Deaf Border Collie

[whippets]

My mums friends daughter brought a border collie from the dogs home yesterday. They suspect it has been abused because it has alot of scars on its body and it a nervous wreck and wees every time she touches it.

They also say it is not house trained or lead trained at its six months old!

However my mum got a txt earlier off her friend saying they think its deaf they said they thought it might be because it wasnt responding to them so the were it different rooms and made noises and they said it didnt respond.

They said they are going to ask the vet check for them when they take it for its injection but they need to wait for the card to come.

Im worried that they find it too much and end up taking it back though which i cant bear the thought of because chances are not many people will want a deaf dog and i cant bear the thought if it being put to sleep

so anyway what i wnated to ask is do any of you have any experience with dead=f dogs? what happened? how do you cope?

thanks!

 

[Bedlam]

not unknown in border collies im afraid, if the mother & father where both merles its even more likely.

 

[FeeFee]

Yes, I was going to ask about the colour. If it is a merle OR has a lot of white on the face that can mean an increased chance of deafness.

It is also possible that if the dog has been abused and has perhaps never lived in a house before that it is coping by going into a sort of sensory shut-down. I've known this happen with traumatised dogs and it is their way of protecting themselves from emotional overload. It may all settle down in a few days with patience and gentle treatment.

If the dog does turn out to be deaf, I know a couple of people with deaf collies who have worked wonders with them and who I'm sure would offer advice. I'd be happy to put your friend in touch with them.

 

[Patch]

Hi, I was asked if I could be of any help via another forum and I thought rather than wait to see if the owners found it I`d see if I could find this one so fwiw here I am

I have four deaf dogs, [ all rescues ], 3 are BCs [ whites, all double merles ], and my youngest is a BC x JRT pup. [ I also have two hearing dogs, also rescues, another BC and a Lurcher of BC x Saluki parentage ].

Until she passed away [ old age ], I had another deaf dog at the same time as my eldest deaf boys.

I will firstly agree with Fee Fee that a sensory shut down is very much a possibility from the description, the poor pup might have had a terrible time in which case will need a lot of gentle re-hab to bring him/her around. [ You kept saying `it` so I`ll just say `he` for ease for now ]

If he is indeed deaf, the very good news is that far from being a problem, a deaf dog can often be much easier to work with than a hearing dog :thumbsup:

The main reasons being a] they are less easily distracted than hearing dogs, and b] a deaf dog usually seeks interaction a lot more. Of course an abused / nervous dog may take a bit of time to start trusting but thats the norm with any dog which has had a tough time.

Of my four deaf dogs, all abuse cases to some degree, three of whom were severely physically abused :

one has been competing in agility for years, one is training in it now and will also be doing flyball, and my youngest will be doing agility when she`s old enough. My fourth deaf lad can`t do agility but thats because he is also a tripod and partially sighted so he has other less physical/speed orientated activities to work on instead.

So, for now until its known for definite if he is deaf or not, I would suggest trying a visual Clicker, [ using a torch as the marker instead of the sound of a clicker ], to start bringing him around without emphasis on physical contact initially, rewarding when the dog so much as glances in the owners direction by `marking` with a torch flash and gently rolling a treat or dropping one then walking away from it so the dog can go to the treats without feeling pressurised, a gentle way to build trust and positivity about the owners presence basically.

Whether he is deaf or not, at least 80% of all canine communication is visual anyway so lots of smiles, relaxed facial and body movements, no sudden moves, and still talking in a gentle voice, [ which makes facial expressions more natural ], will help toward easing the dog in to his new life

I`ll keep checking in for any further info on the dog and will be more than happy to help if you feel I can offer any guidance but the most important thing I can say right now is that deafness in dogs is absolutely not to be considered `daunting`, most people with a hearing dog only use 20% of the communication available but those of us with deaf dogs have the usual 80% to use straightaway 8) so if anything we have it a lot easier

But don`t tell too many people, they`ll all want a deaf dog - or four in my case

 

[posh totty]

what an interesting thread!! poor little mite going through all that , lets hope they decide to keep him and show him the love he deserves, also be great to hear of his progress and training on here and more from you patch too :thumbsup:

 

[Patch]

Hopefully some pictures will say more than words about how positive the outcome can be for even horrifically abused dogs, deaf or not.

This was my girl Silk when she was in rescue, she had been severely malnourished which affected her growth [ she will always look like a juvenile Collie ], she is pictured here shortly after her arrival at Wiccaweys from Limerick Animal Welfare, aged nearly a year old and weighing just 9 kilo`s so you can imagine how bad things were before she was saved by LAW

She was rescued from a gang of youths who had her in the middle of them while they beat her with sticks in the street `for a laugh`, how big of them :rant: to attack a deaf frightened little dog with not one ounce of flesh on her bones to protect her fragile frame from the blows, let alone the horrific mental trauma :'( [ And caused brain damage which makes it hard for her to concentrate yet she still gets there in the end, in fact she learned `Sit` in three minutes flat from start to finish and has maintained total consistancy on it ever since, once she has learned something she can retain it really well bless her ]

But has blossomed to now look like this :

I could show lots of photos of her learning / training, but this little video clip will hopefully demonstrate best of all that the Collie in question, with patience, understanding, and gentle handling, could come through it all too. Its a short vid of Silk simply playing with my youngest deaf girl, T`Akaya, [ who was also traumatised prior to rescue ], both enjoying a perfectlynormal life like any `normal` dogs do

If this little vid does`nt offer encouragement to people who feel deaf dogs, even badly traumatised ones, are too daunting a prospect or that all is hopeless, nothing will



Believe me, the rewards to be had of taking on a deaf dog are immense, and before anyone says how lucky they are or that I`m `special`for having mine, I`m not, not at all, mine really have been so much easier than hearing dogs, why do you think I have so many of them

 

[Evie]

:huggles:

Deaf dogs or not Patch, you are still special, no doubt about it!

 

[FeeFee]

:huggles: Deaf dogs or not Patch, you are still special, no doubt about it!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

I'd second that!

I've actually just seen the most adorable deaf pup for rehoming on another forum. She's 3/4 collie and 1/4 greyhound, 10 weeks old and the prettiest little thing you could imagine, so if anyone is inspired by Patch's experience with deaf dogs or knows of anyone who could provide a suitable home for this babe let me know and I'll PM you the link )

 

[kris]

Patch that story of Silk and her traumatic start to life and how she has blossomed since she came to live with you is a story that will live with me for a long time.just shows what love,care and determination will overcome.thanks for posting this.when you read such awful stories of animal cruelty its nice to hear the good things that are done by people who are just everyday normal people,not special trainers or anything,and what they can achieve with love. :huggles: