For a very good guide to all sorts of dog training processes and dog behavior challenges, I use and recommend Clickertraining ...that link goes to the description of this terrific ebook you download immediately, wherever you are! -- Rosana

Recently I posted an article written by Kate Stolle of Columbia, Missouri, giving tips on training deaf dogs, based on her own experiences with a deaf dog, Lilly. Here are more tips from Kate again. Also if you want books on deaf dog training, this link takes you a page on Dogwise with a bunch of good books on both blind and deaf dog training.

Kate says:

Kennel: we don’t kennel her very often but she knows that it is her safe zone. We have lined her kennel with old pillows off of our bed so it smells like us and an old blanket. She will burrow in-between the pillows and she feel safe there. We have gotten to the point with her that she has free roam of the house while we are gone. We just make sure that the door to her kennel is unlocked and slightly open. She has figured out how to open the kennel door with her paws and how to shut it surprisingly. Nine times out of ten when we come home she is in her kennel curled in a tiny ball.

If there is any real advice to training a deaf dog, it’s consistency. Make sure that you use the same commands over and over again and reward when they do what you want. One of the plus’ of having a deaf dog is that they can’t be distracted by noises when you are trying to train them like hearing dogs. I still talk to her and give verbal commands while I am signing to her. Now our other two hearing dogs know what the signs mean as well as hearing them!

Also, having a companion for your deaf dog is a great idea. It’s another dog to watch out for them and to let them play with. They seem very happy with another dog around. They are big into the buddy system.

It’s all in how you want to train them. What works for you and your dog. It’s trial and error.

I did some articles a while ago about deaf dog training, and now I have some more, this time from Kate Stolle, of Columbia, Missouri. She writes:

As for training tips:

• I highly recommend using a harness when you are getting your dog used to walking with you. It was so much easier for us to train Lilly with that than a regular leash. Now when she sees her harness being brought out she knows that it means she gets to go somewhere special: like camping or swimming.
• Persistance, Persistance, Persistance!!! Training a dog can be frustrating but it is even harder when your dog can’t hear the commands.
• We use some ASL sign language for her when we sign to her. Like the letter “T” for toilet which is making a fist and tucking your thumb under the pointer and middle finger and shake your fist at the dog.
• A bell attached to the door is very convenient, as a way she can get our attention. It is also a way for her to communicate with us and other people who may not know the signs we use for Lilly.
• The main thing that I was told is to figure out what works for you and your dog. You aren’t asking them to steal second base but simple, direct commands are easier for you and the deaf dog.
• Reward constantly. I have dog  treats everywhere, my car, the kitchen, my art studio, my husbands car, my office.
• I am constantly working with Lilly on new commands and old ones. Sit is a command that she doesn’t quite know yet.
• LOVE LOVE LOVE. Just because your deaf dog can’t hear doesn’t mean that they love any less or any differently than a dog that can hear. I admit we spoil Lilly constantly because of her deafness but she is the most loving and grateful dog.
• Some people use those laser pointer pens when they want to get their dogs attention,. We have never used one on Lilly other than for her to play with it. Usually I wave my arms above my head and the movement attracts her attention.
• We do flip the lights off and on when she is outside at night. When we do that she knows it is time to come in. This was a fast learning process for her. We would flick the lights off and on and when she would come to the door we would give her a treat and hug her and pet her.
• You would be surprised how much the dog respond to our facial expressions and body language. Now all I have to do is give Lilly a look and she knows she is doing something bad.  After my husbands mother died and we were so upset, Lilly was very affectionate and followed us everywhere, licking our ankles and giving us kisses. When we reprimand her or the other dogs I make sure to stand as tall as my 5ft2 will allow and puff my chest to make myself seem bigger and like I am in charge. Some people may not approve of the following but my father and I have done it for years with our dogs and they have always listened to us and ignored anyone else. If the dog is doing something bad and you tell them to stop and they keep doing it we pin the dogs on the floor and kneel over the top of them and hold their faces and look into their eyes and say “NO!” several times over and over in a loud commanding voice. I only did this with Lilly once or twice before she knew the look on my face. We call it ‘Alpha Dogging”. Soon the dog gets the point by the look on your face and the tone of your voice.
• Learn to walk away. When you are frustrated with the dog, walk away. Training is difficult and I am not going to tell you any differently.  It takes time and patience like with any dog but they need more because they simply can’t hear you.  I would walk away from Lilly when she made me angry and I would work on my jewelry or walk around the outside of the house or anything to calm down. They will see they have irritated you and they will continue to do whatever rotten thing they have done because they see it has gotten your attention. But not the kind of attention you want to give them.

