How To Tell If My Dog Is Going Deaf?

[Lady Flying Furball]

So I am beginning to suspect Tonka who is ten is losing his hearing. He frequently misses me moving around, which once upon a time he was onto like a shot.

Is there any method to confirm this with more certainty. I wish I could ask him :)

Edited September 9, 2015 by Lady Flying Furball

[The Spotted Devil]

Shake the biscuit jar when he's asleep :D You can BAER test I guess but the former would be my first option with an older dog.

Edited September 9, 2015 by The Spotted Devil

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

yup, open the fridge, get the yogurt tub out and take the lid off.

If the dog is not there - deafness is a possibility.

Drop a potato crisp on the floor? good hearing - can hear chip land on carpet. Ok hearing, can hear chip land on tiles...

[PossumCorner]

LFF if you are a tiny bit suspicious he is losing his hearing you are probably right. Frodo's first indication was the same - just not as instantly responsive to out-of-sight movement. It was a very quick escalation to obvious signs. His eyesight is now very faded so neither voice nor hand-signal training are of any use. For teaching an old dog new tricks he is amazing, and has sussed what is wanted (or advised) by touch for walk ahead, turn, stop etc. He went through a very dependent and clingey stage but now has adjusted and copes fairly happily, just barks if he gets lost between rooms or needs to go outside. (He is about 14).

[Scottsmum]

Guins ultimate test was liver treats in a Tupperware container.... the day she dudnt come tearing through the house we knew she was deaf.

We reverted back to hand signals, clapping to get her attention (sone situations only ) stomping & touching her bed or knocking on something to wake her up (never touching until she was aware we were there or a bit more awake) or get her attention & spent 3-4 years living quite easily like this.

[Boronia]

Daisy is deaf so if I need to get her attention when she is asleep I either stomp the floor or blow on the hair on her head or tummy, if I touch her, even gently, when she is asleep it does startle her.

Signing makes a great difference, I had taken her to obedience a few years back and we were taught basic commands by voice and signing so this was a help when voice no longer works.

[tdierikx]

I had a totally deaf foster pup once... hard work unlearning all of the things we think we know about getting their attention... lol!

Zeddy was starting to go a bit deaf before she passed... I think it was some tone/pitch issue though, as she could still hear the food bucket opening from the other end of the house.

She was also a bit night blind, but could see fine during the day. Not too shabby for a girl who reached the grand old age of 15 and 11 months.

T.

[BarbedWire]

Daisy is deaf so if I need to get her attention when she is asleep I either stomp the floor or blow on the hair on her head or tummy, if I touch her, even gently, when she is asleep it does startle her.

As someone who has a hearing loss I do like this approach. Deaf dogs/people are easily startled.

[Sheridan]

A friend's dog went deaf after an epileptic fit. She was going to Baer test to make sure and then her hearing returned.

[huga]

Sid is deaf. I had my suspicions and did a few basic tests - rattling his food bowl was one of them. One day when he was asleep I banged two pots together and there was no reaction. He stopped coming when he was called and I noticed Lola would jump on him if she wanted him to get up when I called them to come in :laugh: Are the other dogs treating him differently?

It's not a big deal really, I forget with Sid and still chat away to him. I just have to watch when we're out that other dogs don't approach him from behind. He startles a bit with us occasionally, but a good way to wake them is to roll a ball towards them or a soft toy. He very intently watches everyones faces for direction.

[Lady Flying Furball]

Thanks for all your replies. I do think he might be in the first stages of it as it generally is a delayed noticing. He certainly hears the cat scratching the carpet during the night and reacts with an annoyed growl so I think it is not too extreme right now but just noticeable compared to how he was. I will keep a close eye on it, with intermittent tests as many of you have described.

[huga]

He was BAER tested as a pup because he's white and his hearing was fine. He lost it after a very deep middle ear infection.

[Christina]

Its easy to tell when they are totally deaf its when they are gradually losing it that its hard.

My rescue kitten is totally deaf & I picked that up instantly but it took a while longer with my 13 year old dog & I now suspect my 10 year is losing some hearing too.

The older dog was not coming in at night after I let him out for the last piddle. It was only when I shined the torch to find him that he realised I wanted him in. He cant hear me call from far away however he did jump when I clapped my hands behind him so I know its starting to fade.

The younger girl is a deep sleeper so that threw me out a little at first however when I woke her a few times she was startled & I have noticed that she doesn't always obey as quickly or respond to my voice as much. She has growled a couple of times when I have gone to move her her off my chair when she was in that half awake, half asleep phase, which is new, so now I clap or bang the chair so she is wide awake & tell her to move which is working ok.

Its a gradual process & the early stages are easy to miss, same as in people really.

[disintegratus]

One of ours (bull arab x, not sure if it makes a difference but he's mostly white), is partially deaf. He picks up cues from the other dogs, but can be quite unsure of himself if they're not there to guide him (I feel really sorry for him and wish I had smarter dogs, it's mostly a case of the stupid leading the simple, with often infuriating/hilarious consequences!) He also responds well to hand signals, and he can hear some pitches, just not all of them and I haven't entirely worked out which ones he can hear so I sound like an absolute jackass when I'm trying to get his attention when I'm out of his line of sight.

He's never been tested, I figure it doesn't make a difference to us, we work around their needs anyway, and he's certainly not going anywhere any time soon!

[Bjelkier]

My Lab is going deaf. He's almost 13 so it's not too much of a shock and he's handled the decline really well. The only issue we have is getting his attention when he's asleep or down the back of the yard but he can still hear me calling him at dinner time lol

[Malamum]

Kira has gradually gone deaf over the last few years (she's 12) and she's at the point where she can't hear much at all. If I get her food out of the fridge and she is in the same room but with her back to me she doesn't know. I've also done the shake the treat jar test with her.

It doesn't seem to have impacted her too negatively though. We still talk to her as per usual and she seems to just watch our body language, facial expressions and hand signals for cues, i.e rather than telling her ok for things she looks to us to nod or wave our hand etc. The only real difference is we can't call her, so If we want her we have to go looking for her. It has scared the crap out of us a few times though when we get home from work and she is lying outside in the dark fast asleep and doesn't move until we are right on top of her.

It makes walks a lot easier though as if another dog is carrying on like a pork chop and barking at her, she has no idea unless they are in her direct line of sight so she just walks past oblivious, where as in the past she would have been reactive.