Welcoming A Deaf Pup To The Household

[Crits'N'Bits]

We are about to become the proud parents of a gorgeous puppy who is unfortunately deaf .

I am not expecting any additional problems to usual puppy settling in issues - but would love to hear any tips/advise from others who have had a deaf pup

thanks

[Sandra777]

The breeder or shelter where you are getting the pup should be able to give you piles of advice - any breeder or shelter willing to place a deaf puppy should be ethical and experienced enough to supply the new owner with a virtual book of information on any potential issues.

[WreckitWhippet]

Speak to the breeder or shelter about what cue's they have for the puppy now. Try and continue with whatever they are using at the moment to avoid confusion.

Family members also need to be consistent in that they do. Everyone needs to use exactly the same signals.

[spottychick]

Aww critsnbits - good on ya!!! What a lucky puppy to have found you. I remember looking into this a while ago when I was considering adopting a deaf dally - he eventually went to someone else. I found some websites and groups through google searches that had some great tips and ideas. Sorry I can't remember them off-hand. But I did just find this page that looks like it has some useful links and resources.

http://deafness.about.com/cs/deafpets/a/deafpets.htm

[sandgrubber]

Deaf puppies often compensate remarkably well. It's common for deafness to go unrecognised until the dog is a year to two years old, and it clicks with the owner that the dog may be disobeying voice commands because it can't hear. Dogs pay a lot of attention to body language . . . deaf dogs often get sit, stay, etc. from inadvertent body language, and in general are quick to learn hand signals. The problems come when the dog is at distance and may not be looking your direction. Also, deaf dogs are in more danger of getting run over and MUST be kept away from roads. Not that any dog should be allowed to wander onto a road.

You may not find you have to do anything special . . . other than not blaming the dog for not understanding voice commands and making double sure it doesn't wander.

(Based on experience with placing a Lab pup whose deafness wasn't recognised until he was two, and talking to a lot of people and reading what I could find at the time in effort to help the owners. I ended out providing them with a second dog to serve as a 'hearing ear' for their first dog. A deaf dog will often learn to rely on another dog to make up for its own lack of hearing).

Edited April 21, 2010 by sandgrubber

[Crits'N'Bits]

thanks for the advice guys and for the website ;)

was interested to read in one of those links that all puppies are born deaf and their hearing develops over time. I am assuming that must be over the first couple of days ???

Anyway... Kiefa should be home next week - so cant wait

[spottychick]

Keep us updated!!! I think it's very exciting - tho challenging