Pros/Cons of a deaf or blind dog
Most of you know I have a soft heart for special need dogs.. I have two deaf OES and a partailly deaf/blind aussie. More and more deaf OES are showing up in rescue... Although it is a "disability" it is doable! I would like to discuss the pros and cons of a deaf or blind dog... (plus support for the folks that adopt them) PROS 1: Whichever sense they do not have...the others are even stronger 2: A blind dog can chase a ball with verbal instruction..(yes, they can!) 3: A deaf dog can come to you as easy as a hearing dog with a hand signal (of course never off lead or without a secured fence) 4: My fav...deaf dogs don't bark at each noise! 5:A blind dog will follow each command by voice! 6: I won't continue I would like feed back.......... CONS 1: A special needs dog can never be off lead! (as much as mine cling to me, I would never chance it) 2: The counter surfer you must get up and correct...no yelling to a deaf pup!  3: Ooops sorry the only cons I can come up with right now! The one thing that I do not like is that these "disabled" dogs are not allowed to be registered therapy dogs My kids bring lots of joy to everybody that meets them... |
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| my cappi is deaf, and i consider this a good thing. he doesnt bark at car doors closing at night, cant hear the cats coming and going so therefore doesnt chase them. i still talk to him as i would a hearing dog, still verbalise commands along with signals. i have let him off the lead, in a big field with no distractions, he didnt leave my side and as i have now got to know a couple of the dogs and owners on our patch he plays with them off the lead too. not sure if its a deaf trait or not but he looks for me constantly, so if i stop walking and turn away from him he comes after me. that is something i want to really work on, if he did take off i would have to wait for him to stop running. i bought a vibration collar and that was a total waste of money, he didnt blink an eye! i have stoppped telling people who stop to make a fuss that he is deaf, they would step back as if i said he was a leper!! nobody outside my circle needs to know he is deaf. we have been going to obedience class for the last 4 weeks, and he is top of the class each week, the trainer said this is usually the case with deaf dogs, they only have eyes for their owners and as they cant hear the racket from the other dogs their concentration is greater. he learnt to sit with a hand signal the first week i had him, we have just mastered, sit,wait, come, sit at ten paces today........... he is so rewarding. as for cons, well thats just lazy, i cant shout at him to get off/down when he is in another room, so i have to go and face him, but thats a plus for my core muscles too  |
We've have fostered Mollie, a deaf OES, for one week now. She knows there is nothing "wrong" with her, it's our inability to communicate with her.  But we're learning.  One of the most difficult things we've encountered is being extra vigilant when doors are opened. We do not have a conventionally-fenced yard so if she bolts out she may just keep running. She cannot hear oncoming traffic so she would risk being struck by a vehicle. Mollie was spayed a couple days ago so leash walking works great for all of us during the time she'll be here. What Mollie lacks in hearing ability she makes up with keen eyesight and scent. She can see a squirrel in a tree across the lake from our house. She watches everything intently and watches us for cues. That makes it easier to get her attention. We're still not accustomed to a non-hearing dog so still find ourselves trying to verbally communicate with her.  Scent.... well, that has it's advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side Mollie will potty outside immediately when taken to a spot that has aready been "marked". The downside of that is that she was never housetrained and can also smell places on the carpeting where an accident has occurred previously, regardless of how many times it was cleaned, and marks there.  She can sniff out snacks put far out of reach and is agile enough to go after them.  Have to find new hiding places for all the goodies.Mollie will sleep through thunderstorms and loud noises but it is sometimes difficult to get her attention when we need it. She gets so comfortable stretched out asleep on the floor but at night we must wake her to go to her crate. Even stomping feet or approaching slowly and a gentle touch startles her. It doesn't seem to really scare her but I feel like there must be a better way to get her attention. It was interesting that charlysez mentioned that a vibrating collar did not work well on Cappi. I'd like to hear from others if they worked with their dogs. Mollie is the cutest little thing (63#) and if people didn't know she was deaf we would have gotten tons of adoption applications for her through Petfinder. We had a fair share anyway and she has a family that has been approved to adopt her.  