deafness

Hi, I'm new to this board, but certainly not new to dogs! Pits are my passion; I currently have two purebreds, four mixes, one pure rott and a little football with legs...who thinks he is master of the universe. My current issue is with my deaf, white pit. I'd just like to throw this out to anyone else who has a deaf dog and ask what their experiences have been. Don't get me wrong, this is a great dog...however he can also be described as doggy retarded...his social skills with other dogs sucks, he's not at all aggressive (wouldn't own one that was) but he does bring it on himself. And when a new dog nails him all he usually does is whine and bark. My co-workers (professional animal tender) thought I was nuts for adopting a deaf 9 month old pit (with mast cell cancer), but it's been 2 years now and he's doing fine....but, weird. Anyone else have experience with deaf dogs?

Austin (and Zeusiepooh's) Mom

 

My grandmother had a dog that was deaf, not a pit unfortunaly, but deaf none the less. In my opinion it tended to bark in seek of attention or to show discomfort also it wanted to show some aggression so it wouldn't seem weak to the other dogs. I really commend you for taking on this pit with disabilities. I would like to own a solid white pit but have heard they often are born with disabilites. Also WELCOME TO THE SITE!

 

Welcome to the site!! My girlfriend has a partially deaf Australian Cattle dog. We first found out she had a hearing problem when she couldn't quite locate us when we called her name.We also realized that she had a black spot above one of her ears and tended to favor that ear. But deafness doesn't stop this dog. On top of being super high energy 24/7, when you ask her questions (like if she wants to go out or wants a treat), she will respond with whines and whimpers. But it seems that every noise she makes is super loud. We assume this is due to her not being able to have any pitch control. When we first took her to the dog park, she didn't know what to do. And any dog that came near her, she would try to attack. It's funny though, the word "attack" doesn't really do her behavior justice. She would whimper and run at the dog and chomp her teeth together (I don't think she ever made contact with another dog). We figure that she can't hear the dogs coming up to sniff her so she gets scared. For a while we were looking into a vibrating collar, but the one we wanted to get (waterproof and all) was a little out of our price range. So instead we got a silent whistle, which she can hear, and hope to train her with that pretty soon. Here is a website my girlfriend found that has helped her out a lot. http://www.deafdogs.org/

Sorry but I don't know too much else. If you want to pm me or e-mail me or anything, go ahead and I have my girlfriend get back to you. Good luck!

 

Wow, that sounds soooo like my Austin!!! He, too, is way, way loud! No volume control. And he barks to get what he wants, big, barrel chested barks. He'll come stare at me , bark, run to the pantry and bark...wants a chewie, dinner, snack. And he whines at the door to go out, *and* my african grey has learned to fake me out and imitate this whine so I get up, go to the door, and can almost hear her chuckling...ha, ha gotcha.

I have been to the deaf dog site. Learned some great stuff. I use a lot of hand signals with him and have just naturally incorporated this into training my other guys. He does one really cool thing which is when we're out on long hikes (or if he is leahed) all I have to do is point in the direction I want him to go. He doesn't need to be leashed when we're in the boonies, but MUST be leashed in town. He freaks out! I think all of the movement startles him.

And I never, ever take him to the dog park. He just has no social skills. He will stand perfectly erect, head on, staring at another dog and do his barrel chested bark...which always gets him nailed. Then he whines and looks to me for comfort and I can hear him thinking, why'd he do that to me? And this dog weighs 90+ pounds!!

None of my other dogs (except my latest adoption a pit/rottxc pup that I fostered) will play with him. This is the very first dog who ever played with him and it is sooo good to watch.

He also has NO tail...none, not even a nub. Don't know why, possibly removed before I got him because of the cancer. Which, sadly, is back.

He came through the shelter SEVEN!! times before I gave in and took him home...forever. I rarely, rarely approve adult, male, intact pits being adopted out (ALL animals at our shelter are spayed/neutered prior to release though), but he was adopted out 4 times before I took him. He just has absolutely no aggression and is very affectionate. There is NO gameness in this dog. I can even let my pet rat down around him and he's fine, curious but not gamey. He has never even chased my cats or harrassed my parrots (who are out of their cages when we are home)...unlike a few of my other guys.

This is a great dog...even if he is a little weird.

BarbH

 

I have a partial deaf white pit.The deafness comes from the gene that produces the white.She to barks up a storm and is quite annoying at times.She is a good dog though.We think she was completely deaf as a pup and gained some of her hearing as got older.She is way more rowdy than my other pits.Bless her heart she is dumb as rocks but very loving.I have talked to a few people that have raised and breed white pits and they say its genetics.Who knows.Keep me posted on how your doggie does.

 

Yes, it is genetic and connected to the genes that produce white, merle and spotted coats. They are actually missing the little hairs inside the ears that vibrate. Nearly 20% of Dals have some level of hearing loss. I was able to spot his deafness in the kennels right away because he wasn't barking and he was sleeping with his back to the kennel door. They NEVER do that unless there is some deafness.

Austin's activity level is quite below that of my other dogs. He's a bit of a slug.

Barb