Deaf dogs - first Fingal & now Skye

Fingal lost his hearing quite gradually from about the age of 10 and is now deaf to everything apart from high pitch whistles or very loud noises.

He's almost 13 years old now and gets on just fine as he follows Skye about and responds quite well to pointing and waving etc.

Over the last couple of weeks we've wondered about Skye's hearing as we don't hear barking when we arrive home and he hasn't been responding to us when we call him. Having done a few tests over the last couple of days we've come to the conclusion that he's now just as deaf as Fingal.

Skye is 13 next month and Fingal a couple of months later and whilst they're both still fit and active I was just wondering how normal it was for aging dogs to go deaf ??

Also - I was quite keen to get some info from owners of deaf dogs to see how you get on with walking them etc etc

Breagh (not deaf) is only 4 years old and has amazing recall however with Skye and Fingal it's very much a case of 'us and her' so calling her doesn't mean that they will follow.

L to R - Skye, Breagh, Fingal

My dog is 13 and he seemed to go very deaf overnight after he had an ear infection.

I am lucky that he doesn't go far and looks back at me so I can wave for him to come back. I also find if I cup my hands round my mouth and shout he hears me If it is very windy and the wind is blowing towards him I have no chance of him hearing me so he ends up on a lead on those days.

Aww, Bless em

Our Manchester Terrier was 21, and had been as deaf as a doorpost since the age of about 13 as well.

We never had to lead walk Molly in the park until this happened. She had a tendency to be a bit growly once she became deaf if startled by another dog or child. So we had to be very careful when out walking. We never took her into town or busier places because of this.

We would let her off her lead in places where we knew nobody else would be, and she followed little Molly everywhere. (It sounds stupid having two dogs of the same name, but when me and my OH met, we both had a dog of the same name). We then taught her our own doggy sign language, and we got along no problem. The problems increased tenfold when she lost her sight.

We found that a sharp clap used to attract her attention well. But we all managed very well.

Hope you have fun learning sign language

Our late Meg didn't go deaf till she was 20, the 3 years that followed were not a problem with her lack of hearing other than when she took mind to follow someone she thought was me....then I used to have to run after her

Bless them both xxxxx

We had 2 elderly Springers and suddenly realised that one of them, Max was stone deaf. We hadn't realised because he used the other dog Ozzie as his ears. Max always slept touching Ozzie, so if Ozzie woke suddenly, so did Max. If Ozzie barked at the front door, so did Max. If Ozzie was called into the kitchen for dinner, Max followed. When we were out walking Max mostly kept us in sight, or if he lost sight of us used his nose to track us down. He managed perfectly well without his hearing because of his buddy Ozzie.

In a word just like humans yes they can sadly

Mine have usually gone deaf at about 13---Champa is the latest. Some cope better than others and usually high pitch is heard right till they go totally deaf. Lots of touching for reassurance and lots of smiles.

It is hard to watch them age.

rune

My last dog went dead virtually over night when she was about 13. The only problem I really had was if she wandered off in the garden somewhere out of sight, I would have to walk around and look for her. She soon learnt some sign language which was great providing she was looking at me
You just have to make sure she keeps away from any dangers etc.

Muffin lost hers at 16. Still responds to clapping, which has been a god send. Have started using ground vibrations and gentle touch to get her attention as well. Ive made her a vibrating collar as well so we'll see how we get on with that. http://www.deafdogs.org/resources/vibracollar.php

They appear to adapt very well

Hears a short article by Oldies Club regarding deafness

http://www.oldies.org.uk/?p=243

Also Deaf Dog Education Action Fund

http://www.deafdogs.org/

Interesting stuff folks - thanks.