There are really very few hand signals a dog and handler would need to learn to communicate effectively but since she was deaf her family kept her as an outdoor dog. Their reason for surrendering her were valid so please don't judge them. They contacted a rescue 5-1/2 hrs. away rather than taking her to the local shelter for fear she'd be euthanized there. Because "nobody wants a deaf dog". So not true!!!One problem with people wanting to adopt deaf dogs: Our Petfinder listing always clearly states that deaf dogs must go to homes with a securely fenced yard. I've had people with electronic fence, no fence and one that even said they didn't have a fenced yard but lived in a gated community. Well, aren't there streets that go through your gated community with moving vehicles on them? Obviously many people have more trouble understanding things than a deaf dog. If we had a fenced yard and a bigger house this blue-eyed little girl would already be home!  |
| My OES, Abigail is blind. But she doesn't miss ANYTHING! Pros....I can take her for a walk at any time of the day or night....she's not afraid if it's dark out  Abigail is a hit in our neighborhood. I've educated the kids in the neighborhood about her being blind. Now they all look out for her and when they see her they know to come up and talk to Abigail directly. This comment from my husband "don't rearrange the furniture much so the dog doesn't run into anything" Cons - She will ALWAYS be on a leash or in our fenced yard. Even when she's in the yard we keep an eye on her. When walking I MUST be her eyes. She can't see sticks, street signs, fire hydrants holes in the pavement or ground and could run into them. Overall, we have to be a bit more careful with Abigail than with our other two OES. We try to make sure that she knows where we are by talking with her. Since she can't physically "see" us, she wants to touch us or hear us. However, Abigail is an opportunist like other sheepdogs. Countersurfing...oh yeah, if I'm silly enough to leave something that smells good around Chasing cats...sounds good to her (yes....she really does chase them) Walks - her favorite thing. She knows her way around the block (a 2 mile walk) and will lead the way. Playing with the other dogs - yep - she likes that also. Selective hearing - yep, she has that OES trait also - particularly when she's doing something FAR more interesting that what I would like her to do Would I get another blind dog - absolutely! The fact that she can't see is only one facet of Abigail's personality. Once you figure out what need to be done to keep your dog safe, you realize that it's NOT that big of an issue. Jennifer, Baxter, Cassiopia and Abigail |
| My hearing dogs and my basically blind dog are always on a leash when not in a secure area so I don't see it as a con having to leash them. Just from my perspective... The only time we know for certain that our dog has 100% recall is after it's died and it's death wasn't the result of being off leash in an unsafe area. It's easy to get too comfortable and over confident. It just takes that one split second of distraction one time for us to loose a dog. It's happened to even professional trainers. And I know two people who failed to use a leash from just the car to the house... "oh, it's just that short distance"... and ended up having to chase the dog around the neighborhood because something fun caught the dog's eye. They were very fortunate the dog wasn't lost, injured or killed. I won't take that chance. Pro- I had prepared to bring in my first deaf dog about 5 years ago. You can also sign to a hearing or deaf dog (not a blind one though  ) so the other dogs don't know what you've said.  It makes it nice when you want to quietly pull one dog from the pack. This is Kaytee just a couple of days after arriving... think of training a deaf or blind dog as simply having one less distraction- http://oesusa.com/KayteeSit.html For a blind dog, emphasis is on voice... for deaf dogs I'd imagine emphasis would be on facial expression and body language. Yup, Kaytee and I play fetch with verbal cues... fetch, uh-uh, right, left, yes!, sloooooow when she's close, stop when she's really close, etc. I'm not saying she always listens though... stubborn girl!Cons for blind dogs- You have to always keep doors completely open or completely closed, no chairs left pulled out, doors to stairways always closed, no wheelbarrow or lawn mower left out if you allow the blind dog out to play before putting things away. But it all truly becomes second nature and you eventually forget that they're any different. Quote: Because "nobody wants a deaf dog". So not true!!! You're right... that's SO not true. Some day I'll get to experience another special pup. |
