Colorado
Deaf Dogs
"Deaf Dogs teach us how to listen"
The number one thing to know about deaf dogs is they are DOGS first, Breed second, and Deaf third. All dogs are individuals and have their own personality traits no matter if they can hear or not. Training is no more difficult with a deaf dog than a hearing. The only difference is visual cues and markers instead of verbal ones. Ho-Bo Care only promotes positive reinforcement/force-free training. A common myth is that a deaf dog needs a shock collar to learn and that is not true. While you don’t need a “deaf dog trainer” you do need a trainer that doesn’t use aversive techniques and that understands nobody needs to specialize in “deaf dog training.”
Two things to try and remove from your thinking:
“I can’t adopt a deaf dog; I have never had one.” We never have anything until we do! Everything we have done in our lives has had a first. You don’t need deaf dog experience to adopt a deaf dog.
“Do deaf dogs (insert behavior here)?” When you think of that, change it to “Do hearing dogs do (insert behavior here).” Then think if that makes sense. Is it because a dog is deaf or hearing or is it because they are a dog?
