| Do you have a deaf dog and wish you knew the key | | | | you wish to teach him. With deaf dogs it is a great |
| points to training it? When working with a hearing | | | | idea to do extensive leash training even around the |
| impaired canine it is important to follow certain steps in | | | | house in order to be able to communicate any idea |
| order to have success: | | | | you wish. |
| 1) Be patient! Granted, this may sound like a no-brainer | | | | 3) Get comfortable with hand signals. Training a |
| but the truth is that training a deaf dog can sometimes | | | | hearing impaired dog means that you obviously won't |
| be frustrating and difficult. The natural tendency of | | | | be able to give any verbal commands, hand signals |
| even good dog owners is to sometimes get impatient | | | | are the way to go. Practice your hand signals and |
| and angry. Make sure to start and end every training | | | | make sure you stick to one hand signal per dog |
| session positively and actively make sure that your | | | | training command. Typical dog training hand signals are |
| mindset is one of patience and understanding. | | | | a closed fist for the sit command, a sweeping |
| 2) Use lots of physical 'helps.' The great thing about | | | | downwards hand motion for the lay down command, |
| training a deaf dog is that dogs are not verbal learners. | | | | and a hand sweeping towards your chest for a come |
| As humans we can sit in a classroom and 'soak up'' | | | | here command. |
| information. The fact that a dog is deaf only slightly | | | | While very challenging, training a deaf dog can be very |
| hinders the learning process because dogs learn much | | | | rewarding as it will help you bond very closely with |
| more through touch and posture. Make sure to | | | | each other. |
| physically help your dog understand the commands | | | | |