Deaf Dogs Unite | The joys of a quiet life

Training Answers

If you have a question you would like to ask with regards training or what Jess and I are doing next then please post them in the Guest Book or email me and I will reply as best I can on this page or if anyone else has any ideas they can let us know by doing the same.

One question I have been asked is 'How do you get Jess back if she is deaf?'.

If we're just out for a walk then I always make sure I have a pocket full of treats. When I first started to train her I would have her attached to a flexi lead and give her the impression that she was being let off by just disconnecting the normal lead. She would then be given a treat to let her know how nice it is to be with me and then she would start to wonder off. We would keep walking and when she looked at me I would give her the recall signal and then when she got back to me another treat was given. This was carried on until she got the idea that when she returned to me she was rewarded. She is now let off of the lead but only in areas where I know, unfortunately if we are anywhere strange to us she has to remain on the lead. I also think it helps having the other two dogs so she watches them, so if you have a friend with a well behaved hearing dog then they will be a great help.

When we are in the agility ring she has learnt that if I stop she to needs to stop. She will then turn to face me and then I put in the recall signal or a sign for her to do something else.

Remember ALL of these steps begin in the house, then move into the garden and so on.

Can you get Hearing Aids for dogs?

To my knowledge no you can't. Please don't let yourself think that Obispo is going to have a boring life. I do more with Jess than I have ever done with my hearing dogs, all you need to do is think about what you want the dog to do and decide in advance a clear hand signal, and when he volunteers the movement introduce the hand signal and reward. Most of what Jess has learnt has been a volunteered movement and a signal and reward quickly followed. If you have any further questions then please ask. GOOD LUCK

justine: hi great to see such a positive site we have a deaf dalmatian poppy she is nearly two rescued her from the needle she is the perfect dog in the house however we have found she is becoming increasingly snappy with strangers we have now had to issue her with a muzzle to protect her future but this hinders treat training her hand signals are quite good and she is extremely clever we are visiting a class on monday as we love her and want her to beat her fear aggression i think if we had found a suitable class sooner this could have been avoided but we need to soldier on she is really worth it any suggestions not much help in essex thanks justine

Suggestion so far:

This is just a quick reply, and I'll think about things over the next couple of days. I use a half check on Jess, and provided its fitted properly there should be no reason Poppy should be able to slip it. I understand what your trainer is trying to say about Poppy needing to respond to your commands but she needs to know exactly what you want from her first, this is when training at home is VERY important. As a seperate exercise I taught Jess to watch me. This began by her sitting in front of me, facing me. I held a treat to her nose and then slowly put the sweet to my nose, this encouraged her to lift her head and look at me. I did this several times and then when she had the idea I introduced the signal of watch, which was to tap just under my eye, and yes I also said the word WATCH. This again is repeated loads of times, you then remove the movement from the dogs nose to yours and just give the signal and command of WATCH, if the dog gives the action then praise and reward, if they don't then just go back a step, remember all dogs deaf and hearing learn at different rates.

The next step when the dog is quite happy doing the rest is to hold the treat out to the side and give the signal of WATCH. When the dog gives you eye contact take the treat to your nose and then straight down to the dog, praise and reward.

Once the dog has got the idea of what WATCH is then you can have them at the side of you, get a treat again and then take it towards your nose, as before, when the dog looks up take the treat back to the dog and praise and reward. Repeat as before and introduce the signal of WATCH.

If you can crack the WATCH then when your out for a walk you can give the WATCH command to Poppy before she reacts towards the passers by.

All of the above at the start needs to be in a controlled atmosphere where you don't need to have her muzzeled, so start at home in the house and then progress into the garden.

Have you thought about going for private lessons as well until Poppy gets a little more relaxed and accepts other people?

I'll think of more about what I did with Jess because she would have a go at people randomly when we were out for a walk, thats why my husband stopped taking her, so every morning I take her on her own and we call that our socialising walk. Also you may have read that she tried to take my face off when we first got her, not a good experience, but with a little understanding, time, a firm hand and patients, she has turned around.

Please let me know how you get on with this, and like I say I will try to get some more things written down for you to possibly try.

Sue & Jess

Watch this page as I'm trying to upload video clips of Jess training.

Jess Training

Jess doing a sendaway to a back marker.

(Photograph taken by Tony Bates Photographics)

Jess doing a pickup of the dumb bell on a retrieve (Photograph taken by Tony Bates Photographics)

Jess coming out of the tunnel on the agility course at training.

(Photograph taken by Tony Bates Photographics)

Jess running off of the dogwalk at agility training. (Photograph by Tony Bates Photographics)