no correlation to the passing car!

When you shout “Teal, come here now” or “Teal, drop that stinking rotten dead bird NOW” or “NO, don’t roll in THAT” she just carries on regardless.

When the other dogs go to the kitchen door if someone arrives, she goes to the cat food!

At the dead of night when all the dogs have been out for last pees and are back in she’ll be tootling round the garden in her own world while I’m trying to attract her attention and get her in. This is most likely to happen when it’s p***ing down with rain and eventually I have to go out and tap her on the backside and say “OI YOU”

Mysteriously though she can hear the word biscuits whispered or the lid coming off the biscuit barrel lid from about 200 yards away.

Seriously the main thing we have to do is make sure she doesn’t get herself too far ahead when walking or she won’t hear you calling. We use a whistle more often for her benefit. We also spend a lot of time jumping about with arms and legs flapping making big silouette shapes so she can see we’re trying to attract our attention! She’s been a gundog all her life and she now doesn’t like loud bangs at all. This isn’t uncommon for old retrievers when their hearing changes. (We’ve had a few) So we keep her out of the way if we’re shooting and in the house with the radio on loud so she doesn’t get distressed.

[shea_smom]

My old girl does have a very shrill bark and barks more, with me yelling “Be Quiet”, which of course is stupid. I can’t let her come with me anymore to the barn, too much traffic with cars and horses. That is very hard for her. Sad when they get this way.

[Bluey]

Many many many years ago, one family member dumped this dalmatian on us, because they could not handle her.
We figured she was deaf, that is why she was not “trainable”.
You really could not tell she didn’t hear and she became our turn back “horse” when training cattle.
A rattler killed her at six years old.

Now, she was a young dog and growing up deaf adjusted best she could.
I think that you have more going on there than just hearing and sight problems.
Could you ask your vet to check for congnitive disorders and maybe see if medication could help?

[Romany]

[QUOTE=Thomas_1;4402968]
Our elderly golden retriever is in her dotage and does the following:

Site at the corner of the house looking like Mutley on guard and on the look out for the Wiley Coyote and when a car pulls past her on the noisy gravel drive she peers round with a sort of “I heard that… pardon” look! Her eye line normally bears no correlation to the passing car!

When you shout “Teal, come here now” or “Teal, drop that stinking rotten dead bird NOW” or “NO, don’t roll in THAT” she just carries on regardless.

When the other dogs go to the kitchen door if someone arrives, she goes to the cat food!

At the dead of night when all the dogs have been out for last pees and are back in she’ll be tootling round the garden in her own world while I’m trying to attract her attention and get her in. This is most likely to happen when it’s p***ing down with rain and eventually I have to go out and tap her on the backside and say “OI YOU”

Mysteriously though she can hear the word biscuits whispered or the lid coming off the biscuit barrel lid from about 200 yards away.

Seriously the main thing we have to do is make sure she doesn’t get herself too far ahead when walking or she won’t hear you calling. We use a whistle more often for her benefit. We also spend a lot of time jumping about with arms and legs flapping making big silouette shapes so she can see we’re trying to attract our attention! She’s been a gundog all her life and she now doesn’t like loud bangs at all. This isn’t uncommon for old retrievers when their hearing changes. (We’ve had a few) So we keep her out of the way if we’re shooting and in the house with the radio on loud so she doesn’t get distressed.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like our oldest dog - selectively deaf.

She has learned basic hand signals - well, flapping my arms like a weird standing snow angel :lol: means “come over here, you silly old thing.”

And a poke on the backside means “stop eating fresh horse manure RIGHT now.”

She can still hear hand clapping, which does get her attention (selectively, of course, depending on what else has her attention).

She generally stays close to the other dogs, though, and follows their lead as they trundle around the farm.

[mjrtango93]

My senior citizen at home is deaf as well, with cataracts and that oh so lovely cloudy eye look. He is 15 years old, and was hit by a car and lost a leg 10 years ago. He is currently stone deaf, and we believe nearly blind (bumps into things, can’t adjust from light to dark). He is the same dog otherwise though. No seperation anxiety, still follows you around, but you can “sneak up” on him. Calling him does no good, he can’t hear you anyway. There are certain pitches of whistle he can hear, and if you stomp your foot on the floor he feels the vibration, so at least that sense is all intact. He does bark odd now. It is very deaf dog sounding, not the same pitch it used to be, and you can tell he doesn’t know how loud he is barking because sometimes its barely audible and other times you could hear him 10 houses away. It just sucks getting old! Sounds like yours is missing his little whippet buddy though.

