Matilda, Tilly, maybe deaf
She do not respond to any noise around her, she sleep so deep that you have to touch her and wake her up. I am going to take her Monday to the vet to confirm this, I was devastated when I notice this but after I have read about deaf dogs and everything that they and you can do to help them and training them, I don’t feel so bad. Looks like we just going to have to keep going and do what we can to make Tilly feel ok and love with us . I am willing to do whatever it takes to give her a good life, full of love and understanding. If you have a situation like that with your dog I will really appreciate any advice you can give me I will appreciated. She will be love and care for, and we are going to work very hard to get over this problem, I am welling to do whatever it takes ! She is my girl and I love her ! |
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 Monica, I know you will be a good mom no matter what. Tilly is lucky to have you. Please let us know what the vet determines. |
| There aren't too many things a deaf dogs cannot do that a hearing dog can. Well, except hear you! You don't need to feel sorry for Tilly, she doesn't know any differently. She can easily learn to respond to visual cues and sign language. There's a good site for resources for hearing-impaired dogs, http://www.deafdogs.org/ Recall was the most difficult thing with the deaf dogs I've fostered. They must be in a securely fenced yard or on a leash at all times. Other than that, just consider them normal. They generally make their handler look silly when trying to say a command and getting no response. They're just normal dogs. I would recommend notifying Tilly's breeder. Any decent breeder will take the parents of a deaf puppy out of their breeding program. There are several people here with lots of deaf dog experience that will be very helpful for you. |
There are people here who live with deaf dogs (Kathy and Laurie!) and they'll be able to help you. I don't have a deaf dog but I do have one that's always been basically blind. You may go through a brief mourning period over her loss. But your puppy never knew any different so there is nothing she will be sad about. She will show you she is a normal puppy and you will adapt in order to communicate with her. It will simply be another language you will learn that you won't even have to think over time. And it's one less distraction during training!  Right now, you have a deaf-OES. But there will come a time when you will forget about the deaf part and simply say you have an OES. You'll know in your heart though that she's extra special.  http://www.deafdogs.org Book- "Living With A Deaf Dog" by Susan Cope-Becker It's the ASL University website at http://www.lifeprint.com (but you can use any sign) She is a beautiful baby. I do think though that if someone paid for her, they should be requesting money back. |
| I love the name Tilly! And what a great birthday gift. A trip to the vet is a good idea. I have a deaf bunny and Howie my oes is learning sign language. I am a sign language interpreter so it seemed natural that I would use it with my animals. My deaf bunny Baxter knows several signs. "Come, sleep, food, stop that" and a few more. With Baxter we have to be careful not to scare him when we enter a room. So I either tap the floor with my foot or flick the lights on & off quick. Howie (not deaf) at 7 months old knows the signs for car, food, ball, stop that, sit, lay down, wait, dad mark, mom peg, pee/poop, walk, quiet no bark. And of course "treat", the sign I use is cheese! I will continue to expand his vocabulary. My old golden retriever learned to understand signs and it really came in use when she lost her hearing at the age of 12. When we went to the park I would take a flash light, instead of yelling for her to come, I would flash the light in her direction and she knew to come to me. I know you will love and care for Matilda whether she can hear or not. Please let us know what the vet says. Oh and more pictures please! peg |
