Deaf dogs CAN

It amazes me sometimes to hear how surprised people are at the things Rogue can do.  Currently, there's nothing we have tried to train her that she hasn't learned to do. In addition to canine disc, we're starting to learn Barn Hunt.  She's been dock diving and we're enrolled in a Click-a-Trick class.  I can't forget training for her therapy dog certification.  I know hearing dogs who can't do all this stuff.  And, of course, she can get a jar of grease out of the sink and lick it clean in under ten minutes.  (sigh)

Yes, that's a glass jar formerly filled with grease.  

But it's not just Rogue.  Other deaf dogs are proving just how much they can do.   Here is Decibel, a canine disc dog who this year won a Freestyle competition in Quebec.

Is that awesome or what?

Don't let the fact that your dog can't hear convince you that you can't do all those fun things you always wanted to do with her.  

Kira, is her human buddy's running partner.   

With those ears, you'd think she could hear something.

And Rogue's buddy, Belle already has her Master of Tricks and is all the way up to NW3 in nosework.

I smell the food.  Give me the food.

When she's not kayaking.

So really, it's not the dogs preventing us from doing what we want with them... it's us.  They are just as eager and happy to learn as their hearing brethren.  Communication is the key.  Dogs are used to communicating mostly in a nonverbal manner, it's we, the humans, that have to get with the program.

Someone shared this video with me on Facebook and while it's not specifically geared toward training deaf dogs, it happens to be pretty awesome for doing just that.

Now, one little point here and it was something we discovered.  When we were training Rogue, Curt didn't bother saying anything because, well, she's deaf.  He had a lot of trouble getting her to respond because since he wasn't verbalizing, he wasn't conveying any sense of excitement or fun. When he went back to verbalizing, his excitement carried over to his body language and Rogue learned quicker.

 Obviously, the guy in this video is very animated so it's not a problem for him but it is something to keep in mind that we have to convey excitement with our bodies since they can't hear it in our voices.  One more thing that I'll go into more detail once I get my video done, when you're trying to come up with a sign for what you're trying to teach, make it natural.  There's nothing wrong with using ASL signs, but you may find in the process of teaching your dog something, they find a cue from your body language that will become their sign for that activity.  I do have a video of some of the signs we use on the list.

What's going on in Rogue's world right now?  Well, we have been busy.  We did a demo at the Wisconsin State fair and Rogue learned that she really likes to perform in front of an audience.  We have a big disc dog competition this weekend she is staying home from because she has kennel cough.  This is the same competition she missed last year because she was in heat.  

She's still pushing boundaries and our buttons and she's still the most challenging dog we've ever trained completely outside her being deaf, but we love her.  Of course, you might want to check out #goddammitrogue to see some of her antics.  Here she is, resting after a day of chaos with Steel.