What You Need to Know About Deaf Dogs: Safety, Training and More

What You Need to Know About Deaf Dogs:
Safety, Training and More

This collection of posts on what you need to know about deaf dogs has been a long time coming. Ever since we adopted our first deaf dog, Edison, 5 years ago, I have become obsessed with deaf dogs. Edison inspired me to start blogging and writing about deaf dogs. Since that time, my writing has covered a range of topics, from deaf dog safety to important hand signs your deaf dog should know to causes of deafness to scientific inquiry into deaf dogs and more. Today, I’m, sharing a roundup of posts on what you need to know about deaf dogs.

Check these out and leave a comment letting me know which resonated with you or any other topics you’d like me to write about! Oh, and don’t forget to follow along on Instagram or Facebook.

What You Need to Know About Deaf Dogs: Safety

Deaf Dog Safety 101: Easy Tips to Keep Your Deaf Dog Safe

Sharing your life with a deaf dog involves many responsibilities, but due the unique needs of deaf dogs, deaf dog safety is especially important- like right up there with food, water and shelter. Deaf dog safety involves many things, including planning ahead, being vigilant about their surroundings at all times and staying in constant communication with your deaf dog among others. Here are some deaf dog safety tips.

Confession Time! I am a proudly overprotective deaf dog pet parent. Once reason is that being a “helicopter dad” is just in my DNA, but equally important is my experience and lessons learned from working as a veterinary technician in shelter medicine. During those years, I spent every day seeing everything that can go wrong- and does. Those lessons taught me that having a deaf dog safety plan in place will help keep my deaf dogs out of harm’s way. I hope these deaf dog safety tips will help you develop a deaf dog safety plan that fits your and your dogs lifestyle. KEEP READING…

What You Need to Know About Deaf Dogs: Teaching “Watch Me”

How to Teach Your Deaf Dog to Watch You

Deaf dogs “listen” with their eyes. If he’s not looking at you, then he can’t “hear” you when you sign to him.When communicating with a deaf dog, we need to flip two switches in our simple human brain. Here’s how to teach your deaf dog to watch you!

First, we have to stop being lazy and relying on our voice. Second, and perhaps more important, we have to remember that our deaf dogs can’t hear us if they can’t see us. As obvious as that sounds, I find that I frequently have to remind people to get their deaf dog’s visual attention before they begin signing. If you’re signing to the back of your dog’s head, he won’t know that it’s time for a walk or, better yet, a cookie. To make sure that he understands it’s time to head to the door or lick his lips in anticipation, we need to make sure he’s looking at us. KEEP READING…

What You Need to Know About Deaf Dogs: Deaf Dogs Don’t Bark & Other Myths Debunked

10 Myths and Facts About Deaf Dogs

Did you know that some folks in the scientific community are studying myths and facts about deaf dogs? When I heard this, I jumped for joy. It was a moment of excitement, relief and “I need to know more Right. This. Second!”. My brain was firing synapses so fast that I could feel them ricocheting around my brain. My entire body was tingling with excitement! What were these myths and facts they were scientifically studying? KEEP READING…

What You Need to Know About Deaf Dogs: Hand Signs & Hearing Dogs

How (and Why) I Taught Hand Signs to My Hearing Dogs

As dogs age, they experience many of the same physiological changes as humans, including hearing loss, vision impairment and osteoarthritis among others. Living with two deaf dogs has helped me understand that my hearing dogs may one day too lose their hearing. Preparing now for this day is key!

It is much easier to teach hand signs while your dog can hear than if you wait until hearing loss occurs. If you start now, you have the benefit of being able to use a verbal cue your dog already knows while also giving a hand sign. This approach helps your dog assign meaning to the hand sign much faster. KEEP READING…

What You Need to Know About Deaf Dogs: 4 Tips for Living with a Deaf Dog

The Lowdown on Living with A Deaf Dog: 4 Tips for Living with a Deaf Dog

The very idea of living with and training a deaf dog can feel overwhelming. Here are 4 practical deaf dog tips to help get you started.

I’m a bit obsessed with deaf dogs. It started four years ago when we agreed to foster a deaf, ten-week old puppy for the weekend. Fast forward a few years and that puppy, now named Edison, weighs ninety-two pounds and is still sleeping in our bed. Actually, he sleeps anywhere he chooses.

Since that weekend, we have adopted a second deaf dog and have learned many things from our experiences. Whether the subject is communication, training, or safety, there is one guiding principle: living with a deaf dog is different, not harder.

If you’ve discovered that your recently adopted dog can’t hear, this lowdown on living with a deaf dog is for you. KEEP READING…