what can I do about recall if my dog is getting deaf?

[SheelaNeGig]

Hes always been so good. Just need to hollar his name and he bounds over.

But hes getting a bit aged and i noticed yesterday if hes not in sight line he wasn't aware of me calling him over. Of course he could have been ignoring me.

Anyway. I was wondering if he'd hear a whistle might be better but is he far too old and stubborn to learn?

This won't work if he's out of sight. Not got an answer for that one. Someone wise will be along soon :)

I recall my dog when she's far in the distance by standing with my arms outstretched - Angel of the north style. She spots that and bounds over.

Not sure how you'd attract the attention of a deaf dog though...

If i flap his lead he'll come back. But snufling in the undergrowth is getting a problem.

That's funny - I came on here to ask for any tips on training an older dog to come to a whistle.

Ddog (12) has exactly the same problem - he's not completely deaf, but definitely getting harder of hearing. If he's paying attention he hears me call, but if he's got his head in a bush / distracted by something I have to yell my head off to get his attention.

I'd say with him its about 30% selective deafness (why is she calling me? the road isn't for another 100 yards, there's no need for me to stop now . . .) and 70% genuinely not hearing.

So I did think that a whistle would a) be more piercing, and b) stop me sounding like a pillock having to shout full volume across the fields.

Whistle a great idea if the dog still has some hearing. Try different pitches to see which works best

Also you can buy vibrating collars - nothing to do with electric shock collars

They literally vibrate like a mobile phone. Get a clicker gently try the collar on a very low setting, click and treat as the collar vibrates. Do this for a while and check the dog is fine with it.

Then when out and about push to make collar vibrate dog runs to you for treat - job done

My old boy is completely deaf now at 16, and if he's out of my eye sight I stamp my feet on the floor, this gets him to look up and then he ambles back over. Not really sure why, maybe he can feel vibrations/see me jumping about like a dickhead he doesn't go far anyway so can usually just grab him if need be!