gutted, think my pup is deaf...

[Guest FTBBTH]

the pups now 13 week old, ive been walking him for about 2 weeks and he never has listened and the amount of times ive had to go looking for him in woods etc, is crazy. he isnt fritened of hoover or loud noises he simply doesnt hear them, he was turning out to be a great pup retrieving to hand the lot! but if hes deaf im afraid if i keep him and he gets lost at work i wont be able to find him.

 

but sometimes he seems to hear you, and he can growl and tone the pitch up and down, bark etc,and he has learned from being walked around the terriers bushing that when they scream a rabbit is due, so i dont know if he is deaf, numb, or just plainly ignorant, or maybe, hopefully has an ear infection which can be sorted, im taking him to the vets too find out, but if he is deaf i dont know if i should keep him as a pet or find a good pet home with alot of time for him.

 

thanks for any advice!

[Guest FTBBTH]

any one got any advise please?

[deadlyshot 25]

surely if your wanting to work him and he is deaf i think that he will just get on your nerves imo prob better to let some one who got time for him atb

[hedz31 1,308]

if its got saluki in it its probably normal there all deaf and folk take there ignorance for deafness

[6pack 60]

You can have his hearing tested. It's called BEAR testing. Simple procedure involves light sedation and electrodes placed just under the skin and they measure what hearing the dog may have in each ear. It could be that some tones or volumes can't be heard, but others can. This can just mean whistle training instead of vocal.

It's not the be all and end all, and deaf dogs are really quite easy to train, just takes a little more time and repetition. Hand signals come in handy when you need to be quiet too

[fresh earth 47]

i rarely talk to my dogs while ferreting its all hand signals pointing for direction stop etc . As stated alot of saluki based lurchers choose not to listen in my experience most grow out of this with the proper training . Surely youl know if the pups responding to different tones get a sqeeker toy a whistlle whatevers lyin around and see whether you get any sort of response .

[MOO 730]

AYE

[brookie 1,193]

if its got saluki in it its probably normal there all deaf and folk take there ignorance for deafness

spot on there mate .they are so ignorant those salukies youd think they were deaf .i wouldnt keep one myself

[alsh 4]

Ive Had a freind with the same problem in the past with his old Parti coloured whippet, You may like to know it is possible to train him to return to heel with the use of an e-Collar and a lil extra training. Hope this is of some help to you

 

Alan

[skycat 6,174]

It's the easiest thing in the world to tell if a dog is deaf or not. Put it somewhere quiet with no distractions, and either drop a tin on the ground behind it when it isn't looking at you, or blow a whistle, pop a blown up crisp packet, anything which is an unusual sound, not a noise it hears all the time. Make sure the pup isn't looking at you and preferably not even aware of your presence. If the pup reacts then it ain't deaf!

 

Of course there's degrees of deafness, but it is more predominant in white dogs, which isn't to say that every white dog is deaf, just that it is more common in white dogs.

[Guest FTBBTH]

thanks everyone for the great advice, im getting a BEAR test on him, and im keeping him, ive really taken to the dog and he is taking to hand signals fast such as flat hand stop, pull hand towards you come back, i havent tried a whistle, but he responds to rabbits squeeling, he has seen the other lurchers bring back rabbits squeeling and that really gets him going, also today i was watching him lift his ears and tilt his head, im hoping its just the saluki in him which is making him dosile, but thats a big hope, and thanks skycat, ill definately try what you have said