Possibly Adopting A Deaf Dog!

:D These are the types of things that make me feel so proud! That it doesn't make a diffrence to me if the dog is deaf or not. :D
http://www.deafdogs.org/
I've been doing some research latley on deaf dogs, because my family is going to get another dog anytime soon. We were really interested in buying a Chocolate Lab puppy from the petstore, but I really wanted to make a diffrence, and adopt one. Perhaps a deaf dog!
So back to the researching part. I found that Australian Shepherds, Shelties, Border Collies, and Collies are the most popular deaf dogs. The main cause is breeding two Merles together. Doing this is extremly harmful, and the dogs are almost always deaf, blind, or both.
I just showed my mom the site above, and she said she'd never really thought about adopting a deaf dog, and that it would be kind of hard. But I'm willing to make a full comiment, as I would to a dog that wasn't deaf.
I told her that there were hand signals, which would be just like talking to the dog.
She said she'd think about it, and that adopting a deaf dog might be a good idea! She knows how pure hearted I am towards dogs, and prefer to adopt, and help dogs rather then buying them for thousands of dollars from stores.
I'm so hopeful! Pray for me, please! :)

Aww that is so sweet of you. There isn't much difference if you think about it, but a deaf dog always seems like a bigger challenge. I was watching this show on APL and they featured a deaf Great Dane. He did agility and relied on hand signals for everything. Pretty amazing.

I wish the best of luck to you and you have my full support! Go for it! :D

That's really good for you! But may I say this: NEVER BUY A DOG/PUPPY OR A CAT/KITTEN FROM A PETSTORE! THEY ARE USUALLY FROM PUPPYMILLS WHERE DOGS ARE MISTREATED!

But you really need to know that owning a deaf dog is a MAJOR resposibility. You can almost never let them out of your sight, especially outside, because they cannot hear you, and if they can't see you, they can't obey. I had a friend that had a deaf dog, and when she was walking her one day, she took off after a rabbit, and slipped out of her collar. The dog was too intent on the bunny, and since she couldn't hear her owner calling to her to stop, ran out into the street and was hit by a car:( She died instantly:( :(

So you really need to think hard about this. It's very difficult to teach deaf dogs commands, so they are often rambuctions, and at risk of getting hurt or killed.

Also, they are often very scared/skittish about thigs, especially other dogs.

Take your time deciding on this!

Quote:

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Originally posted by apcrs5122
But you really need to know that owning a deaf dog is a MAJOR resposibility. You can almost never let them out of your sight, especially outside, because they cannot hear you, and if they can't see you, they can't obey.

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Darn, I knew I wanted to say something else. I was going to mention this. :p

Okay, well as good as your intentions are, Dayna is absolutley right. Think hard. :)

Exactly:) I think it would be a great deed to rescue a deaf dog in need!:D

I think it's great that you are wanting to adopt a deaf dog in need of a good home. I definitely agree that you need to think long and hard about all it will entail before you do it.

It can turn out great though. There's a nice Korean guy who goes to the dog park and he has a Jindo, which is a Korean breed. She is deaf. Rather independent (as Jindos are from what I hear) and she is definitely a bit skittish about other dogs. She's very visual, so if a dog approaches her from behind, she tends to jump away. He has taught her hand signals and she responds very well. She has this thing of tossing her head from side to side...we all wonder why she does this, like how does it relate to her deafness. But on the whole, he has said that he is very happy with her and he wouldn't trade her for a million dollars.:)

A friend of mine had a deaf Dalmatian, AND a boxer. The boxer was the first dog he had, and he subsequently adopted the Dalmatian as a puppy.

The boxer noticed that the Dally could not hear like him, and whenever there was action (like barking at the postman!!!), or something to see, he would run up to her and run around her, getting her to follow him.

It worked a treat, and he ALWAYS did it. She knew hand signals too ........... but they never really needed it when the dogs were outside as the boxer ALWAYS came when called, and she just followed him.

