Deaf Doodle

[Richard Crowe]

We will soon have Rue, a 6-year old, doodle who is deaf, as a foster.

We have worked with a deaf Maltese foster by using a vibrating collar.  We trained the Maltese to seek us out when the collar vibrated (by giving treats when she did) and then could use hand signals for commands.  I have a vibrating collar on order for Rue.

Does anyone have any additional tips for training deaf dogs...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have no training suggestions to offer, but thank you for fostering her, Richard. She finally got lucky. 

[Julie and Max]

No suggestions either, but that's awesome that you're fostering her. 

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

I transitioned my deaf bearded collie over to hand signals as his hearing loss worsened. The difficulty was it only worked when he was looking at me. The vibrating collar sounds like it will do the trick.  I trained Finn from the beginning with voice and hand commands -- hoping to make it easier if we ever go through a similar situation--although he can be quite stubborn at ignoring both :)  Bless you again, for fostering Rue.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I trained my Mastiff almost exclusively with hand signals and I regretted it for many years to come. 

He went blind quickly somewhere around 8-9 years and lived over 14 years.

So, my thoughts are to find another way to train a deaf dog who may also, down the line, develop other genetic problems such as blindness. 

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

J - my Beardie eventually went blind as well. At that point, it was too stressful for him to go anywhere except to the vet. He lived out a peaceful life in familiar surroundings, sleeping most of the time.  If I put on his leash and put my hand on top of his head, he knew to walk with me. I didn't train him to do that, it's just something we discovered that worked. Despite being blind, he would have remembered his other commands if he only could have heard them.  Very sad, but he had a good life.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Interesting Cheryl.

They do seem to adapt and live happy lives with a human that gets them and takes good care of them.

We are both blessed to have this experiance

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

We are, aren't we?  That's a really nice thought J

[Shanen Sadowski]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this.  How ingenious of you to think of a vibrating collar!  I too have no tips to share, but just love that you're taking this on.  If it were me, this would be a FAILED foster as I would be unlikely to give him up. :) Good luck.  Would you please keep us updated on how things work with him? 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

There are some wonderful tips on this site, Richard....along with a book suggestion that also sounds like it would be very helpful.  I think it's awesome that you're doing this!

http://www.deafdogs.org/training/

[Kyoko]

Thank you for doing this, Richard....

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

How wonderful that you are doing this.