I Think My 13 Yo Aussie Terrier X May Be Going Deaf.

[Baileys mum]

Hi everyone,

I have not taken her to the vet yet to get it offically confirmed but it does appear that Jessie my 13 yo Aussie terrier x is starting to shows signs of deafness. We have noticed in the last couple of weeks that she doesn't seem to be responding aswell as she usually does to commands,doesn't respond all the time when we call her name & doesn't get excited when we say words she loves like "walkies "ect.. we have accidentally startled her a couple of times when we approach her from behind indicating that she didn't here us coming & probably one of the biggest signs we have noticed is that she doesn't run away & hide anymore when we put the vacumn cleaner on (in the past she has always been terrified of the vacumn & will hide when she hears the noise even if we have it going in another room)

Her hearing seems to come & go, so I'm guessing that she isn't fully deaf yet, but her hearing is definately showing signs of starting to go.

She seems to otherwise be in good health for age, sight seems to still be good, still seems to have lots of energy & her appetite is still great.

We will be taking her to the vet soon for a check up & vaccination, but we where just wondering if anyone can give us tips in managing a dog that is going deaf & how we now go about communicating with her when she cant hear us.

Jessie is my OH & my first dog together so this is the first time we have owned & had to care for a senior dog (my hubby's family had a Cocker spaniel when he was a child that went deaf & got accidently run over by his mum when she didn't hear the car coming) So my hubby's so worried that the same thing could happen to Jessie.

Thanks guys, any tips & experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Nicole

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

We have a 17 year old staffy cross who has been going deaf since he was about 13 , it is a slow thing and they can adjust

we have hand signals as he is also going blind this can be hard from a distance but he does not go far from us now tends to follow right on our heals if not at home.

try to put her bed or mat where she can see all directions perhaps in a corner as when they are asleep is when you can most often startle them

make sure that she can see and is aware of you and children , this can be a hard habit to create as you do get used to the dog being aware of where everyone is.

we find that we have to go down into the yard and around his sleeping places to find him when we need him as he cannot hear us any more when we call ,

I think it is all about a lot of little adjustments as we have been doing this for a few years for him now we are used to it ,

She will still be quite happy and enjoy life , possible a little more as she can no longer hear the noises that distress her good luck with the golden years I do love mine as oldies such sweetharts

[Baileys mum]

Thanks so much for the tips, Schmoos' boss, I agree it will be all about making minor adjustments, & ensuring she can see us at all times, it will be hard at the start not to break old habits, especially when we also have 3 other much younger dogs.

Jessie is an absolute sweet heart who we rescued when she was just one, so it is a little scary to start seeing her get the first signs of old age, but we hope she is still around at 17 too.

[Little Gifts]

My 16 year old staffy girl is pretty deaf now (and also not so good with the eye sight). We have found a routine works well as they get older - they get used to it faily quickly. By that I mean say at night ours always get fed at a similar time, in the same spot and directly after she has finished eating I take the old girl out to toilet. So while dinner is being prepared she waits in her spot and as soon as she has finished eating she knows to head to the back door. She is never unleashed in public because you can't call them back or warn them of danger. In the house and yard we use a lot of large arm signals to get her attention and I do a lot of calling her with my arms once she has seen me and pointing to where I want her to go. We have timber floors so I also stomp the floors so she can feel the vibration sometimes. Apart from that if she is in the way I physically move her. It is all manageable and she doesn't seem to notice a problem. Oh and we have an 8 yo and a 3 yo dog in the house as well and there hasn't been any real concerns. They know each other so know how they each act/react so she never gets startled if one jumps up or rushes by her. She barks when they bark, even if she hasn't heard why they are barking! Despite their age they still give a lot of love. In some ways it is like having a needy puppy again!

[Cockerlover]

Old age sucks!!i have a Almost totaly blind deaf& senile old girl who responds to vibrations more so than sounds ,u will find yr dogs other sences kick in when they loose one of the others .

I found hand signals woked well b4Bela became almost totaly blind

now a gentle tap on the sholder she responds to . Somehow she still hears the treat jarbeing lifted though lol .

[helen]

Poor old girl, but I guess smell is their main sense so that is one thing in your favour.

Have a look at this link, I haven't read any of the articles, but the web master puts together some great information http://www.k9events.com/Pets_with_Disabilities.htm

[Baileys mum]

Thanks everyone for all your helpful, & for the link Helen.

Jessie doesn't seem to be unhappy at all & I seem to be more worried about it than she is but I will just have to learn to communicate to her in a different way & making sure she can always see me.