Tips for Communicating with Your Deaf Dog

Communicating with and training your deaf dog can be challenging. However, it is not impossible! Your deaf companion can understand you, even if it is through untraditional methods. So, read below to learn how to communicate with your deaf dog!

Hand Signals

Assigning hand signals to commands such as sit, stay, come, no, and stop. Dogs with hearing loss of been known to learn around 20 hand signals. So, your dog is completely capable of learning these visual cues! Just stay consistent to help your pal understand what you want them to do. Additionally, if your furry friend is developing gradual hearing loss, you can use visual and verbal cues to help your companion make the connection before they go completely deaf.

Eye Contact

Teaching your four-legged friend to make frequent eye contact will help them look for hand signals. So, this should be the first focus of training. You can achieve this by rewarding eye contact and giving positive feedback. This can include treats or pets. It won’t take long for your companion to learn the connection between eye contact and rewards.

Flashlight

A flashlight is a great alternative to clicker training. Traditionally, clicker training makes a positive association between sound and reward to reinforce desired behavior. But, clicker training doesn’t work well for deaf dogs. So, flashlight training works based on the same principles. Flashing a flashlight or flickering room lights will let your dog know that they have done something good! This can include responding to a hand signal, making eye contact, or performing some other desired behavior.

Follow the tips above to make communicating with your deaf companion more effective and efficient. No challenge is too tough when it comes to our beloved furry friends. With a few adjustments, you can have a normal and happy life with your pup!