We recently took a deaf dog into our 6 week training boot camp. Our six week program covers all basic and advanced obedience. This would include on and off leash heel with implied sit when stopping, sit with implied stay, down with implied stay, recall or come command and a place command which is usually used to have the dog stay on a bed or rug inside the house when the family is busy or needs the pup to settle down for a little.
The puppies name is Sammy and he is a 6 month old Dalmatian. Not only did he have no obedience, he was resource guarding his food and water, biting at people and extremely under socialized with people and other animals. This combination could have led to a terrible outcome for the owners and the dog if they had not taken the initiative to get the dog help right away.
To start, this process is long, frustrating and by no means easy. Sammy has been here for about a week now and is coming along great. We are introducing him to more and more people every day, letting him play and get his energy out with other puppies, and teaching him that there is plenty of food for him to eat and he does not have to get aggressive and guard it anymore.
It is more frustrating than anything trying to teach a deaf dog. Many people get frustrated because they cannot yell at the dog for doing inappropriate things. I found it more frustrating that I could not praise the dog for doing things that we like! Imagine being told that you need to drive a close friend to a state you had never been before. Problem is, you cannot use a map or GPS and your friend can not tell you if you are going in the right direction or not. If…and only if you ever made your destination how frustrated do you think you would be by that time? This is how a deaf dog feels when it has no direction.
It’s hard to understand how often we use verbal disapproval and verbal praise in our daily lives with our furry companions. Take a deaf dog for a day and you will begin to understand. Now, how about we change the situation I gave you before. You are driving your friend and every time you make a correct turn that person gives you a dollar, but every time you make a wrong turn they take one away. This will make you a little more motivated to go the right way, no? This may also make the process a little less stressful and more enjoyable, wouldn’t you think?
With Sammy what we began doing is using non verbal cues to show approval and disapproval. Sammy is beginning to learn that eye contact is key to understanding whether he is doing the right or wrong thing. Touch is the dogs first sense that it is capable of using. Without being able to hear, his other senses have been heightened. For this reason we tend to use touch to show approval. A gentle pet when the dog is relieving itself outside while housebreaking it, a pat on the head when we are baiting a sit/stay or down/stay. As much as we take these for granted, these are the cues that Sammy needs to understand he is doing well and we are happy.
At Highland Canine Training we have the proven track record to work with dogs of all breeds and sizes, whether they have a disability or not. Please remember, although it may be frustrating having a dog with a disability, a dog must still have guidance in order to prevent it from being destructive and possibly dangerous. If you or someone you know has a dog that may have issues with resource guarding, biting, or may be under socialized with animals or people give us a call. We offer free evaluations so we can map out a plan of action to better your relationship with you and your dog.
We have found that there are some groups out there who train search dogs the only way they know how because they have lack of funds, time, or simply following advice from someone else. We have seen what some groups claim to be certified dogs and/or handlers with no finished alert, no apparent rewards for the dog, and dogs with simply no drive at all. During the years that I have been conducting seminars and certifying Search and Rescue dogs, I have also seen a number of “search and rescue” dogs that were fear agressive, phobic of people, or were scared of vehicles, just ot name a few. The problem is those select groups who choose to train their own way, with little or no success, ruin things for those groups and individuals who work hard, attend classes, seminars, and receive updated information frequently to make sure handler and dog are up to par. I would like to add that if you are a volunteer in hopes of making a hero out of yourself and your dog…..please get out now! (ie. Sandra Anderson and Canine Eagle). Search and Rescue groups are about working as a team many times with people you don’t know very well. Making up excuses for why your dog was wrong or couldn’t pick up a scent (blaming others for your lack of training), sometimes you just have to say, we gave it a shot and did the best we could. There are many resources and certified trainers out there to assist search and rescue handlers and your dogs; you just have to take a look around. 