If my older dog is going deaf, do I need to do something?

[Drama Llama]

My dog was a rescue, so I don't know exactly how old he is, but we've had him 11 years and he hasn't grown, so I'm figuring like 12 years old.  Little mutt, maybe some spaniel mixed with some herding dog.  He was in good shape, according to the vet, a year ago, and while he's slowed down from his hyper early years, he's always up for a walk or a game of fetch, eating well etc . . . He last went to the vet for a check up in the winter sometime.  

He goes back and forth between our house, and my BIL's house, and he has a favorite person in both houses (DS13, or my BIL).  When "his" person is gone, he likes to lie in front of the door they went through, whether that means the door to the bedroom where they're sleeping, or the door to the bathroom, or the door out of the house. 

Twice, recently, he's not gotten up when someone goes to open the door.  Usually, he hears the footsteps and when you open the door, he's there with his tail wagging happy to see you.  Once, it was a door that opened away from him, so the person was merely surprised to find him there and as soon as he saw someone he was up and tail wagging, but the front door opens in, and he got whacked pretty hard by the door the other day.  

He's also less reactive to sounds in general.  Like it used to be that if I opened the door to the fridge, even if he was several rooms away he's come running in case I dropped something.  Or if someone walked up to the front door, he'd be there to greet them before they knocked (he's whatever the opposite of a guard dog is, all people must be immediately welcomed into the house). Now, he's less likely to do those things, but I thought maybe he was just getting lazy.

Anyway, my question is besides the obvious which is to open doors slowly and gently, do we need to do something?  Does this warrant a vet trip?   Since he's been within the last year, I figured we'd wait until covid numbers were better.  

 

[Tanaqui]

We have a deaf dog. He's been deaf since we got him, and possibly for his whole life - apparently, poodles are prone to deafness, and so are white dogs, and he's a white toy poodle, so....

When we need to get his attention and he's far away, we flick the lights or we stomp on the floor so he can feel it. That might help your dog not be startled by your unexpected presence! You could easily get a doorbell that flashes a light when people ring it - deaf humans have those, so there's no reason you can't have one for the aid of your deaf dog.

We also have our dog trained with hand signals. LOL, I say he's "trained", but to be honest, the only thing we've had real success with are "come" and "sit". He understands "stay" but he doesn't believe in it, so the best we've ever gotten is him slyly scooting closer and closer like we won't notice.

But, you know, this might be something as simple as clogged ears. You should definitely stop by the vet, even if you have to wait outside while he has his appointment.

[Drama Llama]

30 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

We have a deaf dog. He's been deaf since we got him, and possibly for his whole life - apparently, poodles are prone to deafness, and so are white dogs, and he's a white toy poodle, so....

When we need to get his attention and he's far away, we flick the lights or we stomp on the floor so he can feel it. That might help your dog not be startled by your unexpected presence! You could easily get a doorbell that flashes a light when people ring it - deaf humans have those, so there's no reason you can't have one for the aid of your deaf dog.

We also have our dog trained with hand signals. LOL, I say he's "trained", but to be honest, the only thing we've had real success with are "come" and "sit". He understands "stay" but he doesn't believe in it, so the best we've ever gotten is him slyly scooting closer and closer like we won't notice.

But, you know, this might be something as simple as clogged ears. You should definitely stop by the vet, even if you have to wait outside while he has his appointment.

Thanks,

I have never managed to train this dog.  He comes if there's any enthusiasm in your voice because he has FOMO, and if there is the slightest chance you have food he sits whenever you say anything.  But I don't think that counts.  He's also very very docile and eager to please, so he never really misbehaves particularly.  

But I'm guessing he wont' be learning hand signs any better than he learned words.  

[Spy Car]

12 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Thanks,

I have never managed to train this dog.  He comes if there's any enthusiasm in your voice because he has FOMO, and if there is the slightest chance you have food he sits whenever you say anything.  But I don't think that counts.  He's also very very docile and eager to please, so he never really misbehaves particularly.  

