I just wondered how you realized your dog was deaf. I know many people adopt deaf dogs knowing about their limitations. What about those parents who had (or thought they had) a hearing dog & chose to keep it? What’s your story?

Mine is that I spent lots of money to buy a dog from a great breeder to make sure that she’d have good genes (expensive in the short term, but would save in the long run). He offered me a discount on a little white one that he was eager to get rid of because she kept escaping. It was too troublesome for him to try to keep her with the other puppies. She was the one I initially fell in love with & on top of that there was a discount! At the time, we figured she was smarter than the others (bonus!), but in retrospect I think she was trying to follow the people to keep them in her view. One day I came home & she’d destroyed my living room. I was yelling at her as I walked in, but she continued to look out a window away from me. She always greeted me as soon as I walked through the door, so I thought it was odd that I was home & yelling & got no response. As soon as I tapped her on the shoulder, she greeted me with her usual enthusiasm....but I knew that she only reacted once I touched her...I took her to a specialist a few days later & found that she was bilaterally completely deaf.

When I contacted the breeder, the response was "Well, that happens with white dogs, but I’ll make a note of it in my breeding program." I asked for some of my money back since she ended up with numerous additional health issues. Their answer was "No money back. If you want to trade her in for a newer model, you can have a new dog. If you want another dog, you can have 50% off another one. The deaf one may be given away or put down at our discretion once you’ve given it back." I looked into it--apparently this is standard!! The first half of the story still tugs at my heartstrings. The second half just makes me angry.

I also had a dog that I thought could hear. I waited to get a Boston Terrier for years. I had been so busy with work/school that I waited until I had the time to give to a dog. We adopted him from a breeder at 6weeks old and that should’ve been a red flag right there b/c no one should adopt a dog that early. I named him Brody. In the beginning if he didn’t listen to me but I thought he was such a curious puppy that he was too busy playing to bother listening to me. I also thought it was odd that he slept so soundly and nothing ever seemed to wake him up. I just thought he had little quirks. He was a very smart dog and we potty trained him and trained him to do many tricks. When he didn’t listen we just thought he was being stubborn.

I am really embarrassed to say that I did not realize he was deaf until he was almost 10 months old. We adopted a rescue Boston Terrier and having a hearing dog around really showed the differences in each dog. Within a week we realized Brody couldn’t hear. It happened when he was out by our fish pond and I was calling him across the yard and started walking toward him still calling him. When I got right up behind him he saw me out of the corner of his eye and jumped b/c I startled him. I realized then that he was deaf and then everything made sense. I watched his puppy videos again and saw that he never actually responded to sound. We tried many "tests" and it seems he can’t hear anything. Our vet looked at his ears and said that one ear drum is pretty much non-existent and the other one is completely abnormal. I realized that all of the tricks we had taught him he only knew b/c I did the hand signal and said the word, but he would only do the trick for the hand signal obviously. I was devastated when I realized he was deaf and felt like such an idiot for not realizing it sooner. But he is the happiest dog ever and is the best dog I have ever had. I can’t imagine life without him.

Typically Bostons have a white streak b/w their eyes and black around their eyes. Excess white colorations can be (not always) a sign of the deaf trait. Brody has one white eye and one black eye. I remember another puppy in that litter having half her head completely white and my theory is that that she is deaf too. Boston Terrier’s ears are supposed to stand up on their own and Brody’s do not. They hang down like Gizmo ears. His mother I remember seeing at the breeder had the same down turned ears so she might be deaf too. I contacted the breeder and she acted all upset and sorry and offered to take him back. I told her no, no the dog is the love of my life, and explained that I was only trying to inform her. She said she would get her dogs BAER tested but I never heard back from her. I definitely think that I was destined to have Brody. He is definitely neurotic, hyper, and has lots of quirks but I love everything about him. If he would’ve went into the wrong hands he might have been beaten, dumped somewhere, or put to sleep. My goal over my lifetime is to rescue deaf Boston Terriers that need a good home. Having a deaf dog can be challenging but it is very rewarding. Sorry this was sooo long. I just realized I wrote a book!

Cheyanne it kills your breeder is such an jerk. He obviously does not care about the health of the dogs at all but just the money he makes off of them. And to act like deafness just happens and that is part of life is bullcrap. If he knows he is breeding deaf dogs then he SHOULD NOT be continuing to breed them!

Is your dog AKC registered and came with papers? (I can only assume so since you paid good money.) My dog did. I wish there was a way that dog owners could report to the AKC when a dog is deaf so that they can discontinue to give pedigrees to breeders who breed deaf dogs. Just b/c a dog has AKC papers doesn’t mean he is healthy or that the breeder is responsible. That I learned the hard way.

I didn’t know Peanut was deaf when I got him. I knew he was attacked by a Lab (Peanut is Chihuahua mx) when he was only 3mth old, but I didn’t know how seriously he was injured. I saw the pic of his wound on his face, but it was already healed at the time I adopted him (he was 6mth old then)
I have 5 hearing dogs, and Peanut followed them pretty well. I didn’t have to potty train him. So I didn’t think much at the beginning. He didn’t come when called, but I figured he didn’t know his name yet. He slept through any loud noises, but I thought he was just a puppy (played hard and slept hard!?)
It took me about 3 month to realize he can’t hear at all. When I took him to my vet, she confirmed it and also she discovered his left eye is blind...
She suspects he suffered some brain damage when attacked. Other than deaf and one eye blind, he’s pretty healthy and bullies my other dogs!!? (Even though he’s the smallest one in the family!)
Ever since then, I watched him carefully. It’s amazing how he gets information, like from vibration and smell. And of course with his one good eye!! He observes other dogs intently. Also now I realize the reason why he has to be constantly touching me (almost obsessively), so because he knows where I am!

My wife & I only adopted our dog 2 weeks ago. She is part Chow- part Cocker Spaniel and is 7 or 8 years old. Her owner died & the family was going to take her to the pound. A local groomer found out about her & oferred to take her until she could find her a home.
My wife found out about her & we had talked about getting a dog so we went to check her out. The groomer didn’t realize she was deaf & if the family knew they never said ( we have no idea who her former owner was.)
We took her home & later that evening were trying to call her but she just ignored us. She was too busy checking out her new surroundings. My wife suspected she was deaf but she kept waking up & looking around & I thought she was hearing noises but I think now she was seeing light from the tv.
The next morning I got up & called her, whistled for her , & sat a couple feet from her and continued whistling, calling , and even clapping and she never woke up. It was only when my wife stepped over her to sit on the couch & then touched her we realized she was deaf.She nearly jumped out of her skin when my wife touched her.
I wanted to give her away but my wife talked me into keeping her. She is very smart & well trained.She understands some hand motions & has taken to us very quickly. She doesn’t bark or growl but does grunt. She loves everyone & loves to lick. We wouldn’t trade her for any hearing dog!

workin man- Glad to hear you and your wife gave a deaf dog a great home! Kudos to you!