Any advice for a deaf puppy? (link to her pic added)

[BorderKelpie]

I have recently been blessed with a puppy that appears to be almost completly deaf. She was born 07/02/2009 so is now 8 weeks old. I have had her since Saturday. I think we are doing fairly well, she is scary smart. She is following me, is coming when called (hand signal) and I am trying to work on housetraining. She really is doing well there, too. I guess what I'm looking for is any advice on how to keep her safe, happy and healthy. I know the basics, I have raised even shown/trialed dogs before, but, I have never dealt with a dog so young that is deaf.
Also, please, please please tell me she will get over the screaming/whining soon. I think she does it and is not aware of it as she even whines when she eats and sleeps.
How do I keep her safe with the other dogs (there are 6 others), so far they are acepting her well enough, but I noticed my male (alpha) seemed a little irritated when the barking/screaming wouldn't stop. He tried the growl thing that works on everyone else, but obviously, she didn't hear it, I separated them at that point. Will he figure out eventually or will she always have to be by herself? I hate leaving animals alone, I think they need companions.
Also, is there a way of showing people that she is hearing impaired, ie: a certain color collar or something. I know she can never be unleashed outside my fenced yard, but if she should ever get out, how will someone know she is deaf and not stupid or stubborn? I am afraid to leave hanging tags on collars since I have seen 3 different dogs hang themselves in their own crates.
Any advice, anyone?
Oh, and name suggestions never hurt either.
(I am thinking of Chaos or Patience (to remind me to be patient. lol)

 

[Cetawin]

Oh how precious she must be. She will get over that but it may take her longer than a normally healthy puppy. They do have aids for deaf dogs that help by way of vibrations and colors/lights.

You might also check on aids for deaf children...there may be some beneficial resources through that avenue.

I think the biggest thing is spending time with her and getting her to a point of complete trust in you and self-confidence in herself.

Maybe isolate her with one of the calmer ogs lower on the totem pole from your alpha...that way she has a buddy but is also safe with that animal. Watch the male because he may not yet understand that she is different in that she cannot hear him....she should be able to "see" his displeasure though and pick up on that.

I am sure there are special collars for this situation. I will research a bit and see what I can find.

Here ya go...great info:

http://www.deafdogs.org/resources/vibramakers.php

 

[BorderKelpie]

Thanks for the link! That's great.
I have been letting her run with my bottom of the totem pole/crippled dog. (Wow, I am running a halfway house for misfit dogs. 2 bone fide cripples, 1 neurotic, 1 deaf, and 1 dog that's afraid of other dogs...) hmmm
Oh well, I love them.
I'm thinking of trying the laser light toy to get her attention for now. I just don't know how well it would work outside. My other thought was to teach one of the other dogs to 'fetch' her. They are all (well, all but one) herding dogs. She could have her own hearing ear dog. lol

Ok, just for fun. here's a link to a pic of her while she was still with the breeder (that is, if I can figure out how to do this - here goes)

http://www.germancoolies.com/images/BlkMerletriFEMALE_.jpg

She needs a really special name (hint, hint........)
Oh yeah, her ears stand up now.
(the breeder has one left - she's gorgeous!!!)

 

[ninny]

Couple thoughts for you. Be very very very carefull with kids around her. She can not hear them coming towards her when shes sleeping and may react by biting. This is one of the main reasons most breeders put deaf dogs down. They can be ticking time bombs.They tend to over react to things because they can not hear it coming. Not trying to scare you just making sure you know. I would put a vest or something even a muzzle to start with on her when she is out of your yard. Anything that will keep parents from allowing their kids to jump all over her. You must work desensitization with her to everything.

You can use a vibrating collar to get her attention. Also a flashlight to call her at night. Use hand signals for commands. Watch her for stress signals she looks stress remove her. Personally i would never own a deaf dog and if i bred one it would be put down.

She is more then likely gonna be a barker. She can't hear how loud she is.
There are tests you can have done to see how bad her hearing is.
Good luck! Be careful.

 

[CaGoatLady]

I used to have a deaf Old English Sheepdog and I named him Echo, and Ecky for short. Echo fit in very well with my other dogs, but he was always a little different and on his own sometimes. I don't remember him ever making those whining noises. You'd be surprised how much noice they can "feel" even when they're outside and the sound bounces off of trees and the house. I trained Echo to know what I wanted, in the house, by how many times I tapped my foot on the floor, but it helped that we had other dogs that he would follow. I have Border Collies, and ASL was one of my languages in college, so I was already used to using hand signals and being aware of my body language. You'll have fun with you new pup.