Foam, You already have a dog .......... and you never know it might react the same way to the deaf dog......... :D
It is a HUGE responsibility ............. but good luck and well done on your pure heart.

omg that is too cute!!

and .. good luck and that is veryyyy sweet of you to do :)

I'm still thinking. It's not definate though. I know it might be hard, but like I said, I have plenty of time so I can fully commit myself to this dog IF we do get one. :)

Aw, you all make me feel so speshul!!!
Thanks for the advice! Keep it comin'! ;)

Please do it if you can ,but 1st find one in your area and talk with the owner. You need to know how hard it is. I had a blind dog she had an infection in her eyes before they opened. It was a litter I raised , Pandy was an awesome dog but it took so much more time and the training was really different and you had to have a lot of patience. Once we got it togeather she was very eager to please. She was one of the best dogs I ever had. You will bond more than with a "normal" dog just becouse they become very dependant on you. You become the ears they need.
I wish you luck if your family does this wonderful deed, becouse it does become a family project as they need to learn the signals and commands too.
Not to honk my horn but I did get one leg to Pandys tracking title. Before we had to put her down (Her mother mauled so badly that she had to be put to sleep) (mom too she was too aggressive for a springer always picking fights) Pandy was 4 and they were the most fun I had training a dog.

That's awesome that you want to help and adopt a dog. It can definately be a challenge but I think it would be well worth the effort. Dogs rely alot on body language regardless of hearing or not so as long as you use the same hand signals as everyone else, it could work out really well. I heard about a couple who put on a collar with a little film canister attached to it. The canister had a small type of gadget that vibrated everytime they pressed the button on the remote. They used it to get the dog to come. It worked very well and it could be worth a shot if you do decide to adopt a deaf dog. Another couple bought a pager for the dog and attached it to the collar...that worked the same way. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Good choice! :D

pssst...did you possibly find that website from the hyperlink I put in my sig? Deafdogs.org is a common website that I take dogs' pics from and put them there. :)

Wolfsoul- No I didn't. :) I was thinking about adopting a deaf dog before I knew about the site, so I found it through google.

I have visited that site sooo much in the past 2 months that I now am destined to have a deaf siberian husky puppy lol. I am glad I am not alone. ;)

If you want a deaf dog, why don't u invent a special collar that'll vibrate everytime u want the dog to come or do a command...

It'll help out alot :)

vibrate=shaking, not shocking

A few months ago before we adopted our fifth dog, Jack, we fostered a deaf dalmation for a couple of days. His name was Oreo but we called him Winchester since we already had an Oreo and it really didn't make any difference to him since he couldn't hear what we called him.

Winchester was about a year old and very, very cute. However, because he couldn't hear and because he was as hyper as any other Dalmation that I've known, it didn't work out well for my other dogs. First off, he wanted to ride them constantly and we couldn't get through to him that that was a no-no and the other dogs couldn't seem to make him understand either since they are not aggressive (for the most part) dogs and he couldn't hear their complaints. He also was too rough playing with them - and again when they would let him know by crying out he couldn't hear them and didn't understand. By the end of the first evening they were all hiding from him. Taggert and Snoopy hid on the bed in our room and Dazzi tried hiding behind some of my larger plants. It was sad for all of them.

And then there was the fact that he was not house trained although they said he was. He peed everywhere constantly. And when I put him out, the other dogs would follow, I would be cleaning up his mess and he would be hurting one of the others. It was a three ring circus to say the least.

I am not trying to discourage you because there really are some beautiful dogs out there that need a good home. And it could be very different because there wouldn't be so many dogs involved and if you started with a younger pup you would probably be better able to start out right with the older dog understanding that there was something different about a puppy from the beginning. Obviously ours could not understand that Winchester was deaf since he didn't look any different or actually act any different execpt in responding to their "noises" of disapproval when he was being too rough.

I think it is a good thing for you to do but really know that it is very tough to get an animal that cannot hear to understand what you want from it. The Humane Society that we fostered him for wanted us to keep him longer and they had a trainer that would come in to help with training him and I did find some websites that gave out information that could be helpful in training him. My husband was against a fifth dog and to have one that was upsetting everyone at the house didn't seem like a good way to go for us. I would have had to give him my full attention for who knows how long and it did not seem fair to my husband and the four other dogs two of which were not yet a year old yet either.

I wish you the best because I think it would be a very unselfish and giving thing to do.