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Commands for a Deaf TD

The Service and Therapy Dog forum is for all service and therapy dogs regardless of whether or not their status is legally defined by federal or state law, how they are trained, or whether or not they are "certified." Posts questioning or disputing a person's need for a service or therapy dog, the validity of a person's service or therapy dog, or the dog's ability to do the work of a service or therapy dog are not permitted in this forum. Please keep discussions fun, friendly, and helpful at all times.

  
Jesse

Don\'t Give Up		 
 
Barked: Sun Sep 9, '12 3:41pm PST 
I got some sad news a few days ago. My Jesse is losing his hearing. Vet thinks in a few yrs he will be completely deaf. I didn't get Jesse when he was a puppy and when I got him he was already command trained (basics). I taught him a few extras but they are all vocal. Since Jesse is a TD, I use those commands depending on what facility we are at. My question is how can I start to teach him to respond to hand cues? I've never trained a dog with hand signals it has always been verbal. I want to start now so that when he loses his hearing I will still be able to communicate with him. Also my biggest worry is his recall. He has an excellent recall. I call he comes no matter what. If he can't hear me what are some suggestions as to how to teach him to come to me?? any advice would be great.
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Scooter

Work hard; Play- harder.		 
 
Barked: Sun Sep 9, '12 3:52pm PST 
Some people use bird dog e-collars that have a vibrate feature. They teach the dog that the vibration means stop whatever your doing and come to you. For other commands, you'll need to decide what hand signal you want to use (or go with the pre-established common signs) then you give it then say the command. He'll pick up on it with repetition.

You may have to re-evaluate his ability to actually participate in therapy work as his hearing loss progresses.
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Bobby

972702		 
 
Barked: Mon Sep 10, '12 8:02am PST 
I have a hearing which are trained with hand signals along with voice. Since your dog is totally deal yet start training hand signals
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Czarka, CGC- UJJ

Why walk when- you can run?
 
 
Barked: Tue Sep 11, '12 8:51am PST 
You need a 'look at me' command... so a vibrating e-collar is a great idea. Otherwise, your dog is far better tuned to read what you are saying via posture, motion and gesture than via spoken word.

In the obedience world, non-verbal control of your dog is considered more advanced. That is NOT because it's harder for the dog to understand laugh out loud We have a hard time throwing consistent signals... making it hard for our pup, that is reading our posture and motions, to sort out just what we are trying to communicate. Make your signals bold and consistent... but be aware of your whole body posture and movement. Your pup will be impressed at the clarity of you communication.
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