One of my dogs is very clearly losing his hearing, it’s mostly gone but he can still hear whistles and (super) raised voices.
How can I support him in this transition? What tools or skills might I utilize to communicate with him? He’s 13 so it makes sense
This! Communicate using hand gestures, possibly tapping so he feels the vibrations to get his attention. Gestures will definitely alert him you’re asking if he wants something or telling him something you want. Good luck and hugs to your gorgeous boy!
Lower your face closer to his level when speaking to him, develop touch and hand signals that mean come.
The hand signals should be exaggerated, like for instance a one handed air 🎾 swing thay means come for the dog.
Start close, lure with treats. Won't take long.
I have a deaf dog and a 14yo dog losing her hearing, I understand. Hopefully that was helpful
This! Not only big gestures but touching different bodyparts in different ways. Just in case your dog goes blind as well. Like gentle stroking from back to front on the butt to tell it to move forward/onward. Hand in front of chest or laid between their shoulders to make him stop. Since i smoke outside and this is always a chance for the dogs to join me and pee.. i let one of my dogs smell the (ofc UNLIT) cigaret as a question "wanna come out with me and pee?" They know what the smell of tabacco means and will decide: do i need to.. or not. And if they cant decide they know what is happening next when i think its time for them to pee.
Its a mix of routine and trust and so worth it :)
Last couple of years of his life, I had one that was deaf and blind. He would get up and walk to the middle of a room and whine. Another dog (we had 4 at the time) would get up, sniff him all over then escort him to the water bowl, the back door, where ever he needed.
They can get so much more information from things we dont even realize.. i bet the can even tell if the other dog is stressed because he has to do Nr.1 or Nr.2...
When mine find a fascinating scent, I often what it is they smell.
I stomp to get attention, then use hand signals
My little dude ignores my stomps. He is so stubborn
I have two deaf senior doggies and just wanted to say one silver lining is they are not afraid of thunderstorms or fireworks anymore- Two things that used to terrify them. I know it’s hard seeing our babies get older, your pup is lucky to have someone like you who cares 💜
🥹🥹 thank you Watching him age is so bittersweet. Like, I have the honor of being here for his whole life, he learned about the world with us and we got to watch him smile and grow. But we also have the heartache of watching him gray and age. I just wanna make it easier for him. He’s already got arthritis in his hips and he’s not as bouncy as he once was ❤️🩹
When my aging weimaraner was losing his hearing, probably the most important thing I did was not coming up behind him and also waking him up standing in front of him as he was easily startled.
My dog was deaf for close the 3 years before his death. It wasn’t a huge change, just using hand signs instead of verbal commands mostly.
My little dude went deaf last year. I used hand motions and treats to teach him. Stop ✋ was the most important one. They learn really quick. I think it is harder on us than them. I still talk to him like he can hear me
We have two congenitally deaf (+ 3 hearing) dogs here. You can do hand, gestural, touch and leash signals. Dogs native language is primarily body/gestural anyway - we just teach them what that gibberish coming out of our mouths means. Your old friend is probably already well versed in most of the relevent gestural cues you also do when giving a verbal cue, so even if he can't hear, he may still be "listening" to you if he can see you.
One of our pups is also visually impaired, so we use big gestures/thumbs up/leash signals while she's on leash. Two gentle taps on the leash means eye contact and then we gesture the next cue. We use the same touch signal when waking her up or getting her attention, combined with a yummy, smelly treat so it's less startling and rewarding to look at whoever touched you.
I hope this helps. There is a deaf dog reddit where you might find suggestions for your exact situation too, vs my born deaf pups.
As others uave said, hand signals.
I've got a 19yr old whos been slowly going deaf for several years. You'll be surprised how quickly they adapt. Best part is she isn't afraid of fireworks or thunder anymore!
My 12 year old has been deaf since birth, he basically follows hand commands instead of vocal. So instead of "come here" I point next to my foot and he follows the command. I appreciate it's potentially easier that he hasn't ever known vocal commands. I'd probably start using hand commands at the same time as his vocal commands (louder if needed) and slowly transition to just hand commands with lots of rewards and good boys when he follows a hand only command
With my elderly girl, she lost a lot of her hearing in the year or so before we lost her. We would gently tap her to get her attention if we wanted her to do something.
I would start by training a new mark- a hand signal you can easily do. Have him look at it, treat, look, treat, etc. same as a new puppy for a mark word. Then I would train him that a tap means eye contact. Tap his forehead (obviously very gently) and when he looks at you mark and treat. Then do hand signals for sit, down, etc.
Dogs respond better to hand signals I think anyway (I still do hand signals for my three pups lol).
For when our girl was further away, like in the yard, we clapped our hands really loud once. But if your boy is going fully deaf this might not work. But maybe train for something that vibrates?
You’ll be amazed how often you use your hands while giving commands. My girl is deaf and we haven’t skipped a beat. Her nose works great bc she’s in the kitchen as soon as I open a wrapper or pull out any food. It’s almost as though her sense of smell got stronger. She follows me a lot more now than she used to.
One of my dogs went deaf. She was never again bothered by thunderstorms and she slept very soundly so she was pretty chill.
My dog is deaf and his vision is really bad. But I can communicate with him by touch. Biggest problem for me is to stop saying no or calling him by voice.
You'll manage and he will adapt.
Allow that King of the Hill episode to guide you somewhat.
Thank you guys for all the comments and tips! I’ve got an old snack fanny pack from the puppy training days so I’ll use that while we’re figuring out our new normal. 🫶🏼
Our other dogs seem to have figured it out already so they’re helping him by laying close to him and moving or nudging him when something changes (like he doesn’t hear me call for mealtime)
I haven't had a puppy go deaf but that looks like a very very good doggo 🩷 my favourite thought is that puppies are basically 2-3 year olds mentally and I love the thought of them being excited toddlers, no matter their conditions. Snuggles, snacks and just doing things on their understanding is everything!!
Huh?
I had an old Golden/Lab mix that made it to 17. She was pretty deaf after about 12-13. I always wondered if she wondered why I didn’t talk to her anymore.
I think you can communicate with him using gestures. Show commands with gestures, call him using gestures, and also show care and love