But I'm guessing he wont' be learning hand signs any better than he learned words.  

Capitalize on his food drive (and whatever hearing his remaining) to at least teach recall with hand signals. It is important for the dogs safety.

I suggest using two hands held overhead that are brought down sharply until palms are together (between one's legs) as the "big" version of the hand signal (that's given at a distance) and which can be scaled back when the dog is closer and/or better trained.

Pop a small amount of high value treat (preferably meat) and praise. Rinse and repeat ( a lot!).

I helped a woman train her deaf dog using an e-collar that had a "vibrate" mode that she could cue her dog with. Worked brilliantly.

Also this collar had a "stim" function (that the owner hated to use) set very low which probably saved the dog's life and was only used to stop her dog from escaping into the street from the unofficial local neighborhood dog park we enjoyed using. 

Not sure what to say about the cause of the hearing loss. I'd speak to my vet. Never too late to train--especially with a food motivated dog.

Bill

 

 

 

[JustEm]

When our senior dog started going deaf she was startled easily if someone snuck up on her accidentally. This was only a problem once when my niece and nephew were horse playing around her and one accidentally pushed the other into the dog.  Because she wasn't able to hear them and was asleep, hence did see them, she had zero idea they were being crazy.  Normally, if kids were being crazy around her she'd either move or just accept that they might bump into her.  She had never bit or shown any sort of aggression towards anyone ever in her 12 years of life.  But when my niece landed on her she woke up scared and bit my niece instinctively.  Not a bad bite more like a nip of warning but something that was completely uncharacteristic.

 For about a week or two after that I kept her very close to me while she learned to live as a deaf dog.  She already knew hand signals because I taught them to her as a puppy so that helped her a lot. It took about two weeks of working with her to stop her from being startled when something was around that she didn't hear coming. She no longer startles and has never bit except that one time. It has been two years and she gets along perfectly as a deaf dog.  Most people can't even tell she's deaf because she looks at faces and hands to decide if you are talking to her.

[Tanaqui]

What, Bill, you never heard that an old dog can't learn new tricks?

(I don't think that's literally true, I just wanted to say it. You don't need to tell me I'm wrong!)

[Drama Llama]

1 minute ago, Spy Car said:

Capitalize on his food drive (and whatever hearing his remaining) to at least teach recall with hand signals. It is important for the dogs safety.

I suggest using two hands held overhead that are brought down sharply until palms are together (between one's legs) as the "big" version of the hand signal (that's given at a distance) and which can be scaled back when the dog is closer and/or better trained.

Pop a small amount of high value treat (preferably meat) and praise. Rinse and repeat ( a lot!).

I helped a woman train her deaf dog using an e-collar that had a "vibrate" mode that she could cue her dog with. Worked brilliantly.

Also this collar had a "stim" function (that the owner hated to use) set very low which probably saved the dog's life and was only used to stop her dog from escaping into the street from the unofficial local neighborhood dog park we enjoyed using. 

Not sure what to say about the cause of the hearing loss. I'd speak to my vet. Never too late to train--especially with a food motivated dog.

Bill

 

 

 

If I was outside with him, and he knew I had meat on my person, he'd never get far enough away from me practice a recall.  

To be clear, if we were outside, and I waved at him, or said "Oooh look a cockroach", or whatever he'd come.  He's very attached to us.  So, he doesn't know a command, like "come", but he's not hard to get to come back.  I guess if he wasn't looking and he's deaf, but a hand signal won't help them.  

 

[Tanaqui]

Quote

Most people can't even tell she's deaf because she looks at faces and hands to decide if you are talking to her.

I've been known to amuse myself by silently mouthing words at my deaf doggie until he sits and starts twitching his ears around, which is freaking adorable. I could really talk to him and get the same result, but doing it without words means I don't bug anybody who might be in the same room watching TV.

[Drama Llama]

3 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

 

But, you know, this might be something as simple as clogged ears. You should definitely stop by the vet, even if you have to wait outside while he has his appointment.

