Owning a deaf dog

If you have a very deaf dog then it is necessary to find someway of making it look at you even at a distance: I say even at a distance, because many people who have deaf dogs keep them on a lead all the time. They treat them like an invalid and yet it is possible for them to play with others in a way that would take a clever person to pick out which one was deaf.

We can use remote controlled vibrating collars so that, even at a distance, it is possible for the owner to press the button on the fob and page their dog to look at them. Even if it has gone out of sight. It can learn that when the collar vibrates it will move back to a point where it can see its owner and react to a command. The only problem with these collars is that they are quite heavy, but in time and with modern miniaturization they should weigh less.

 It is important that a deaf dog does know its area by sent recognition. This means the owner must walk it all round their property so if for any reason it becomes lost, it can find its way back home again. In saying this. I always advise everyone to do this with all dogs especially when moving into a new home.

For those who might still feel unsure, it is possible to have a satellite navigation collar. By dialing a number on your mobile phone, you will receive a text message giving you the exact coordinates of your current location.

Many people see a dog becoming deaf as just a simple problem of life and adapt their ways so that its life will change very little. Other people may well see such a disability as a can no longer communicate with it and as a result, cannot train it.

There is also a fear that such dogs become more aggressive because they are so often started and so show aggression. With the correct training, we can actually desensitivise them in this respect.

 Some may think that they are going to have to learn hundreds of hand signals in order to be able to get the dog’s attention, like those that we need for humans. Actually, it is not that many. Most of them are the same ones we use for problems. As a rule, they react better to them than voice commands; a deaf dog is no exception.

There is on need to fear deafness to the point that you might consider putting the dog to sleep. Dogs are very adaptable to disabilities and we owe it to them that we should adapt too, so letting them lead a normal happy life.