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Hi,
I am seriously wondering if my 2 year old
male is deaf. He is my second Pyr. My first was a female who was a very
alert watchdog and was quite a barker. My boy never barks, which
for a Pyr, seems odd to me (although I have no experience with
males). The thing that really makes me wonder if he might be deaf is that
I can walk right up behind him outdoors (even on snow or leaves), and when he
turns around he seems startled to see me there. Yesterday he was
asleep in his kennel outdoors when I returned from an errand. I drove onto
the property right up close to the house, got out and slammed the car door,
opened and closed the gate...and he never even lifted his head. I walked
over to the kennel while calling his name and jingling my keys....no reaction..
he's still asleep! I actually stood right next to him calling him before he
woke up...and again he appeared startled to see me standing there. I'd
understand that if he was 10...but not 2!
He has had chronic ear infections
since he was a puppy, and I'm constantly cleaning and putting antibiotic
ointment in his ears. The other reason that I suspect deafness is
that I have been so frustrated with him for the past couple
of months as he has essentially been either ignoring or doing the
opposite of whatever we say. Outdoors, you can call him until you're
blue in the face and he never even turns around. I thought he was
just being stubborn, but now I think he might actually be deaf! We
tried calling him from a room indoors where he couldn't see us a couple of
months ago because we suspected that he had some hearing problems then, and he
did come to us at that time, but now he seems worse. Our rural vet does not
have the equipment to confirm our suspicions, and could only suggest that
we take him to a specialist where they would have to knock him out and hook
him up to some machine via electrodes to test his hearing. My feeling is
that doing that to him wouldn't change anything for him..so why do
it? Does anyone have any advice on how
to communicate effectively with a deaf
dog?
Thanks!
Beth & Worf (GP), Kali (GSD) & Kira
(Pug)
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