Mary Allen
A dog that doesn’t hear anything usually gets along well with its handicap. However, the owner must be prepared for the special handling of the dead animal. Hand signals and body language come to the fore.
Since you cannot communicate with a deaf dog by voice, you have to communicate with him in some other way. This is best done using hand signals, posture, and gestures, as well as facial expressions. Hand signals are especially important when it comes to obeying certain commands for the dog. Within a family, it is essential to agree on the same signals so that the four-legged friend is not confused. It is also advisable to choose simple characters. These must be clearly and calmly exaggerated at first. A very clear, distinctive sign is particularly important for a recall.
First of all, you should build up the signals in such a way that you can still amplify them. But there are other options: “A vibration collar served me well for my Beagle male Benni,” says Desiree Schwers from Kastl (D). Since he realized that he should come to her when the collar vibrates – “which I only encouraged positively” – walks without a leash are no longer a problem.
“The deafness seems to bother my dog much less than it does me,” says Schwers. Because communication among dogs is based only minimally on vocalizations; it mainly takes place through body language. Neither the joie de vivre nor the innate instincts such as hunting and protective behavior would suffer. “I have to experience the latter painfully again and again,” Schwers continues.
Eye Contact is Extremely Important
Dogs generally observe very closely, they recognize posture, gestures, and facial expressions. You should also definitely talk to your four-legged friend, even if he doesn’t hear you, because your own words are inevitably undermined by a certain posture and a facial expression that is important for the dog. For example, the four-legged friend quickly learns that a smile is an expression of satisfaction and means praise.
If the four-legged friend shows unwanted behavior, he is also warned with a special hand signal, a corresponding posture, and facial expressions. Actions that can be dangerous for the dog must be stopped immediately, for example by a gentle touch with the hand. It is better if the dog sees the human being before it is touched so that it does not startle and reflexively defend itself. Therefore, the dog’s attention should always be drawn to the owner first. There are various possibilities for this, such as a vibration in the form of a light stomping on the ground or wiggling of the leash.
The Big Danger in Traffic
Desiree Schwers knows of two situations in which she often has to intervene. On the one hand, when another dog growls at him and Benni has his eyes elsewhere again. “Since he doesn’t get the warning from the other dog, but I want to avoid an escalation, I prefer to keep a safe distance myself.” On the other hand, Schwers takes good care of her dog on the street, in traffic – “because here the risk of him putting himself and others in danger is too great for me”.
Schwers also considers an optimal bond to be essential so that the dog takes good care of you. “If that’s the case, there’s really nothing you can’t do with a deaf dog.” Liane Rauch, owner of the Naseweis dog school, which specializes in handicapped dogs, can only agree: “The best basis for a harmonious everyday life with a handicap dog is a trusting relationship and close bond.”
Her almost 14-year-old Sheltie male is now almost deaf. With him, she sees the reward of consistent bonding work. “Through hand touch training and goal-oriented eye contact training, we can continue to live our everyday lives as we are used to, despite being deaf,” says Rauch. She explains the step-by-step introduction to touch and eye contact training in the book “Dog Training Without Words”. You can even make yourself interesting with short games on walks so that the four-legged friend likes to stay close by and freewheeling is therefore not a problem.