Deaf Dog Awareness Week is the last full week of every September. Dogs that are deaf in just one ear are more common, about 120,000, compared to 35,000 who are deaf in both ears.
Many breeds of dogs have a known incidence of deafness. Some of those breeds include Australian shepherd, Boston terrier, cocker spaniel, Dalmatian, German shepherd, Jack Russell terrier, Maltese, toy and miniature poodle, and West Highland white terrier. In most of these dogs, the deafness is hereditary and is associated with piebald or merle coat patterns. (Merle is a pattern in a dog’s coat. Merle comes in different colors and patterns. The merle gene creates mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat, blue or odd-colored eyes, and can affect skin pigment as well.) So, almost any dog with white in its fur or any “blue” dog is at least more likely to be deaf. Sometime the deafness is only in one ear, or only for some frequencies of sound.
Other dogs lose their hearing due to ear infections, medications, or long term exposure to loud noises. And most just lose it naturally with aging. My own Sheltie, Sarge, has gone mostly deaf in this 12 year of his life. Sometimes he can hear a sound, but can’t tell where it is coming from.
The only definite Testing is called a BAER test, and uses ear muffs and sticky sensors on their scalp to measure brain response to sounds. Other common testing that you can do at home include looking for a reaction to any sound that doesn’t create a vibration enough to feel. These might include a door bell or cell phone ringing, a squeak toy, jingling keys, or a vacuum cleaner that is out of sight, or even banging two metal pots.
If you suspect your dog has deafness, there isn’t a lot we as vets can do. If I diagnose or suspect it in young puppies, we stress no free roaming and teaching hand signals. Deaf dogs are stupid, they just can’t hear. And some genetic cases may also have some vision problems that require referral to an eye specialist. We will always look in the ear to make sure the ear drum isn’t ruptured. For the old timers like my dog, we just love him and try to use his other senses. Some people have used a vibrating collar (not a shock collar) to alert a dog to “check in” with the owner. My mom used to flash the lights to get our old dog’s attention when he went outside in the dark and wouldn’t come in. And most deaf dog can “feel” loud sounds just like we can feel a loud stereo, and sometimes we can use that to alert a deaf dog.
For more information:
http://www.deafdogs.org/faq/
http://www.pethealthnetwork.com/dog-health/dog-diseases-conditions-a-z/what-you-need-know-about-deaf-dogs