| I had a deaf rescue, JoJo. She came to me at 3 years old and had no training whatsoever except for following the equally untrained hearing dog in their previous home around. She was a total love of a dog. The deafdog website previously mentioned is a wonderful resource. In time I was able to teach JoJo basic obedience using hand signals. She was very attached to me, and though she loved going to the fenced dog park, she always kept me close in her sight. When I had her tags made, I did include "I am deaf" on the information on the tag. Nita is correct about recall, you can never leave your deaf pup in an unsecure area. When I got JoJo I did take advantage of hiring a woman trainer from the deafdog website for a few lessons in my home to help me best learn to work with her. I think, though, with Tilly being a puppy, she can adapt to any good training classes. I continue to use signs along with (and sometimes without) verbal commands when working with my hearing dogs. One thing I really learned in agility is how the dogs are so very tuned into our body language that on a course if you use the wrong verbal command but the right body language the dog follows the body language! There are at least 2 deaf dogs in my agility club who successfully compete! I know people who's deaf dogs are wonderful therapy dogs. There a many others on this forum who have more experience than I do and will chime in. But I know I would never hesitate to work with a deaf dog again. I'm sure you will be a wonderful mom to Tillly and give her all the love and help she needs! |
 These are two of my babies Finn and Georgie! They are deaf and love life! First of all notice, most important, they must ALWAYS be on a lead if not in a secured area!! I wanted to say congrats on your new pup and assure you will see many positives in having a deaf dog!! I will respond more in a bit when I get the kids settled for the night! I know Laurie will have wonderful advice for you too, as she always does! |
| On one hand, I'm sorry to read this news. On the other hand, I'm SO glad! Think how much more difficult it might have been for Tilly had she ended up in any other home. Instead, she has you and your partner to love on her and make sure her needs are met, and she has your other OES (I'm sorry his name escapes me right now) to look to for visual clues if she needs any help! I had always read that a deaf dog will do particularly well if another dog in the house can hear; I'll bet Tilly will blossom into a lovely young lady with all the care you guys are set up to give her! |
| Congrats:) I tend to say this to any new deaf humans, dogs, cats, etc. It's a culture thing for me. My parents has Cooper, the deaf OES and oh my gosh- he is the smartest dog ever. Very very visual and whenever he gets naughty he will purposely look away because he knows my mom will say something in ASL.  They are also good at problem solving... My favorite is how Cooper will make sure he's touching you or the door while asleep or in the bathroom - so when you get up/leave, he'll know. This is very common for deaf dogs. You will have so much joy!!! on a side note: hope your breeder knows about this! |
| Well much of the time I wonder whether Tiggy is deaf. She sure may as well be when she is in "little Miss Stuborn" mode. One of her favorites lately is she will just stand in the corridor and stare at me while I'm asking her to come. You'd swear she was deaf. This her way of telling me that she feels its time I took her for a walk. The corridor leads to the front door, the front door leads to the car, the car leads to the park. Good luck with learning sign language. I'm waiting to see if Tilly is as stubborn as Tiggy.  |
| Monica...I am sure you will do everything and anything possible to make sure Tilly has a happy, wonderful life! IMO~~this 'issue' is a tiny bump in the road. Please keep us posted on the vet visit AND kepp posting pics of that little sweetie!  Just wondering. Have you contacted the breeder? What was the response? |
london wrote: Congrats:) They are also good at problem solving... My favorite is how Cooper will make sure he's touching you or the door while asleep or in the bathroom - so when you get up/leave, he'll know. That is a very endearing image. Don't need to hear to be a velcro dog-I love it! |
| I'm sorry to hear that Tilly may be deaf, but she's lucky she is with you. Oscar was also deaf since birth, and is a well adjusted pup, as he knows no differently. I would highly recommend "Living With a Deaf Dog", by Susan Cope Becker. It was my lifeline in the first couple of months, as I figured out how to train Oscar with hand signals. You might want to cruise through the forum as a few of us have written extensively here about our experiences with a deaf dog. As others have mentioned, it is critical that a deaf dog ALWAYS be leashed when not in a completely enclosed area. We cannot fence in our yard, so when we play with Oscar out back, he is on a 30 ft. lead. He is also trained not to exit a car, or door, until I give the signal. I would also stress positive reinforcement (lots of treats ) as a primary training method. If Tilly is food motivated, you'll have absolutely no trouble getting her to watch your hands and face for cues if your hands contain num-nums. Also, you might want to do something called "startle therapy". It involves coming up behind Tilly and touching her gently while she is not paying attention to you. When she turns around, give her a yummy treat immediately. She will soon learn that being startled means that she will get something good, and it reduces the tendency for her to snap or bite out of fear. I did this with Oscar, and he has never, ever snapped or even growled when startled. If you are going to try this, I suggest you get the Cope-Becker book, as it outlines this in detail. (You have to be sure you are not rewarding bad behavior.) But I have to admit, it's not easy to sneak up on Oscar. It didn't take him long to understand that vibrations in the floor meant someone was moving, so now he looks around when he feels it.  