Hi, I have just joined, having learnt lots from the website already! Poppy is 17months old, almost white and a bundle of confident, lovable naughtiness! She is totally deaf - diagnosed at 6 months - which means she gets away with a lot, though she is clever at learning sign language. Anyone else got a deaf lab? Are they very pale? (Deafness is commoner in white/pale dogs generally). She also seems to be growing out of the attacks of paroxysmal dyskinesia, she has had since 4 months old , which is wonderful.
Hello and welcome! Poppy has the sweetest expression, what a lovely dog. Deafness is closely correlated with white coats caused by specific genes, which don't appear in Labradors. When dogs have them, their white fur is pure white. So I think in Poppy's case her colour and deafness are a coincidence - but I'd love to hear more about the sign language commands she's learned though - dogs are amazing!
Thank you - especially for giving me the first sensible answer I have had about whether her paleness could be linked with her deafness! She has learnt some signs quicker than others (ha ha) as you might imagine, just like any pup." Sit" and "go flat" are easy. So is "dinner time"! " She usually cooperates with "Bedtime". "Come" is a bit more hit and miss, ( I have a "close by" and a "far away" version), depending on what she is doing - but she is still a pup and I am sure she understands it! "No" (some people say you don't need to teach this to deaf dogs this as they should be little angels anyway, but they obviously don't live in my world) she understands perfectly and it mainly works ! The main, most important thing was/is teaching her to check in/look at me, so we can maintain eye contact all the time or she can't see the signs. Many of the signs I use, people use with their hearing dogs, I know, but some signs I make up ( dogs don't have a common language, of course like ASL or BSL) which is fun - "dinner time" for example, for Poppy, is miming a knife and fork motion in front of my mouth!