Do you know if there's anything it could be that would be urgent?

[itsheresomewhere]

Once he has had a vet visit to rule out anything else.

 

We had a dog go deaf once he as older. He could not be trained as suggested above as he was stubborn as a mule even using food.  One of other dogs took to herding him when it was time to come in from outside.  We would touch him if we were getting up when he was sleeping next to us or stretched out near our feet.  Slightly humorous to us, he could still tell when someone used the can opener.  
 

 

[Selkie]

It's probably age-related deafness, but I would want to rule out any other cause, like inflammation in the ear or a tumor. It sounds like he is due or almost due for a yearly checkup, and I wouldn't want to put that off, especially with a senior dog. The vets where I live are all being very safe about Covid. No clients are allowed inside - you wait in your car and a masked tech comes out to get the dog. After the exam, the vet calls you to discuss.

[Tanaqui]

2 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Do you know if there's anything it could be that would be urgent?

Well, I don't know. If you suddenly went deaf, wouldn't you consider that urgent? (Even if you were old, you'd go to the doctor and see about a hearing aid, because untreated hearing loss in seniors can cause the symptoms of dementia!)

It could be old age. It could be an ear infection. It could be a tumor.

[Drama Llama]

2 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

Well, I don't know. If you suddenly went deaf, wouldn't you consider that urgent? (Even if you were old, you'd go to the doctor and see about a hearing aid, because untreated hearing loss in seniors can cause the symptoms of dementia!)

It could be old age. It could be an ear infection. It could be a tumor.

Honestly, I have no idea I’d it was sudden.  We’ve had enough going on here with humans, and he hasn’t been living with us.

i don’t think they make hearing aids for dogs do they? 

[Tanaqui]

19 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Honestly, I have no idea I’d it was sudden.  We’ve had enough going on here with humans, and he hasn’t been living with us.

i don’t think they make hearing aids for dogs do they? 

 

I have actually no idea! I only tossed that in there because if you or somebody popped back to say "I'd think it was just aging" then I'd have to be all "Yes, but age-related hearing loss, if untreated, can cause the symptoms of dementia" and that seemed like a derail.

And yet here we are, in the very derail I wanted to avoid. Dang it.

But now I'm gonna google this. Don't reply, I'll edit in a sec.

 

Edit: YES THEY DO MAKE HEARING AIDS FOR DOGS! I'm actually checking out price points *right now*. Thanks!

Edited December 9, 2020 by Tanaqui

[Tanaqui]

Nvm, it's (unsurprisingly) thousands of dollars and if your dog just won't wear them you're SOL.

[Drama Llama]

My dog does not seem fazed by this change so I will probably not pay thousands of dollars.  

[Tanaqui]

Yeah, no, I hear you! But do make a routine appointment - like I said, it could be something easily treatable, like clogged ears or an infection.

[Drama Llama]

4 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

Yeah, no, I hear you! But do make a routine appointment - like I said, it could be something easily treatable, like clogged ears or an infection.

Yeah, we aren’t doing routine appointments for humans right now, which is what makes me hesitate.  

We did some when numbers were lower.  But now we are only doing more urgent things.

[Garga]

7 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Yeah, we aren’t doing routine appointments for humans right now, which is what makes me hesitate.  

We did some when numbers were lower.  But now we are only doing more urgent things.

Most vets don’t let you come inside right now. You bring your pet, call them from the parkinglot, and then they take the pet inside.  So, if you’re avoiding appointments so you don’t risk covid, taking a pet to the vet isn’t a risk. 

[Drama Llama]

6 minutes ago, Garga said:

Most vets don’t let you come inside right now. You bring your pet, call them from the parkinglot, and then they take the pet inside.  So, if you’re avoiding appointments so you don’t risk covid, taking a pet to the vet isn’t a risk. 

OK you guys convince me.  Dog is quarantined right now  but when he is done I will take him in.