Good luck with Tilly. If you have any questions, you know where to find us! Laurie and Oscar |
| Thank you for all the advise, let me tell you that Tilly is very smart and food motivated, we have been working in come, and she is getting really good, also we are working on trying to look at me and she is slowly getting it. I am very proud of my girl ! One problem that I have right know is, she winnes and cry a lot because she wants her food right away, or she wants something and she want it NOW. I order already 3 books, the one that everybody recomended it Living with a deaf dog, the ASL pocket book and one about a OES that is deaf. I can wait to get my hand in this books, I want to work with Tilly and get her the best. |
Hopadogmom wrote: Thank you for all the advise, let me tell you that Tilly is very smart and food motivated, we have been working in come, and she is getting really good, also we are working on trying to look at me and she is slowly getting it. I am very proud of my girl ! One problem that I have right know is, she winnes and cry a lot because she wants her food right away, or she wants something and she want it NOW. I order already 3 books, the one that everybody recomended it Living with a deaf dog, the ASL pocket book and one about a OES that is deaf. I can wait to get my hand in this books, I want to work with Tilly and get her the best. Hey Monica, that sounds just like Tiggy except she would bark at me when she wanted her dinner NOW. The little witch also bit me on the bum when she was about 8 months old because I didn't walk to the pantry fast enough to get her breakfast for her.  I was so horrified she NEVER tried that one again. She did keep barking though. Now after lots of training she runs to her bed and dances because I just stop dead and refuse to get her food if she barks. |
Maggie McGee IV wrote: Recall was the most difficult thing with the deaf dogs I've fostered. They must be in a securely fenced yard or on a leash at all times. Other than that, just consider them normal. They generally make their handler look silly when trying to say a command and getting no response. They're just normal dogs. . That is kind of funny that you say that....Finn(deaf) was the star student in his class...him not hearingall the commotion made it possible for him to sit in between two "aggressive" dogs and focus on me! His recall was the best in the classs as had to know where Momma went!!!! Eye contact is the key! Georgie(our other deaf dog) Got her AKC Star Puppy certificate in her first class!!  The main thing to do is "eye contact" with deaf dogs a lot of times it comes natural BUT, work on "watch me" Whatever signal you want to use... We started out with a treat Let her smell the treat, bring it up to your eye level, when she looks..."Good Girl"..treat! I use a thumbs up! My deaf dogs are the loves of my life!!!!!! Please feel free to ask me any quustions! |
| Harley the foster basset came to us with an 11.5 YEAR history of loudly barking and demanding things. That SO does not fly at our house. Imagine if I had all our dogs doing that! He's been here a little over a year and has made very good progress.   |
Donner's Mom wrote: Maggie McGee IV wrote: Recall was the most difficult thing with the deaf dogs I've fostered. They must be in a securely fenced yard or on a leash at all times. Other than that, just consider them normal. They generally make their handler look silly when trying to say a command and getting no response. They're just normal dogs. . That is kind of funny that you say that....Finn(deaf) was the star student in his class...him not hearingall the commotion made it possible for him to sit in between two "aggressive" dogs and focus on me! His recall was the best in the classs as had to know where Momma went!!!! Eye contact is the key! Georgie(our other deaf dog) Got her AKC Star Puppy certificate in her first class!! .... Ah, but you've worked a long time to get Finn to that level!  