My pooch is almost 14, and over the last couple of months I've started to get the feeling his hearing is on the decline.
Don't get me wrong, there's always been a touch of 'selective hearing' 😂, but this is different.
Some examples:
Where he used to hear me coming down the hallway, now he sometimes startles when I enter a room.
If I call him on a walk and he's more than a few feet away, his ears used to turn toward me even if he then decided to keep investigating that hole, whereas now he genuinely doesn't seem to clock that I'm calling him until I get closer.
It used to be that I couldn't touch my keys without him coming skidding down the hallway – now I can grab them off the hook and jingle them and he'll stay in his bed.
Has anyone else dealt with developing deafness in a senior dog?
He's a bit old to start teaching him signs in earnest (other health conditions mean unfortunately I don't think he's going to be around for many more years now), but any tips or things to consider would be really helpful.
I think I'm going to need to get him a long line so he can have some freedom while keeping us connected, since voice isn't working so well these days.
Anything else that might be helpful / smart to consider?