Story of deaf dog...

[TollSettFK]

Recently, I was on a dog website ( I forget what it was called) and read this story about this girl who got an Australien Cattle dog from a breeder. When she got the puppy, she knew something was wrong...the puppy was just not listining ,and, at 6 monthes, still didn't know his name. She took the dog to a vet and was informed that the dog was deaf. Her parents ( she was only 12) wanted to get rid of the dog, but Carly ( the puppies owner) Wouldn't. She says that the dog was sooo affectionate but just didn't know how to do anything. She now has been now has worked with the dog for two years now, and the dog knows "sit", "stay" and "come" and is working on down. She does it all with motions. Could you imagine how hard this woul be to do?

[delidog]

i applaud the girl who looked at "the big picture" on this dog....deafness is no reason to put them to sleep....at the facility that i volunteer at,...dogs and cats forever... we have "haddie" she is a mixed breed....mostly white pigmentation...she is stone deaf....but she has learned hand commands...she is only 10 mos. old ...we love her and will eventually find her a home ...they all need loving homes...you can teach a deaf dog the same basic commands of a heathly dog...sit,stay,lay down etc.....the deli dog

[tatsxxx11]

Grace, deafness is certainly NO reason to abandon (or worse) a dog or any animal. What this beautiful dog has accomplished is testament enough. Thanks to Carly for proving the others wrong Good job!!

[Sudilar]

So glad that girl stood up for the dog!! When I was very young, my grandmother got a puppy and discovered he was blind. She was going to get rid of Sparky, but I told her if she did, I would never, ever speak to her again. She did not have him put down and he lived a long life with her. He was a great dog and his blindness did not hold him back one bit!

[Dixie Belle]

Congrats to the girl that stood up for her dog!!

[Dixieland Dancer]

This girl is going to grow into quite a woman with such loyalty and devotion already in her heart! I wish I knew her in person. I'm sure I'd be a better person for it!

[3-greys-and-a-mutt]

My cocker started going deaf around the age of 11, and was completely deaf by the time she died at age 14. I adapted some of her simple commands, sit, lay, come, from verbals into hand motions. Now, whenever I teach my dogs a new trick, I try to associate a hand motion with it. This way, if they ever go deaf, they won't have to re-learn the trick!

[kobieeli]

That's a great story of a human giving a handicapped dog a chance! I can easily believe that the Cattle Dog will adapt to visual signals for commands--our Kobie is an ACD mix and is extremely visual. In fact, she seems to perform better with signs than with words.

I hope it all works out well for that little sweetie!

[Daisy's Mom]

Sue, you and that girl who stood up for her doggie are great people! I think that handicapped pets are just as wonderful as normal pets!

[carrie]

When I was working for Guide Dogs there was the most handsome GSD called Valiant. He was a huge dog, very laid back and relaxed. He was a bit slow on the uptake but suddenly seemed to click and became an exceptional working dog -responsive, confident and safe. As he was so large you felt very safe being guided by him.
He had one major problem though. His recall was so unreliable it was impossible for him to qualify. Every time we thought we had cracked the problem we ended up with very red faces running across miles of woodland, farm land or, even worse for the self image, public parks full of people.
As a last resort we took him to the Animal Health Trust with his litter sister, Vanda, for brain scans.
Vanda's responses were totally normal and she went on to become a very good Guide Dog.
Valliant, however, was far from normal. He had no hearing at all! It was only his poor recall that gave us any clue that he had a problem as he behaved normally otherwise and had succesfully trained as an exceptionally good guide dog. An amazing animal with a great intelligence, he was given a home with one of the instructors and went on to compete in agilty and obedience.
(Hand signals and body postures are an integral part of guide dog training.)