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We adopted a 4 month old puppy from our local humane society a week ago tomorrow. Within a day we figured out she is deaf. We have enrolled her in a puppy class that starts mid-January and have been reading all we can about training deaf dogs, but do any of you have any experience with a deaf puppy? The biggest problem so far is to get her to stop biting us and the other dogs. She cant hear them growl or us when we say "no!". We redirect with a bone which sometimes works, but oftentimes she prefers fingers!
Dogs fortunately learn more quickly through body language than through verbal cues = facial expressions, hand signals, and overall body language. You can also utilize touch, smell, and vibration to train.
My overarching suggestion for training to to teach rock solid focus and impulse control. I would also suggest teaching what I call default behaviors- toss a treat to pup when he does a desirable behavior- e.g. pup sits, toss him a treat, he lies down, toss a treat; dog will come to figure out hey, when I sit etc and look at mom good things happen. These are NOT behaviors you are asking for, rather they are behaviors the dog is offering randomly, and as you reward these random good choices the dog will do them consistently. The benefit of this is the dog is more apt to think and make good choices without direction from you which is a critical skill for a deaf dog.
You can do a search here on this forum- I have a link on Its Yer Choice that will help with impulse control. For focus, keep treats in various places around the house and again- same as above, toss pup a treat when he randomly looks or focuses on you. Pup needs to know right from the start that whenever he is in doubt about anything, looking at mom is always the right thing to do, and it is on you to recognize and reward that behavior when he offers it.
Be aware that pup will be easily startled by hands, people, things blindsiding him- coming in from the side unexpectedly. I would very gently and slowly begin to desensitize him to sudden side movements. Get him used to seeing things approaching from the side. One of the things I do to desensitize my dogs to sudden movements is to play- this will sound silly- itsy-bitsy spider with hand movements slowly coming from above, the sides, and always as a game with happy face and with the dog fully aware of what you are doing.
For you this is going to be about catching your pup doing things right and consistent gentle training.
This has some good ideas on working with a deaf dog:
I have had limited succes with Herman, my twelve year old deaf dog. He came to us deaf, and we have, over the year, developed hand signals for come, wait, happy, walk, and a few others, but we got him a year ago, so I have no experience with the puppy side of deaf dogs.
I will say this though, deaf dogs seem to be of a sweeter temperament, and seem to bond stronger with their people from what I have read, and my limited experience with Herman.
He did startle a lot when we first got him, but now he seems to accept it is one of his people when picked up or touched from behind - although I generally try to ensure he sees me before I make physical contact.
Deafness and blindness in dogs is not as debilitating as it would be to humans, because their noses and sense of smell is the dog version of eyesight (there primary sensory experience). I have been fascinated learning about a dogs sense of smell and how that works. Pretty amazing!
Nipping ...I suggest going to the Family Dollar buy their brand of Ben Gay! Use it on Hands! Yours & other humans! Lightly! After a week you can stop. & use as Needed to remind him. Also rub it on Anything you don't want him to put in his mouth.
Is this your first puppy? Deaf or not, puppies nibble, nip and even break skin until their adult teeth come in and/or they learn Bite Inhibition. Some puppies are more determined nippers than others. My last dog barely nipped me at all when she was a puppy; but as an adult, she did not like some strangers (including children). My current dog was a little nipping monster as a puppy, would bite down so hard as to leave marks on my arms sometimes; but as soon as he grew in the adult teeth, all of that stopped and he became very soft-mouthed; and remains a very friendly dog now, some 8 years later. He does like to mouth me occasionally, but not nip.
Do you know anything about your new pup's background? How long did he spend with his mother and littermates (a pup staying with his mother after weaning might have a better chance at getting a good start on Bite Inhibition, since Mama Dog is not going to put up with the play-biting for long)? Be patient and consistent; take your pup to Puppy Kindergarten if there is a good one in the area; investigate possibilities for starting Basic Obedience class before too many months go by (and of course tell any teacher before you pay for the class about the pup's deafness). Deaf dogs can make great pets from what I've seen, with proper training.
She's not my first puppy Regjna. I'm middle-aged and always have two or three dogs at a time. She makes number three, this time. Puppies do nip, but usually they can hear a strong "No!" or hear another dog growl when they bite too hard and she can't. She was driven up in a rescue wagon to Ann Arbor from one of the high kill shelters down south, so no background whatsoever. She was one of 40 puppies that came in. She's a little pistol, too. She definitely has dachshund in her and I think jack russell, too, but she has markings like a dalmation. I've always had bigger dogs - pitbull, great dane, GSP, doberman mix, to name a few - and she seems to have quite a different kind of energy. In just a week she knows she at least has to pretend to pee when she goes outside, before she can come back in. Oftentimes 3 minutes later she goes on the floor. Again, no doesn't work, so if we're on the wood floor I stomp my foot to get her attention. I know it's all puppy stuff, which is stressful anyhow (at least to me), but the deafness adds another layer. With all that said, I love her dearly and am glad she landed with us.
Anyhow, thank you all for the advice and if you celebrate Christmas have a wonderful day!
Not to minimize the challenges you face, but I have always said dogs have "selective deafness", anyway. I am reminded of that old Far Side cartoon, "What dogs hear", where the owner is yelling at his dog, "Ginger", and all Ginger hears is "Blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah, Ginger..."
Good luck with the little girl. It sounds like she landed in the perfect home. Love the description of her at least pretending to pee when you take her outside!
ive worked with a lot of deafies...
and honestly found them EASIER to train than hearing dogs...dogs pick up hand signals and body language MUCH quicker than words...
it takes the huans longer to pick it up lol.
given you are a hearing person I suggest still using words with your hand signals...it sounds odd to speak to a dog that cant hear you...but by saying the signal outloud you convey the body posture to yourself better...as hearing humans we are so used to HEARING an action that it helps to sy it for ourselves.
for nipping I always used the same rule...
teeth on skin = all fun stop...
for a deaf dog the simplest way for that is to stop the game cross your arms and turn your back...say NOPE if you need to to convey a displeased posture (no shouting no looing, no bullying, just an "oooopppps you screwed up, try again" kind of nope give the pup a second to refocus then offer the toy she can bite...every time teeth come close to skin, rinse and repeat, dogs quickly get the "ooooo eeth on skin = all fun stops" rule...if she shows no interest in the alternative toy, the game stops completely try redirecting to a game of fetch or if pup is super excitable, ending the game completely and doing a short time out.
my other suggestion is to make sure EVERYONE in the house learns the same hand signals..they don't have to be official signals, you can make up signals that will work for you...BUT...they MUST be consistent...if someone is showing her a flat hand to say wait and someone else is showing her a flat hand to say paw...shes going to get confused, so everyone needs topick and stick to the signals.
don't be surprised if this dog outlearns every other dog you've ever had, without words the language barrier between the 2 of you is thinner and shes going to learn these signals super fast as long as its fun.
obviously...
RECAL is impossible without some kind of isable or sensation signal...you might want to look into a vibrating collar if you plan on doing off leash work outside of your own yard or when you need a reliable recal....for in the yard I also used the security light for bedtime call in....flicker the light a few times and they knew it was time for bed.
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I am reminded of that old Far Side cartoon, "What dogs hear", where the owner is yelling at his dog, "Ginger", and all Ginger hears is "Blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah, Ginger..."