Want to know more about deaf dogs? Check this category on my category list, which is on the right side of the page. Also, Dogwise offers books on deaf dog training.

Training deaf dogs is something I’ve written about before, not because I have ever done it but because I’ve heard from some owners of deaf dogs. Recently I got an email from Becky, whose deaf dog Otis you can see in a previous article. He’s grown up a lot since then.

Becky can hardly write about Otis without exclaiming about how smart he is! She writes:

I had a gum ball machine here that held dog treats and instead of money going into it, it has a lever for the dog to use his paw to push down. Then dog treats fall out the hole, like gum balls would fall out of a machine for humans. This machine has been in my basement for several years, ever since two dogs I had before had died. The other dogs here are afraid of it. SO I had decided to give it away. I even had it in the box to go to Goodwill, but I kept taking it out as I did not have the heart to get rid of it.

I went and picked up the round treats from the pet store and filled it up. It took Otis about two hours to learn this. We had to take breaks while learning as Otis has had a very bad temper ever since he was a pup. I showed him what to do. He got where the treat came out from but did not quite figure what to do to make the treats come out. Then he started smacking the machine around with his paw because he was so mad that he could not figure out how to get the treats to come out.

SO after a few breaks and two hours he finally got it to work on his own.

I do enjoy stories about how “differently abled” dogs manage in this world. I recently had a first-hand taste of what it’s like not to hear well, because for nearly two months I had a persistent ear infection which at the worst cut the hearing in my left ear down to about half of what I’m used to, giving me loud tinnitus in that ear to boot. Happily, I am completely back to normal, but it was quite a learning experience. I have a new compassion for the hard of hearing, of whatever species! Of course, I was going without a faculty that I was used to having, where Otis seems to do just fine in the world he has always known.

If you happen to have a deaf dog, or know of one, here’s a page where I review a couple of books about living with and training deaf dogs.

[tags]deaf dogs, training deaf dogs[/tags]

Recently (on August 30) I blogged about Otis, a deaf dog being trained by his owner, to very good effect. Becky (from Ohio) and I have exchanged further emails and here is her latest update. There’s a picture of Otis and Buster at the bottom of this writing.

This is our 1st deaf dog but he is a lot of fun. I will say to anyone do not be afraid at all to adopt a deaf dog. They are really just like a hearing dog but it may take more time to teach them, specially if you do not have a hearing dog already in the house.

The other dog is our 3 year old named Buster. He’s a rescue who has helped a lot with training Otis. It is really funny — it is a “monkey see monkey do” thing with these 2 dogs.

When Otis was just 5 months old he won a blue ribbon at the animal charity dogs show of Youngstown, Ohio for best tricks. He is very good mannered when out around people. In my experience with this deaf dog it really takes a lot of treats to teach him, but he learns fast. We use pieces of his food rather than treats.

He now knows how to stay with pushing our hand towards him.

After we fill his dish he knows where he eats at and just sits down in his spot before we give him his food. He also has learned when we put a hand up going back and forth waving at him that it means NO!

When we get ice out of the freezer for our drinks he sits and waits for his ice cube too. He loves them and thinks one is a real treat!

Also we had to take the 40-lb plastic containers of dog food downstairs as Otis had watched us open them to feed him and he was opening them to get his own food. One day we came home and the container of food was on the other side of the room dumped out on the dog bed. This container had at least 30 lbs of food in it.

We had a plastic kids’ gate between our kitchen and living room.Otis had watched us open it to get through and finally he had that down also and was opening the gate himself.

This deaf dog is really smart, more so than many hearing dogs!

Want to know more? Dogwise offers books on training deaf dogs.