Author Topic: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf  (Read 6994 times)

w8m8

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How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« on: August 16, 2007, 09:49:15 AM »
Anyone have any ideas  ?

My dog is 13 years old and has had ear issues on and off forever

Loud noises also give off vibrations so that's not really helping figure it out

He despises the vet so putting him through added anxiety is the last thing I want to do

It's sad to think that he's just gone deaf he isn't the kind of guy that ignores people  :-[


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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2007, 10:00:15 AM »
Maybe Vet will have some ideas, but if he is facing the other way and you call his name does he respond?   Does he perk his head up at birds or dogs barking or other sounds?


knny187

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2007, 10:28:05 AM »
Well, I'm not an expert like Vet...but I have had a lot of dogs/cats that got old & either became deaf or blind in their old age.  Btw...I've also lost alot of my own hearing over the years & was born with bad ears.

Sure....sounds put out vibrations or sound waves...but when your deaf...you start to lose the ability in the inner ear to receive clearly those vibrations/waves. 

I knew my one dog growing up was always very responsive to my whistle.  Slowly as she got older...my whistle became non responsive.  So...I started knocking on the door or the wall.  The vibrations from tapping on the wall or the door can be felt through the floor boards & she could feel that vibrations through her feet.

The best thing I would do to judge their hearing is wait till they fell asleep or were sitting/looking away from me.  Go through a series of different noises from soft to loud...from high pitch clicks, to low volume clunks.  I also would shake a can of treats or make the noise of getting their favorite food.  I had one dog that always appeared hard of hearing but ALWAYS responded to food even when dead in sleep.  I just realized he was plain old stubborn.

emn1964

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2007, 10:37:55 AM »
Dogs also get something like alzheimers disease.  If you call the dog and it doesn't respond, or if it seems to ignore you, less interaction, seems disoriented, it may be this instead of hearing loss.

knny is right about the vibrations.  hearing is the ear's ability to perceive and translate sound waves into sound .  hearing loss occurs when you can no longer perceive or translate the sound waves.

w8m8

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2007, 08:40:43 AM »
Thank you all :)

I spent some time last evening trying these suggestions

He has no response when he's called inside or outside of the house , whistle included if he's not looking at me

I tried inside the house to get his attention by calling him when he was out of sight , only around the corner !! nothing not even a twitch


I tried different types of sounds , he's either got that canine version of Alzheimers or his hearing is going bad

he's a very smart guy so I'm going to attempt some training of hand signals

Thank you again for your help and suggestions


SinCitysmallGUY

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2007, 09:31:06 AM »
Thank you all :)

I spent some time last evening trying these suggestions

He has no response when he's called inside or outside of the house , whistle included if he's not looking at me

I tried inside the house to get his attention by calling him when he was out of sight , only around the corner !! nothing not even a twitch


I tried different types of sounds , he's either got that canine version of Alzheimers or his hearing is going bad

he's a very smart guy so I'm going to attempt some training of hand signals

Thank you again for your help and suggestions



When I started training Chaos and Chuka I used hand singals. One suggestion use treats to keep his attention. A puppies and a deaf dogs attention span are similar.. But a nice treat will keep attention. I don't give it to them until after about 6 or 7 attempts... I am sure you know what your doing.. Best of luck...

Princess L

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2007, 08:39:03 PM »
he's either got that canine version of Alzheimers or his hearing is going bad


Startling them after they've gone deaf is probably the most stressful for them.  Do your best not to startle him out of a sleep or by coming up to him from behind.  You may need to become "heavy footed".  Doggie dementia is a little different.  Often times they'll roam in the middle of the night and sometimes just stand and stare into corners.  Sometimes they don't even recognize their owners.  :'(
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emn1964

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2007, 08:06:33 AM »

Startling them after they've gone deaf is probably the most stressful for them.  Do your best not to startle him out of a sleep or by coming up to him from behind.  You may need to become "heavy footed".  Doggie dementia is a little different.  Often times they'll roam in the middle of the night and sometimes just stand and stare into corners.  Sometimes they don't even recognize their owners.  :'(


My oldest golden (13 yrs.) has doggie dementia.  I took her to the vet because I thought she was going deaf. 

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2007, 09:10:30 AM »
Anyone have any ideas  ?

My dog is 13 years old and has had ear issues on and off forever

Loud noises also give off vibrations so that's not really helping figure it out

He despises the vet so putting him through added anxiety is the last thing I want to do

It's sad to think that he's just gone deaf he isn't the kind of guy that ignores people  :-[




it costs a little more but there are many vets that make house calls... mine does for my cat

w8m8

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2007, 07:59:50 AM »
Thanks to all again

I did call and ask my vet's office for that service but they won't budge

All is going well though , he seems to be understanding the hand signals really very well he has such great learning skills it's hard to think he's old and a little demented

I do think it may be a combination of some hearing loss and some dementia he does things like Princess posted

he wanders around the room for a while then stops and stares at "nothing" for a few minutes

I always figured he was bored

thank you again WOOO that was something I hadn't thought of  ;)
I like to say   AHA  good idea !!

