Deaf 6 months old english sheepdog - help please

Can anyone offer some advice please for a friend of mine. They have adopted a 6 month old sheepdog. Anyway, it was going to be put down by the breeder as nobody wanted it and they already had one so took this one on. The other one sadly passed away last week sothey just have this 6 month old now and I saw him out with it this morning and he was having terrible trouble and God forbid it was on a choke chain!!! Anyway, he said it was the only way he could control it as it kept leaping at the traffic on the main road and jumps up spinning round and landing on it's back! I told him to buy one of the halties as he would have more control and he could break it's neck with it doing that on the end of a choke chain. He promised me he would try it as he had one in the car. He is thinking of sending the dog back if they can't do anything with it, and I just know it will end up being put down. Any ideas of what advice I can offer him, as I have no experience of deaf dogs. It's a lovely puppy and so full of life and they are wonderful caring owners, they put their dogs before themselves they are spoiled rotten, but like me, they have never had any experience with a young puppy like this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as usual. Thanks.

This site is very helpful with the various aspects of training & living with a deaf dog: http://www.deafdogs.org/

The Halti is more likely to break/damage the dog's neck than a choke chain if the dog is lunging and spinning.

The dog needs to be desensitized to traffic. They should enrol in a training class. Any good instructor would have the experience of teaching owners to deal with deaf dogs.

Tell them not to give up. A deaf dog, even though it can never be let off-lead except in a very secure area, can be a wonderful companion. They can be trained to the highest of standards.

Aha my auntie had three deaf old english sheepdogs, will ask her later, it also jsut happens that hers ended up walking off the lead in open areas.
Will ask her and get back to you Helen
Best wishes

Hope all is well! A friend of mine has a collie/sheltie cross, that is deaf and partially sighted. Though I think the sight is up for debate! She does very well when treats are around and also chases butterflies and moths in the fields! LOL. She is an angel, responds very well to hand signals.
She is walked off the lead and is very good! More obedient than my setters and they can hear! LOL

Thanks S.B. but I didn't mean a halti (I got it wrong) I mean the one that they step into with their front legs and it holds them around the chest and the lead attaches to it on the shoulders? Forgotten what that's called, but I have one for Cassie? I remember now the halti is the one around the nose isn't it!

Hi Luke, Thanks that's handy! Please let me know if you hear about any good tips I can pass on

Thanks Lianne, I do hope they will keep her as it sounds as if it's a problem that can be cured with the right help I think.

A harness Harnesses are ok for some dogs but are unsuited to others. A flat collar & lead and training, teaching hand signals, building confidence may be the way to go with a sensitive & intelligent dog. But certainly a harness would be better than a check chain, which it would appear they are using to choke the dog. Checks work on the sound & correction principle - not much use for a dog that cannot hear

ETA As it is an OES thay should make sure that the hair is well clipped back over the eyes. It should at least be able to enjoy clear vision! If it cannot see clearly that may be compounding the problem.

Thanks S.B. and it is a very funny choke chain to me, not the normal small link ones, but big chain links,say 1 1/2 inches in length each link, but light chain? Very strange never seen anything like it before? When I say leaping about, I really do mean excessive, so much so that as it jumps in the air and twist it comes down on it's back! I am very worried they will break it's neck and I told him this. I really think one of those harnesses will maybe stop it from doing all the twisting inthe air. This all happened in the middle of a busy dual carraigeway when a Tesco lorry went past and you know how long they are!

They have just told me they have found a special trainer down in the West country who only deals with deaf dogs, so that's a good start isn't it. Thanks for all your help on this I am going to pass it on.

Yes, sounds a very odd chain!

They seem to want to do the right thing, just have no clue how to go about it, so consulting a specialist trainer will be an immense help to them and the dog. Try to advise them to confine their walks to areas that will present less alarming sights and vibrations to their pup until they have had help from a trainer. (As you know, the vibrations from large lorries feel like a small earthquiake sometimes)

Hope all goes well for all concerned.