Deaf dog

[EezerGoode]

Hi,has anyone had a dog from a puppy that was deaf? How did you train it and how did it learn its name.thanks in advance.

I helped train a deaf jack Russell, using hand signals

Recall is obviously a problem, so he can't be off the lead in open spaces, but is on a long lead. He knows that a tug of the lead means he needs to turn around to look for a hand signal and he has a very big garden to run around but it isn't without challenges because the dog can be easily startled by people and other dogs coming up behind him

Otherwise, it's pretty similar to training using commands or a whistle. You link an action by the dog with a hand signal, and the dog is rewarded for doing it

I also train my dogs to hand signals, and make them as different from each other as possible to avoid confusion

Come is open arms like you're about to hug someone
Sit is one hand up like you're about to high five (also good because the dog looks up to your hand which naturally encourages them to sit down at the same time)
Stop/wait is both hands up like you're pushing something
Heel is patting my thigh

It would be worth having a few sessions with a trainer

Thanks..did you find it made yr pet insurance higher each month? This dog is a boxer and the quote is £35 a month before they know he is deaf...

It wasn't my dog... but you could try doing a search in private browsing mode with and without the disability to see what it does to the premiums

But... boxers are high energy dogs. Are you completely confident you can manage that level of energy and exercise either at home, or permanently on the lead?
Do you have access to a large secure area you could use..?

Hi, my springer is now 11 but has been deaf since birth. It hasn't been a problem, TBH. We use hand signals and he stays close and watches us for signals much more than hearing dogs. He also likes to sleep in contact with us, such as on our feet, so he knows if we're moving and he may be left behind. He's a gorgeous boy.

Thanks ,yes I'm.not sure ,I'm mulling it over,more so the boxer bit than the deaf bit...I had a boxer as a child ,so I know what the breed is like ..

Is the puppy with a rescue or breeder? If it's the latter then I'd be very wary if they're still selling the pup, even at a lower price to their other puppies. If a puppy is born with any kind of health issue I'd expect a decent breeder to fully intend to keep the pup (whilst potentially remaining open to the idea of letting the pup go to the perfect home should the opportunity arise), not just to sell the pup anyway.

Presuming the puppy is white, they've also knowingly or unknowingly (neither being great options) taken the risk of producing white puppies despite their much higher rate of deafness than coloured Boxers.

My concern is that if they either don't care or don't know about the risks of deafness in white puppies and that other areas of their care or knowledge is also lacking.

Are both parents health tested? For Boxers this would be a minimum of hip scoring with a result under 14 (but preferably as close to 0 as possible) and heart screening for Aortic Stenosis with a grading of 0 or 1. Ideally they should also have had a DNA test for Degenerative Myelopathy (wither either one or both parents either testing clear or being clear by parentage) and elbow scores of 0. There's lots more to being a decent breeder than just health tests but they're a good place to start to weed out the less than ideal ones.

As has been said, Boxers are a very active breed and although deafness doesn't completely rule out the dog being able to go off lead you'd need to be confident you could still provide them with adequate exercise if you ended up unable to let them off lead. There are lots of secure fields available for hire these days, which are a great option if you have a dog who isn't safe off lead. There's a database of them here which is worth looking at if you are considering this puppy.

If you've not had a Boxer as an adult then it is jumping in at the deep end a bit to go for a deaf pup. There are lots of sites and FB groups devoted to owning deaf dogs, these are well worth seeking out and reading through as they can help give you an idea of what living with a deaf dog is like.

Thanks for all advice,we've decided against it...I think it is a breeder and cornflakes advice was what I was thinking..thanks all

Best thing we ever did was adopt our deaf dog. He was that dog in a million who you will never ever forget. He was amazing and so attentive and knew loads of hand signals. No one ever believed he was deaf cos he watched me and I told him things all the time. He was amazing. Just saying