Deaf Dog Training

[Tazwell]

Has anybody had extensive experience with training a deaf dog? I'm just wondering what the best hand signals seem to be for training such dogs. I've had experience with only two, and my signals with them weren't consistent with each other-- I don't know which ones worked better. I've seen people use Sign language, and other use much more obvious signs. What would you use for Sit, Stay, Come, Down, Drop it, and even Leave it?

[lizzybeth727]

I don't have experience but I'm interested in others' opinions.... so bump.

[corgipower]

I worked with a woman who had rescued and trained many deaf dogs. It had pretty much become her specialty.

For sit, stay, come, down and heel, she used the traditional obedience competition signals. I don't know what was used for leave it. Drop it I think was just a hand out under the chin/object.

A pen light can be used in place of a clicker and a vibrating collar can be used to gain the dog's attention in place of a verbal calling of his name.

[lizzybeth727]

Originally Posted by corgipower

A pen light can be used in place of a clicker and a vibrating collar can be used to gain the dog's attention in place of a verbal calling of his name.

I've heard that some dogs can become obsessive about chasing lights if you encourage it.... If this happens (or in prevention of this happening) what are other markers you can use?

[corgipower]

Originally Posted by lizzybeth727

I've heard that some dogs can become obsessive about chasing lights if you encourage it.... If this happens (or in prevention of this happening) what are other markers you can use?

It shouldn't happen when the pen light is used as a clicker -- you're not keeping it on and moving it around in a way to entice chasing, just a quick flash to mark the behavior.

If such an issue were to happen, I don't know what else could be used LOL. I've never trained a deaf dog and the woman I worked with never encountered a problem with a light. I'm sure there's sufficient creativity on chaz to come up with alternates. It would have to be visual and easy to implement and unique enough to get the job done. I think the light might work similarly to a click in terms of how the brain responds though.

[SylviaJohns]

this is pretty interesting. maybe send him to professionals who can help him. it'd be quite hard for us especially if we really have bare backgrounds on teaching or training our dogs. goodluck!