[saddleup]

My English Springer Spaniel, age 11, is deaf now. She gets startled easily, and when she wakes from napping and can’t see one of us she runs through the house in a semi-panic looking for us. She’ll respond to hand signals if she’s looking at us, so will come and sit and lie down on hand command. When we leave the house she naps in front of the door so she knows immediately when we come in.

Other than that, she’s healthy and happy. I talk to her, which is dumb, but after all these years it’s hard to break that habit. She lost her hearing about a year ago.

[Blinkers_On]

I know people with allregy dogs that have serious ear infections that have had the ear “removed” so of course the dog is deaf. They say the dogs get so much happier. They do do one ear at a time and initially the dogs are confused but get really happy shortly afterward. They learn many signs and apparently live long happy lives.

[SLW]

I appreciate ya’ll sharing your deaf dogs behaviors, thanks so much. Hadn’t thought about the possibility of what startling Slash could cause and will keep that on the radar, especially if children are around. His sense of smell is still intact, he knows the difference between dry dog food and fresh roasted chicken.

As a young terrier Slash boldy kept us safe from attacking garden hoses, snakes & the most evil thing of all, the vacuum cleaner. Our payback is to keep him safe now.

[Foxtrot_s]

My friend’s JR is deaf and has poor eyesight as she ages. She is getting very unsure of herself and when left alone cries a lot. She just supports her as much as possible, keeping her close etc. She had geriatric vestibular syndrome which hastened her deafness it seems.

My own daxie had the vestibular syndrome too - and he is very deaf and his sight is not too good either. He has a good nose, is healthy in every other eay and seems a very happy boy. He can hear my husban’s whistle which wakes him up for chores. Otherwise he gets very startled when we try to wake him from a nap, no matter how gently we try.

I think he gets cuter every day.

[Blinkers_On]

Maybe learn how to walk heavier so that the dog can feel the vibrations of you walking so that there is a lessened startle factor.

[Jealoushe]

My dog is deaf due to haveing the double merle (lethal white).

He whines, all the time. Whenever he wants something, anything. Attention, food, to go out, or if he’s bored. He learnt somehow along the way that that works.

He barks a lot too. Very loud barks! He barks at other dogs to play non stop, but he is a Catahoula and that is a trait.

He loves his crate, is your jack crate trained? Schaeffer will bark or howl if left alone, but if I leave him home in his crate he will happily sleep the day away.

I for the most part don’t even notice he’s deaf anymore. It’s dogs with hearing that throw me off!

[jej]

Hmm… my old deaf dogs have all developed what I call “the mechanical bark”.

Dog sits there and goes “Woof…woof…woof…woof…” and so on, ad infinitum. Same tempo, same pitch. Followed by owner shouting “No bark, no bark” and making mad hand signals.

I always felt that the dog did not hear himself clearly, and the vibration of the bark was somehow comforting.

[mjrtango93]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;4406781]
My friend’s JR is deaf and has poor eyesight as she ages. She is getting very unsure of herself and when left alone cries a lot. She just supports her as much as possible, keeping her close etc. She had geriatric vestibular syndrome which hastened her deafness it seems.

My own daxie had the vestibular syndrome too - and he is very deaf and his sight is not too good either. He has a good nose, is healthy in every other eay and seems a very happy boy. He can hear my husban’s whistle which wakes him up for chores. Otherwise he gets very startled when we try to wake him from a nap, no matter how gently we try.

I think he gets cuter every day.[/QUOTE]

Mine has geriatric vestibular as well. He is quite the site! 15 yrs old, 34 pound aussie x kelpie that is deaf and nearly blind on 3-legs with vestibular. But honestly he is happy as a clam, and is now a wonderful couch potato.

[cloudyandcallie]

When my first Aussie became deaf at 15 or 16, he didn’t act any differently than he had before, except I had to use hand signals instead of voice commands to get him to come in from the (fenced) yard. He had no vision problems though.

Did you know that you can have the cataracts removed? Find a good eye vet, and your dog can have his vision corrected. Victoria Pentlarge in Athens GA does a lot of successful cataract surgery (apparently poodles and some other breeds are prone to developing cataracts).

The loss of both sight and hearing can cause major anxiety issues with any animal.

[HappyTalk]

I have a 10 year old JRT that has been deaf from birth. She is the alpha in my pack of 5 dogs including 2 other JRTs. She is recorded with the JRTCA and has won/placed in agility, go to ground, obedience and conformation. Most people do not realize she is deaf. She knows about 15 hand signals, but it seems that I use them less and less. She just seems to work off of my body language. I always wake her up gently by jiggling the area where she is sleeping. She will follow me from room to room and will wait outside in the yard for me when I am in the barn. She does seem to have some separation anxiety when I go to work, but does not exhibit any destructive behavior. She is my heart dog…