Deafness in older dogs

[alanjohn]

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My wonderful 14 year old whippet has recently gone irreversibly deaf .I am trying to let him keep as much of the off lead freedom he has always enjoyed as possible . Any advice ? Do radio controlled collars help ?

 

[JoanneF]

I have always been averse to these collars as in my experience they are used to punish. You have got me thinking though. Your dog would have to learn that the vibration means to look at you and then he would need to be able to respond to a visual command. I don't know how you would train that, but it is an interesting idea.

 

[gypsysmum2]

Firstly you need to teach your dog visual commands. In an enclosed environment give him a visual signal to come to you. Some people use wide open arms others use hands circling like winding wool around them. Treat your dog for even a small pace towards you. Build on this so that your dog responds to the visual signal to "come". Practice every time your dog looks at you. A greedy dog may not need much encouragement to keep looking at you to see if treats are on offer for responding to the hand signal.

The other signal to teach is the reward signal. Most people use a thumbs up but clapping hands might work. Follow the reward signal quickly with a treat.

You could trial a vibrating collar in a controlled environment to see if it spooks him or not.

Barry Eaton has written a very good book called "Hear Hear" on training deaf dogs. See his website www.deaf-dogs-help.co.uk

I was lucky to have a nanny dog when my elderly dog went deaf. She would run after him and poke him. He would turn to see what was happening and we would give him a visual recall signal. I must say I still found it very stressful to walk him off lead. He once followed a couple for quite a long way along a beach until he realised it was not his owners he was following!