My black lab is 14yrs old, and appears to be going deaf. Is this normal, and if so can anything be done?
Hi @Rhian I am sorry to read of you plight. It's fairly common with the advancing years. I don't know what can be done physiologically. But on the dog training front, if you can't stop the deterioration, then i would urge you to start now teaching hand signals for all the behaviour you wish to have on cue. It will be easier to do such while he still has some hearing. Thumb up on clinched hand is the equivalent of the marker word Yes. Use a torch (flashlight) for getting his attention when he is looking away from you. Or have him long line. Good luck
Unfortunately it does seem pretty common. Tilly is almost 13 and pretty much deaf now. She has had a history of ear infections, both yeast and bacteria. I don't know if they contributed or not. It is a nuisance when they are off lead, and not watching you. We somtimes use the vibrate mode on an E-collar to get Tilly's attention when she is off lead. Most of the time she just ambles along at her own pace and follows us. We have always had hand signals for sit, down and stay.
I was told that they lose the ability to tell what direction the sounds are coming from along with losing hearing. So maybe they can hear you calling but can't tell where you are. Important for hunting and off lead to be a little more vigilant. Fudge also had cataracts and could only see out little tunnels. I took to jumping around and waving my hands like a crazy lady when I called her. It worked, she found me. But the neighbors wondered for months what I was doing....
Both my elderly labs went deaf. Fortunately both had the had been hand signal trained from a young age so training was not an issue. I got mine checked at the vet it was due to age so you just carry on as normal. You have to make sure they can see you, you talk to them the same and smile and they understand the shape of your smile. They can become withdrawn confused and lonely but you can combat this. I tried to make mine feel included and loved and still part of everything. I would treat them everytime the looked at me and in the end they would look for me and stay close. They were both still active able to enjoy life. I learned to cope with their lack of hearing. You find away you both get over the initial shock and adjust. One of my dear dogs became partially sighted along with being deaf and we had to a different way of communicating. It's hard at first but it's fine because your dogs love you and you them. They can still have happy lives and enjoyed from ways to connect and be happy.
Hi my 13 year old girl went deaf about 18 months before we lost her. I completely agree with SwampDonkey, we did all that she's recommended with our girl and she was ok, I think it was more distressing for us. Good luck