 

[walkswithdog]

Deafdogs.org is good folks with TONS of good advice.

They whine/bark because they can FEEL that and are seeking some kind of feedback, any kind of feedback.

Yes, children and adults need to know NOT to suddenly wake a sleeping deaf dog. Stomping some distance from them usually works well, STOMP wake them up offer a cookie, soon it's a stimulus they welcome.

Deaf dogs that bite often have secondary issues - a poor genetic temperament, other sensory problems, mild or sudden onset seizure disorders are common and often results in bites.

Many people do not understand what a dog coming out of a seizure looks like and make the mistake of trying to handle the dog too soon.

They take special handling, they can be awesome dogs and are often successful pets.

There are tags that can be grometed onto a collar and lie flat. Or collars can be ordered with STITCHING on them - like I'M DEAF and your phone number and address on a flat tag.

The vibrator training collars work really well.

Ditto hand signals and flash lights. Not so oddly, dogs are actually VERY sight and gesture oriented and often TRAIN faster and QUICKER if people shut up and use hand signals consistently. Even hearing dogs. Deaf dogs even FASTER because they have fewer distractions.

Absolutely can work.

Watch for secondary issues.

LOTS OF EXERCISE to reduce stress. LOTS.

Keep an eye out for wobbling, a frozen stare, slight drunken walk, or periods of staring and "chewing" on nothing (called bubblegum seizures). Those are additional signs of neural involvement elsewhere in the brain. Persistent head tilt or repeated movement in circles should also be mean the dog sees a vet.

Good luck with the baby.

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
That sounds like a great idea...We have a chihuahua/doxie that's losing her hearing. I'll have to try that!
And your pup is BEAUTIFUL!

 

[Wifezilla]

My other thought was to teach one of the other dogs to 'fetch' her. They are all (well, all but one) herding dogs. She could have her own hearing ear dog. lol

I have a friend with a nonsense mix that will "fetch" individual family members when you tell her to. This isn't something they intentionally trained her to do, they were just playing with her one day and and my friend jokingly told her "go get Gabby...you are being a pest". She about had a heart attach when the dog ran to her granddaughter. She thought it was a fluke and tried it a few more times. Sure enough...she knew what Gabby meant. After that she tried it with the other family members. It worked! Coco is a smart little fuzzball

 

[Haviris]

I disagree about not waking her, you need to desensitize her to it, breeders put them down because they don't want to be responsible for finding good homes. For some they don't want anyone to know they ever exsisted, for others they just don't want to take alittle extra effort finding a home.

There really isn't that much different then a puppy that can hear, you just communicate alittle differently. Right now her deafness is probably really obvious by her actions, but by the time she's grown most people would probably never even guess she's deaf. And your other dogs should adjust to, even if they have to correct her themselves now and then, and she will learn to read them! Her siblings will have already taught her alot.

On the barking/screaming, the only advise I have is don't respond to it, if you go to her when she does it she will learn it gets her attention. If she continues try teaching her "quiet".

And letting her off lead will really depend on her, once she's well trained and trustworthy she may be fine off lead, on the other hand some dogs can never be trusted off lead (hearing or not).

She's adorable!

 

[kagedgoddess]

i think youve gotten good advice, but heres my 2 cents as well... we had a deaf and partially blind cocker spaniel when i was younger. he got cataracts before a year old. poor thing was the sweetest tempered dog ever and never bit anyone. he was never startled awake. he "felt" you coming. (most of my famliy walk like cattle i swear!) we didnt crate him, he slept in my brothers bed. to get his attention we stomped on the floor and he d turn around. our yard was fenced, but i dont think it'd have been necessary, he stayed close to you, i figure becuase he couldnt see well. if he was alone, he would cry... even if you just left the room, he didnt know you hadnt left forever. he was really not well trained, but my family really didnt have much knowledge with dogs. now i can say i am MUCH more knowledgable. our dogs have no hearing impairment, but we have them trained with words and gestures. everytime we say a command we use a hand signal as well. so once they are fully trained you can just use the gestures if necessary. like if their barking, you dont want to try shouting over them, so gestures are usful then, or when the baby is sleeping but the dogs start rough housing.... etc. good luck. we had our cocker spaniel for 7yrs before my mom had him put down. still not sure why she did that.... the biggest problem we had was house breaking, and after his sight got bad, we kinda gave up and just bought puppy pads. (they can smell them out pretty good)