charlysez wrote: my cappi is deaf, and i consider this a good thing. he doesnt bark at car doors closing at night, cant hear the cats coming and going so therefore doesnt chase them. i still talk to him as i would a hearing dog, still verbalise commands along with signals. i have let him off the lead, in a big field with no distractions, he didnt leave my side and as i have now got to know a couple of the dogs and owners on our patch he plays with them off the lead too. not sure if its a deaf trait or not but he looks for me constantly, so if i stop walking and turn away from him he comes after me. that is something i want to really work on, if he did take off i would have to wait for him to stop running. i bought a vibration collar and that was a total waste of money, he didnt blink an eye! i have stoppped telling people who stop to make a fuss that he is deaf, they would step back as if i said he was a leper!! nobody outside my circle needs to know he is deaf. we have been going to obedience class for the last 4 weeks, and he is top of the class each week, the trainer said this is usually the case with deaf dogs, they only have eyes for their owners and as they cant hear the racket from the other dogs their concentration is greater. he learnt to sit with a hand signal the first week i had him, we have just mastered, sit,wait, come, sit at ten paces today........... he is so rewarding. as for cons, well thats just lazy, i cant shout at him to get off/down when he is in another room, so i have to go and face him, but thats a plus for my core muscles too It is just not safe no matter where you are to let a deaf dog off lead.... As he gets older and more independent he may not stop! I just talked to a forum member who is getting a deaf puppy and in our hour or so conversation I bet she heard "You can NEVER" let them off lead in an unsecured area" what seemed like a hundred times. As far as the lazy part, sure I may be at times but, let's chat when your baby is 6months older and can reach more things! It is something to consider in adopting a deaf dog and I feel part of my responsibility is to let people know exactly what to expect! |
| i'm sorry, i wasnt suggesting you were lazy, i was saying that a con to having a deaf dog, is HAVING to get up every five minutes instead of shouting. |
charlysez wrote: i'm sorry, i wasnt suggesting you were lazy, i was saying that a con to having a deaf dog, is HAVING to get up every five minutes instead of shouting. No, not at all....I am sorry if I sounded harsh. My typing doesn't always catch my sense of humor! Sorry....  |
| We've used a vibration collar on Oscar when he was a pup and it worked very well. It was like a "come" command, so when he felt it, he was to run to me and sit in front of me, waiting for the next command. I started out using a 6 ft lead and the collar. In the beginning, when he felt the vibration, I would gently pull him to me, and use a treat to get his attention. In no time at all, he would feel the vibration, and come running for his treat. I then moved to a 30 ft lead, let him get distracted by a good scent, and then activated the collar. It worked beautifully. I haven't used the collar in awhile, as we no longer have a fenced yard, so Oscar is ALWAYS on a leash whenever we go outside. Even though I live on a acre, and back up to a golf course, in a subdivision with very little traffic, I can't take the chance and let him off leash. When we play outside, he is on the 30 ft lead. Laurie and Oscar |
| I had the most beautiful blind GSD dog in rescue. He was born that way ,his optic nerve never formed But had beautiful brown eyes. Trooper's sense of smell was so acute ,when folks approached him to pet he could smell their hand and would lift his head us as if he was looking at them .People could not believe he was blind. Blind dogs do not do well in a kennel because their sense of smell and hearing is so acute the noises give them kennel stress. He went to a SAR home and became a cadaver dog. |
| Oooooh Cindy... this makes me teary eyed and I've got a dopey smile on my face. How wonderful to focus on the abilities of a blind dog. I know that commotion can set Kaytee off... I agree, the sounds of a kennel or shelter would be very difficult on a blind dog. |
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