[Juniperr]

I just adopted a very precious border collie, only to find out days later she is deaf. I've had a blind dog for ten years... but have no experience in deaf dogs. I have only found one book that was specifically for training deaf dogs. It was pretty general. Does anyone have any other suggestions/resources? Thanks so much!
Jen

[catsandkittensandmittens]

You are a nice person! I had a neighbor that had a deaf dog. She signed to it. But that is all I know. It must be hard to adopt dogs with disabilities!

[pompano]

I've had deaf cats,which were very sweet.You have to be careful when they are near cars sleeping.Mine fell asleep under my car and was accidentally ran over,because she didn't hear the car start.I was a child,so I was very upset.

[labman]

When in doubt, I frequently go to the Woodhaven labs site, Woodhaven Labradors Articles and check their links. I consistently have found much more reliable information there than the random sites a Google search turns up. See Deaf Dogs Resources If American Veterinary Medical Association has the info you need, you can certainly trust it.

I have a 13 year old Lab that doesn't hear very well either. She still seems to do fine.

Thank you for rescuing your special needs dogs. Check [email protected] It is old, but perhaps still working.

[Border Collie Rescue]

Hi Jen,

Sorry to hear about your problem, but don’t despair - it is probably worse for you than it is for your dog.
There are a number of books on the market that can teach you a variety of ways of communicating with your dog. You may find this a bit confusing because everyone thinks their way is the best and they all have books to sell, but unless you are going to enter into a career of training deaf dogs you should choose a method that suits you best.

Sign language is the way forward, but first it may pay you to have the dogs hearing checked out thoroughly to ensure that she is totally deaf. If there is some hearing, particularly in the higher frequencies, it will make things easier.

The biggest danger lies in allowing her free exercise off the lead because of the problem of getting her attention while she is at a distance. If there is peripheral hearing you may be able to use a whistle - a high frequency type - hence worth checking it out.
For information on deaf dogs, visit the Deaf Dog Education Action Fund website at - Deaf Dog Education Action Fund

Our organisation (Border Collie Rescue) is listed by them as a deaf dog friendly rescue and we have some information on our own website, including the sign we use within our organisation, which is a very bold and exaggerated method designed to communicate over distance - it’s not easy to teach a Border Collie to stay within sight of normal human sign - they tend to like to wander.
You can find links to some info’ that might help at - Border Collie Rescue on Line - Front Door - on the breed advice page.
Look for the link for “Disabled dogs” and follow that for some articles and follow the link “BCR universal commands” for some of the signs we use.

If you are UK based you can call us for free advice on a Thursday afternoon between 2.30pm and 5pm when we run an advice line. Phone and ask for Nicki Oliver - numbers are on the website.

Three important commands to get in first. Look at ME and Come Here and Stay.
Before you can get anywhere teaching the rest of any sign system you choose you need to teach the dog to look at you and - when roaming - keep looking back at you. For safety you need to teach the dog to recall immediately and/or freeze and stay put on a particular sign so that you can protect it from hazards it may not have heard.

Until these commands are instilled and foolproof the only freedom and off lead exercise should be in a safe secure area or attached to you on a lead. You might want to get a strong extending lead, but definitely invest in a long training lead of the type that you can loop over your shoulder so you can walk the dog ‘hands free’, keeping it close by you and extend it to full length when circumstances permit.

Don’t be fooled into paying for expensive lessons or courses - this is no big deal and its not rocket science - just common sense and the ability to predict situations and intervene before a problem occurs. You do need to be more on your toes, but if you have coped with blind dogs before then it should be a doddle.
Border Collies are very ‘eye’ sensitive and can pick up on movement quickly. We have always found deaf dogs a little easier to train than blind ones.

Contact details are on our website if you need more info'.