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Date Posted: 00:02:16 12/16/04 Thu
Author: Kristin
Author Host/IP: 66.19.102.125
Subject: Re: My white male APBT is deaf. (Command Training)
In reply to: Kenneth 's message, "My white male APBT is deaf. (Command Training)" on 22:20:33 12/15/04 Wed

Hi Kenneth,

I actually found that training my deaf white Sheltie wasn't that much different than training my hearing ones. Now, I'm an all-positive trainer, so I already used hand signals for all of my cues with my hearing dogs (since dogs, hearing or not, focus more on our body language than what comes out of our mouths, I've always used lots of signals in training). So using hand signals and treats/toys is something I've been doing for years. It allowed an easy transition for me to training my deaf boy.

What I've found difficult is running in the highest levels of agility. The top-level courses have lots of traps and call-offs. The call-offs are hard, as I can't call-off my Sheltie. He's doing good, considering everything, but it has been a struggle. I have to be so aware of what my body is doing to tell him where to go on the course. Very difficult for me, but we both have a blast running the courses, whether we qualify or not.

I'm glad you're doing training with you APBT. It's so important to train these deaf babies. Are you planning on doing any performance competitions with your dog (ie. obedience, weight pulling, agility, etc.) They really can do anything their hearing counterparts can do, and my Sheltie amazes me daily.

Glad to have you on the board.

-Kristin

> I have a male APBT that I have owned since he was 7
>weeks old. He is solid white and was born deaf. He has
>one blue eye and one yellow eye which I think is
>pretty cool. I have owned and trained three German
>Shepards very successfully but training Gandalf was
>very different. You have to use hand signals and hand
>commands to train the dog properly. It was harder for
>me than it was for him.You have to rethink the whole
>approach in traning. I used more toys than treats to
>keep his attention and it has been very rewarding for
>both of us. The intelligence of this breed never
>ceases to amaze me.

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