Deaf Aussie

[FairyDogMother]

If anyone has contact info, general info or good websites to help me with a deaf aussie puppy about 4 mos old, please share with me. I'm picking him/her up from the shelter this afternoon.
Only thing I know now is hand signals and touch will be important!
This will be yet a new venture for me! I'll post pix later when I get some of course

[Bclover92]

OHHH, man now you are torturing me! I would LOVE to have a deaf dog and train it. It would be hard work but SO cool.

I want train one and take it to the deaf school!

[fairlight]

Sounds like a lot of stamping is going to go on in your house. Even though they cannot hear you, the dog will feel the vibrations. There is also a vibrating collar out there FDM for these such cases. Hand signalls will be realatively easy for the dog to learn. When one sense goes or is missing the other senses more that accomodate the loss of the other sense. If at all you will find his working senses to be sharper than the average dog.

[FairyDogMother]

Originally Posted by fairlight

Sounds like a lot of stamping is going to go on in your house. Even though they cannot hear you, the dog will feel the vibrations. There is also a vibrating collar out there FDM for these such cases. Hand signalls will be realatively easy for the dog to learn. When one sense goes or is missing the other senses more that accomodate the loss of the other sense. If at all you will find his working senses to be sharper than the average dog.

I know that of losing one sense. Most I've had contact with have been vision impaired instead of deaf.
I guess it's just adorable with 2 blue eyes.

I even think this might be one of 2 pups that we were called about by a local here with 2 deaf puppies from their Mom dog. They wanted help from us to get them all fixed and shots incl Mom. I haven't found out what ever happened there. Probably nothing and eventually the pups ended up in the shelter and Mom will probably be preg soon once again.

[FairyDogMother]

psss.. I dont' think the pup would recognize me stomping over the herd running and playing here! Sounds like a herd of elephants sometimes instead of a pack of dogs depending on who's upstairs or not! lol

[fairlight]

Originally Posted by FairyDogMother

psss.. I dont' think the pup would recognize me stomping over the herd running and playing here! Sounds like a herd of elephants sometimes instead of a pack of dogs depending on who's upstairs or not! lol

Are you sure you are not in MY house? hahahahaha. I would look in to one of those vibrating collars then and start him on hand signals. Make your own special sign that the dog can see clearly as this will be the dogs name.

[FairyDogMother]

Sheeeee's here LOL But not hear. Ok, I'm a d0rkus.. no news flash there!

She is bigger for 4 months than I expected, lanky and has a short coat. The only thing Aussie is the color of her coat and eyes. Barely got her in the crate I brought for her. She doensn't have perfect vision either, like tunnel vision I was told.
So, I've named her Keller (yes, as in Helen). Was going to be after makeup like Maybelline for the black smudges around her blue eyes until I found out she vision impared also.

She is terribly sweet, having a great time so far running around the yard and playing with the kids her size. To watch her play you'd never know a thing was different about her.
I will try to get photos taken and posted tomorrow, I'm beat today!

[fairlight]

I can't wait to see Keller!

[Dauxside]

Poor bub, doubly hard with vision and hearing issues, have you considered a viberating collar...stop laughing and get off the floor Viberating collars are available pretty readily.

Some things to discuss with prospective owners:

First and foremost, be aware that people who are interviewed have to understand that their children or friends/family can *not* have a good laugh by sneaking up on the deaf animal. Startling your animal once in a while accidentally will probably not scar them for life, but being repeatedly accosted by ill-behaved children or uninformed visitors may cause her to become unnecessarily skittish. Also, no one has to stomp through the house, vibrations carry and most deaf animals can feel them, so just walking normally should cause no problems.

Safety precautions must also be taken when there is a deaf cat or dog in the household. While any pet can be seriously hurt or even killed after escaping the protection of her home, a hearing impaired animal is at an exceptional risk. Owners must be vigilant of open doors and windows at all times.

Because of the sight imparement you might want to consider touch training backed up with hand signals and different vibrations to the collars. You can might also consider using a flashlight instead of a conventional clicker to reinforce desired behaviors...not a laser flashlight of course just a regular pinlight should do, something easy to clip to a belt or purse.

Also remind new owners that just because a pet is deaf, still talk to them, sound carries vibration, plus body language and facial expressions will give cues; it's not unheard of for a deaf animal to bark/whine/purr etc.

Keep us posted.

[mara]

There are vibrating collars available for training....