And Georgie, too. The people that surrendered one of our deaf fosters, Molly, never worked with her at all. She was purchased as a pup and sometime later the family realized she was deaf. They never explored the possibility that she could be trained using visual signals so she was banished to the fenced yard and was only allowed in the garage when she needed shelter. Not even housebroken and no life for a pet of any kind. The family had three small children (one of them special needs) so admittedly they had their hands full. When they decided it was best to give Molly up they called us because they were worried what would happen to her at the shelter "because nobody wants a deaf dog".  That broke my heart. I've seen what great things people like Kathy, Nancy, Laurie and others have done with their dogs. They had to learn right along with the dogs but it's been very rewarding and so worthwhile. We only had Molly here for a short time before she was adopted into a very understanding home where training was the #1 priority. Hopefully Molly will soon have the excellent recall skills of Finn and Georgie but she lives in the city so to trust those skills totally could mean disaster. Her new family has a secure harness for walking her so she can't get out of a collar. Finally, somebody cares!  |
got sheep wrote: Harley the foster basset came to us with an 11.5 YEAR history of loudly barking and demanding things. That SO does not fly at our house. Imagine if I had all our dogs doing that!He's been here a little over a year and has made very good progress. Ok, Dawn, how did you teach him not to bark as much. Tripper does that too, mostly at Butch but also when he knows he's getting fed. Gets very annoying. Have tried the spraying with water, shaking the can and nothing does it. He's 11.5 also. |
got sheep wrote: Harley the foster basset came to us with an 11.5 YEAR history of loudly barking and demanding things. That SO does not fly at our house. Imagine if I had all our dogs doing that!He's been here a little over a year and has made very good progress. Is Harley deaf? Barking would really be a difficult behavior to correct after 11-1/2 yrs.  |
| Oh, we still NEVER let Finn or Georgie off lead if not in a secured area!! Even the best trained deaf dog should NEVER have the chance to run! |
ICH wrote: got sheep wrote: Harley the foster basset came to us with an 11.5 YEAR history of loudly barking and demanding things. That SO does not fly at our house. Imagine if I had all our dogs doing that!He's been here a little over a year and has made very good progress. Ok, Dawn, how did you teach him not to bark as much. Tripper does that too, mostly at Butch but also when he knows he's getting fed. Gets very annoying. Have tried the spraying with water, shaking the can and nothing does it. He's 11.5 also. I used the spray bottle and timely rewards. He responds really well to the spray - he stopped immediately. But, the trick was to keep him stopped. At 1st the squirt just paused him, then he would resume. I worked really hard with the timing and a stop command (verbal) as well as immediate praise when he was quiet, then worked on longer and longer quiet times. Now he usually is good. I know his body language, so I always give him good boy feedback BEFORE he gets to barking. And now he knows better, but occasionally starts out with quiet little mutters, and I can just give him "the eye" and he stops.  He still does the bark, bark, bark, bark outside when he wants to come in, but I can live with that one. Luckily we are in the country, and it's not too troublesome for neighbors. It would be horrible if we were in town with close neighbors though! And then there's his buddy Chewie who will stand out there silently at the door, hoping someone remembers he's out there!  Total extremes there. Nita - he is getting hard of hearing now, but he's not deaf by any means. He does miss a few snacks as he's asleep and doesn't hear stuff going on in the kitchen.  And we have to be really observant to make sure he's awake when little Norah is on the move his way. He LOVES Norah (and all the kids), but he startles sometimes if he gets awakened roughly (duh). Vibration works, so a stomp on the floor usually does the trick. Here's a (bad quality phone) picture of the 2 of them. Norah was sitting on the rug, and Harley backed himself up and sat on her lap! And you sort of can see, she is playing with his tail. They are buds! Harley so loves kids, I'm glad we have our grandkids here for daycare. He actually seems to prefer kids over adults  |
| Monica????? What did the vet say???? Is Tilly just being a stubborn little sheepie????? OR ......??????????????????????????? |
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