sweet_ceana Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Abby reacted to a noise! She attempted to nibble on my hand, and I made a squeely noise like you normally do with a puppy and she stopped and tilted her head and looked at me! Hooray! She is not completely deaf. I am going to test some higher pitched noises with her tomorrow. Is partial deafness common with merle X merle ? This is the first reaction to a noise we had in 24 hours! I am hoping she can hear whistles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Partial deafness is possible. Is there a vet near you who can do BAER testing? Then you would know for sure if she's unilaterally deaf or partially deaf in both ears, or what. I believe the BAER test can even tell you what dB range the dog should be able to hear in. And it's relatively inexpensive. I had two pups tested a couple of years ago and the cost was something like $40 each. Here is a list of sites that offer BAER testing. There is a practice listed for Phoenix, but it seems to be a specialty practice and so may be pricier than you want to deal with. It's worth a call though. Here is Louisiana State Univesity's deafness site, which has a number of links to reseources and information on deaf dogs and cats. And here's another site that appears upon quick perusal to explain deafness and how to recognize it, etc., fairly well. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dal & Mad's Mom Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 A Bc that we thought was deaf can actually hear really loud noises. Her adopters are currently using that to their advantage to train her like she is deaf assuming that age will take it toll eventually. We thought she was totally deaf since she wouldnt hear us even crawling over her as she slept but, I would guess she was tuning out the kennel noises to sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted January 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 I called the Phx location and left a message. I mentioned I was with ABCR so maybe they will give a resue a discount. She seems to be reacting more today, so I wonder if she just shut down the first 24 hours, or maybe she just isn't use to aknowledging noises for some reason. I hesitate to think she was just ignoring everything since she didn't even act like she could hear the industrial carpet cleaner or hair dryer. Usually something that loud would have at least made her pause curiously even for just a moment. ETA: She is now responding when we snap our fingers behind her ears, and I called her name and she looked at me! I think Miss Abby may have been in so much shock (from the shelter, to temp holding to our house all in one day) that she just shut down yesterday. Thank you all so much! Depending on the price I may just get her BAER tested any way given her obvious breeding past and will power over her ears . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy Bovee Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 If she is only partially deaf there is a lot you can do! I have a unilaterally deaf bc with just a bit of hearing in one ear. I have trained him to respond to the pager buzz of an e collar like his name - just to get his attention for further instructions. I've been working on getting a reasonable walkie-talkie attached to his withers so he can do sheepherding from more of a distance. If you saw the results of his Baer tests, you wouldn't imagine he can hear as much as he can. High whistles for more than 100 yards and low sounds about 100 feet. Nancy Bovee & Gus I called the Phx location and left a message. I mentioned I was with ABCR so maybe they will give a resue a discount. She seems to be reacting more today, so I wonder if she just shut down the first 24 hours, or maybe she just isn't use to aknowledging noises for some reason. I hesitate to think she was just ignoring everything since she didn't even act like she could hear the industrial carpet cleaner or hair dryer. Usually something that loud would have at least made her pause curiously even for just a moment.ETA: She is now responding when we snap our fingers behind her ears, and I called her name and she looked at me! I think Miss Abby may have been in so much shock (from the shelter, to temp holding to our house all in one day) that she just shut down yesterday. Thank you all so much! Depending on the price I may just get her BAER tested any way given her obvious breeding past and will power over her ears . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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