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  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Fran is almost completely deaf.

    She can still hear very loud noises and if we call her name from five feet away but that's about it.

    She seems worried. Any thoughts about how to handle this? Should we be reassuring or act business as usual and just make sure that we that she is included in everything, as in go and get her for dinner, etc since we can't really call her anymore but be casual about it?

  2. #2
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    I'd recommend working on hand signals now if you don't already use them since she does have some hearing left. Waving back for "come" is really handy. If you need to wake her up, place your hand under her nose so that she can sense your presence and waken naturally...don't nudge her awake.

    Good luck. When our Akita lost her hearing, we already had some hand signals. We used to send Honey to find Kiku out in the yard to "call" her for dinner.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    My husband said that if something to go, it was best that this was the thing. It's still kind of sad though.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Poor Fran! Tell her this Fran also have to turn up the TV more than in the past.

    If you remember, Bandit was deaf. Hand signals saved the day. Nothing formal, just signals I used regularly. An upward movement of the wrist and hand meant sit, palm down and downward motion meant down. After dark when he was in the yard, I used a flashlight with the light moved in front of him meant time to come in. I also kept a Night Eyz light on his collar so I could see him since he was black.

    I had to learn to walk with a heavy step when approaching Bandit in the house if he was sleeping and I wanted to touch him to get his attention; didn't want to startle him. A quick wave of the food bowl in front of a sleeping dog's nose is the perfect way to let him know dinner is ready, as if he wasn't under foot already, LOL.

    Start reinforcing, constantly using distinctive hand signals and watch your body movements. She will pick up on the slightest of cues.
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  7. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    You might recall me saying it before, when Jet's back went out I think her deafness was more of a concern to her. We could medicate for pain, take shorter and easier walks. Deafness, as is said about humans, is very isolating. I too felt Jet was worried. Lost and abandoned. I think to her it was if she was always alone. When I would talk to her I felt she thought I was teasing by making my lips move but not making a sound. Anthropomorphising maybe but there was a "look" on her face that could nearly break my heart.

    Jet already knew hand signals. We were careful to stomp on the floor when approaching her so she would feel us coming. Because of her back she didn't go far away from me on walks, never did, but next time I would try a whistle. I spent time just sitting on the floor with her. When I did speak to her, as with people I tried to face her so she could see me, spoke very loudly and went back to simple words she knew, instead of speaking in paragraphs. It's very sad. Jet really perked up on her walks which were shorter and more frequent and we explored short trails we never had before. That was because of her back but it livened up her silent days.
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    One thing I did with Kiku...don't know if it really made any difference or not...was to talk to her with my chin resting on the top of her head. I figured she could hear the vibrations of my voice...make out the words? She definitely reacted as if she heard me but I was just talking, not giving commands, so I wasn't looking for an action reaction...her head tilt and tail wag was enough for me.

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  11. #7
    Senior Dog labsnewfy's Avatar
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    It is sad and like you said they look at you funny when you speak but they can't hear - they can read facial expression and body language as already stated. You could also while she can still hear tell Fran you love her and touch her ear or pet the side of her face, that away when she does loose all hearing she will know that gesture to mean you love her. I kiss mine kids on the top of their foreheads.
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  13. #8
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by POPTOP View Post
    Poor Fran! Tell her this Fran also have to turn up the TV more than in the past.

    If you remember, Bandit was deaf. Hand signals saved the day. Nothing formal, just signals I used regularly. An upward movement of the wrist and hand meant sit, palm down and downward motion meant down. After dark when he was in the yard, I used a flashlight with the light moved in front of him meant time to come in. I also kept a Night Eyz light on his collar so I could see him since he was black.

    I had to learn to walk with a heavy step when approaching Bandit in the house if he was sleeping and I wanted to touch him to get his attention; didn't want to startle him. A quick wave of the food bowl in front of a sleeping dog's nose is the perfect way to let him know dinner is ready, as if he wasn't under foot already, LOL.

    Start reinforcing, constantly using distinctive hand signals and watch your body movements. She will pick up on the slightest of cues.
    Thanks. I do remember that. We've used hand signals in the past in part because we run our business out of the house and need to direct the dogs when we're on the phone. I'll do that more often now.

    Fran has absolutely zero interest in being outside unless we are directly interacting with her. She pees like a racehorse then runs back so fast that she hits the storm door. We have to time it on opening the door so she doesn't kill herself. She is quite possibly the quirkiest dog on the planet.

  14. #9
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    You might recall me saying it before, when Jet's back went out I think her deafness was more of a concern to her. We could medicate for pain, take shorter and easier walks. Deafness, as is said about humans, is very isolating. I too felt Jet was worried. Lost and abandoned. I think to her it was if she was always alone. When I would talk to her I felt she thought I was teasing by making my lips move but not making a sound. Anthropomorphising maybe but there was a "look" on her face that could nearly break my heart.

    Jet already knew hand signals. We were careful to stomp on the floor when approaching her so she would feel us coming. Because of her back she didn't go far away from me on walks, never did, but next time I would try a whistle. I spent time just sitting on the floor with her. When I did speak to her, as with people I tried to face her so she could see me, spoke very loudly and went back to simple words she knew, instead of speaking in paragraphs. It's very sad. Jet really perked up on her walks which were shorter and more frequent and we explored short trails we never had before. That was because of her back but it livened up her silent days.
    Thank you. I've noticed that when we go all go to sleep, Fran likes to be touching another dog so, since she's kind of my husband's dog (distrusting women as a general rule), I've asked him to talk less and pet more.

  15. #10
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    One thing I did with Kiku...don't know if it really made any difference or not...was to talk to her with my chin resting on the top of her head. I figured she could hear the vibrations of my voice...make out the words? She definitely reacted as if she heard me but I was just talking, not giving commands, so I wasn't looking for an action reaction...her head tilt and tail wag was enough for me.
    That's a really good idea. Thank you.

 



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