How to Teach a Deaf Dog Basic Commands

Video Transcript

"Working with a deaf dog presents us with some interesting challenges, as human beings, since we're so language motivated and vocal, but it's just an opportunity to think things through in a different way. You just need a way to tell your dog what you want without using sound. Of course, gestures are very helpful and I strongly recommend any kind of training that you do with a dog. You, seeing and hearing dog you always pair with a gesture and a vocal command so that they're kind of double trained against any kind of a future infirmity. But with a deaf dog you would just need to be able to communicate to your dog. You might, deaf dogs are on the ground, they can feel vibration, you might stomp your foot to get your dog's attention, which is very effective. Deaf dogs are more focused on thing's to balance out their lack of hearing. You could use a light, a laser light, which of course you be very careful not to shine in your dogs eyes. A small flashlight would probably be much safer, that you would flash when you get the behavior that you want rather than saying good, or using a clicker. So, keeping in mind that there's no sound, you might stomp your foot to get your dogs attention, get your dog's eye contact, ask your dog to do the behavior with a signal, and then you might say...you might let them know that it's a good thing. You can let 'em know with facial expression, and then give them the treat. So again, it's just different challenges."