She's almost completely deaf

[monochroma]

Yeah, age has finally caught up with my little ratbag and the vet confirmed today that she's 90% deaf in both ears. There's nothing that can be done.

Now I've had a deaf/blind dog before that never left the garden. I've had 3 blind dogs too and in my experience, blind dogs are easier. How do I deal with a deaf dog that's used to living such an independent life?

And how do I get her to come back now she can hear the recall? Flags flags or hand signals can't be used unless she looks back. I read somewhere about a gently vibrating collars that can be used for recall (as in the dog comes back when it feels the vibration), does anyone know about these?

Any other tips?

 

[kerilli]

my oldest russell is pretty much stone deaf now and i'm not sure how much she sees!
she finds her way around the garden fine, so i usually just leave her mooching around until she makes her way back to the door.
i find that a sharp clap or two of my hands gets her attention, i'm not sure if it's the sharp sound that gets through to her, or the vibration, but it works.
also, she hears/feels and follows my footsteps, so i can still take her out in the fields, she just follows me. she can make her way back about 1/2 a mile from the end of the fields very easily, even in the dark, so she's never 'lost'.
hope that helps a bit with your little 'ratbag', i hope the clapping works in particular, as that's the easiest way of getting my girl's attention.

 

[monochroma]

Clapping works around the home and garden, as does dad's football whistle - but it's not much use when she's half way across a field :/

She's not much of a 'follow' kind of dog. More the 'pathfinder' type and while I'm not worried about her wandering off without being able to find her way back, it's when shes out with dad that I worry. He takes her up the allotment where there's a private road down to a farm and while she can see the cars, she can't hear them. And of course, she can't hear dad calling her either. The only other solution I can think of is to tether her to a tree with a length of rope long enough for her to mooch about but not long enough that allows her to the road.

She's always been an awkward little so and so :/

 

[Oenoke]

My oldest went deaf when he was about 10 years old and has been going blind over the last year (he's nearly 16 now), when he 1st went deaf I didn't realise as he was so good at checking in with me and picking up on my body language. At night I use a torch to get his attention, but during the day I just wait for him to look my way, then beckon him, he can still see movement and his long distance eyesight seems to be better than short distance.

 

[Kallibear]

My oldest went deaf when he was about 10 years old and has been going blind over the last year (he's nearly 16 now), when he 1st went deaf I didn't realise as he was so good at checking in with me and picking up on my body language. At night I use a torch to get his attention, but during the day I just wait for him to look my way, then beckon him, he can still see movement and his long distance eyesight seems to be better than short distance.

Ditto. Ours has been completely deaf for years but it's made very little difference. She constantly glances back for instructions (and reassurance you're still there) and is rewarded with a 'good girl' signal regularly (nod and hand wave). She knows all the commands she did before as when she dstarted to loose her hearing we incorporated signals into the commands.

 

[PucciNPoni]

I feel your pain, and then add to it that my oldie is senile, blind and deaf. Makes life interesting. She's still in there tho...somewhere.... I wonder about her sense of smell at times, too?!

 

[ladyt25]

Our old dog is like this - he can heard loud/high pitched shouts and can hear a clap - that normally gets him back! He has though always had 'selective hearing' so the fact he actually can't hear very well now is not good. He is a very independent soul but i think to be honest, since he's been losing his hearing he doesn't tend to wander too far away when on walks and generally most walks he goes on he knows where he is and what route we're goingto take. Plus, his buddy will always know where he is even if we did lose sight of him.

I walk him on an extendable lead though if i am somewhere where i am likely to meet other dogs (he's a bit of a grump with some dogs) so that i can get him back to me if needs be but yet he can wander about as if he's not on a lead. Works for us as he's not one for running about or pulling etc.

I would suggest getting a long dog line for her if you're worried about her at the allotment - you can get one and fix it to one of those screw type stakes or just attach to a fence or something.

 

[Paddydou]

She will adapt.

I have a totally deaf JRT who enjoys regular romps through the undergrowth. No vibrating collars etc just hand signals and body language. Was born deaf. She goes off the lead in areas where she is unlikely to come into contact with "strange" dogs or people or indeed cars! We have to be a bit careful as she does panic after being knocked a few times when she hasn't heard things (we are always tripping over her as she love to touch and other dogs don't seem to pick up on it unless they have spent time with her so excitable dogs frighten the bajesus out of her) but in general if you didn't know she were deaf you wouldn't think she was. She leads a very happy and active lifestyle typical to any other JRT. In fact she is probably the better behaved of them all! When I went walking in Dartmoor recently she spent a total of two hours off the lead romping and having a fine time not once interfering with any sheep, ponies etc unlike some of the other loose dogs! (Have to say I wasn't impressed that some owners felt it apropriate for their dogs to be doing some of the things they were!) She was better behaved than many of the other dogs out there despite being deaf and having that "wandering/ hunting" gene! She does everything the others do and more. She come rabbiting and shooting the works.

One of our old dogs went blind and it was terrible to watch, personally I would prefer deaf to blind, probably because I know how to deal with it and enable the dog to have a happy life.