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2007, 09:03:41 AM »
Well, I'm not an expert like Vet...but I have had a lot of dogs/cats that got old & either became deaf or blind in their old age.  Btw...I've also lost alot of my own hearing over the years & was born with bad ears.

Sure....sounds put out vibrations or sound waves...but when your deaf...you start to lose the ability in the inner ear to receive clearly those vibrations/waves. 

I knew my one dog growing up was always very responsive to my whistle.  Slowly as she got older...my whistle became non responsive.  So...I started knocking on the door or the wall.  The vibrations from tapping on the wall or the door can be felt through the floor boards & she could feel that vibrations through her feet.

The best thing I would do to judge their hearing is wait till they fell asleep or were sitting/looking away from me.  Go through a series of different noises from soft to loud...from high pitch clicks, to low volume clunks.  I also would shake a can of treats or make the noise of getting their favorite food.  I had one dog that always appeared hard of hearing but ALWAYS responded to food even when dead in sleep.  I just realized he was plain old stubborn.

What?
X

Princess L

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2007, 12:33:20 PM »
I believe it's called Canine Cognitive Dysfunction and I also think there's a medication that's been shown to help.  I don't remember if it was Anipryl or Melatonin.  ~flower~ may recall  ??? because we both listened to the same show on line.  I'll do some digging later and see what I come up with.
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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2007, 12:45:09 PM »
Oh yeah!!  I think that was at the end right before I had to stop listening, maybe the 50 min mark or so?  Good catch!

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2007, 01:07:35 PM »
31min mark!!   Canine Cognitive Decline.

  Medication - Anipryl (Selegiline)

  Also was mentioned BD Diet? 

   found it, it's by Hills   :P    has antioxidants?  (a real food diet could probably produce the same, if not better, results  8) )

  You could talk to your vet about these options after health problems are ruled out.

 http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/minisite/minisite.hjsp?JSESSIONID=GFMjEeiMkTy128deTH2aegcHkLG6oKkN7b9ggU2mA0yMTg0qlQD0!853364830!167846924!7005!8005&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395184057&bmUID=1187318819355

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2007, 03:15:05 PM »
31min mark!!   Canine Cognitive Decline.

  Medication - Anipryl (Selegiline)

  Also was mentioned BD Diet? 

   found it, it's by Hills   :P    has antioxidants?  (a real food diet could probably produce the same, if not better, results  8) )

  You could talk to your vet about these options after health problems are ruled out.

 http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/minisite/minisite.hjsp?JSESSIONID=GFMjEeiMkTy128deTH2aegcHkLG6oKkN7b9ggU2mA0yMTg0qlQD0!853364830!167846924!7005!8005&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395184057&bmUID=1187318819355

You need to rule out deafness first.  Thats typically done as suggested in the thread---by monitoring the dogs response to various noises.   If there is a neurlogist close by you can do an EMG, but those aren't cheap.  they test the otic nerves directly. 

Canine cognitive dysfunction is much harder to diagnose and only should be diagnosed if all other diseases (including cancer) has been ruled out.  Flower I'm not sure what you are sayign about Selegiline and antioxidants.... selegiline is a MAO-B inhibitor which prevents the breakdown of dopamine within the brain.  This leads to anincrease in dopamine and in an ideal world an increase in cognitive function. 

Does it work?  yes, in dogs its prescribed for appropriately.  In those that its not prescribed for appropriately, its an expensive nothing.   

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #15 on: August 21, 2007, 03:22:03 PM »
Flower I'm not sure what you are sayign about Selegiline and antioxidants....


On the call in radio show with the vet that Princess L mentioned, these were what she said as possibilities for treating CCD.   The Anipryl and the BD diet by Hills.  On the link I posted for the BD diet they say it will help brain function in older dogs because of the antioxidants in it.

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #16 on: August 21, 2007, 08:31:11 PM »

He despises the vet so putting him through added anxiety is the last thing I want to do



I did call and ask my vet's office for that service but they won't budge


What about finding another vet?

When I got Scout I decided to try a vet that has recently opened a practice very close to me.  I did not get a warm fuzzy feeling from him, but figured maybe he was having a bad day.  After 3 subsequent visits and the same attitude, I went back to Keesha's vet, Dr. Amy.  Unfortunately, she is a long distance away, only works part time and will be retired (I'm guessing) by the time Scout reaches middle age  :-\



You need to rule out deafness first.  Thats typically done as suggested in the thread---by monitoring the dogs response to various noises. 

Vet,
Are you saying a deaf dog can exhibit the same symptoms of CCD but not have it?
:

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Re: How could you tell if your dog has gone deaf
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2007, 03:06:09 AM »
Thank you all :)

I spent some time last evening trying these suggestions

He has no response when he's called inside or outside of the house , whistle included if he's not looking at me

I tried inside the house to get his attention by calling him when he was out of sight , only around the corner !! nothing not even a twitch


I tried different types of sounds , he's either got that canine version of Alzheimers or his hearing is going bad

he's a very smart guy so I'm going to attempt some training of hand signals

Thank you again for your help and suggestions





either he's deaf.... or he's just ignoring you   :)