Portage just got back from the vet

He's nearly eleven and has really aged a lot this past year. A year ago he was a big goofy puppy, and now he's clearly a senior.

While there, I brought up the fact that he's harder to wake up (you have to tap him, calling doesn't do it anymore) and that he doesn't seem to come running from the other room when you call him. Also, he stares at our faces a lot, and really doesn't like to let anyone out of his sight.

In short, I'm thinking his hearing is going/gone. I've made sure that all commands/suggestions (at his age he's earned the right to be asked not told) are accompanied by a hand signal and he seems to do well. My husband sneezed quite loudly and Portage did wake up so it's probably not one hundred percent gone, but crinkling a cookie bag doesn't bring him running anymore. If he can't keep his eyes on one of us he seems to follow Hudson's lead (Heaven help him!) so he's definitely got some compensatory strategies.

Our vet checked him out, and saw nothing physically wrong - no blockages, infection, etc. She said that they have nothing to test hearing here, and that we could go to the vet college in Saskatchewan (a major undertaking) but that there wouldn't likely be anything to do about it once we knew exactly the degree of loss.

Does anyone here have any experience with having a dog's hearing checked? Would there be any real benefit in knowing how much of a loss he's suffered? There was a period before where we were sure it was totally gone and then it seemed to come back for a few months. Now it seems to be gone again. Does that make any sense?

I've made sure that we leave lights on and keep the fur out of his eyes (maximize the sense he has to work with). He's responded well to me tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention, and then he watches me very very carefully.

Any good websites anyone might suggest on dealing with a hearing loss for him? We want him to be as happy and fulfilled as possible.
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My Max had those same symptoms as he aged. they didn't seem to bother him at all. we learned to tap him to wake him up (of course crackilg the treat bag did the same thing so maybe they are like men and get more selective hearing as they age :roll: )

I never felt he was troubled by the hearing loss - or the night blindness - we just left night lights on for him (and hubby got used to them so we still have them on 4.5 years after Max left us).

I think you are doing everything you can and a hearing test won't really make much difference.
Almost the samething here. When we got Cinde over 4 yrs ago she was a rescue from the SPCA, very thin and in bad health. It took a few months but she came around. BUT over the months her hearing seemed to get worse. Once we new we started clapping hands, speaking very loud, touching her and a whistel. The biggie you have to make eye contact. Once she learned that we had no proublem. She would lay and watch us always with her eyes. :lol: You can not do anything more than what you have done. Just try some of these things. They did work. We had to put her down this summer due to cancer. She was 9. Her last 5 years were happy ones.
Deana
I think your vet was talking about the BAER (Brain Auditory Evoked Response) test. They basically stick prongs under your dog's skin above the eyelids and measure brain activity as they play sounds. Sometimes they have to sedate the dog, as this can be uncomfortable.

Now I am all about diagnostic tests, and getting to the root of the problem, but I didn't do this test on Oscar, who was bilaterally deaf from birth. Based upon even the most rudimentary tests we could see that he was totally deaf. The best that the BAER test could provide us was concrete confirmation of our suspicions, but then what? There isn't a cure, or a fix, so I didn't want to put Oscar through it to confirm something we already knew.

It seems like you have a really good handle on the situation, and it sounds as though Portage is compensating well. You are doing everything that we do for Oscar, like tapping him to get his attention, leaving on the lights, and keeping his eyes well trimmed. Honestly, sounds like you are doing great, so I would just go with the assumption that he is losing or has lost his hearing, and forget the BAER test.

(Do the pups sleep in your room at night? How are you liking the night lights, aka landing strip??? :D )

Laurie and Oscar
My Macy was almost stone deaf the last 4 years.
She did well with hand signls - I guess all that obedience training was good for something!

She also followed scent trails. She would follow Tater back to the yard by scent - she was so slow that she would lose sight of him. It was actually kind of cool to watch. They would be down by the lake, and Tater came at a run across the hay field when I called. Macy would follow, but then get hopelessly behind. She dropped her nose and tracked him. :D
I rescued a GSD a few years back Old guy Stone deaf due to multiple ear infections. I don't think he had any hearing for years (but we all continue to yap away at him) he was adopted by a good friend and is happy as a clam She keeps him on lead or in a secure yard.
i know my daytona who is 14 now had great hearing and in the last year she now she doesn't bark at loud noise i know her hearing is going fast.. she did at the age of 11 had surgery on her ear drum.. they found a cyst in it and a hole in her ear drum.. but now i am sure it is age .. good lcuk
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