Adopting: Deaf Pets
Deaf pets make wonderful companions and are not all that different from hearing pets! Let’s learn a bit more about what makes them unique — and why that may make them the right pet for your home.
Note: While this article will focus on deaf dogs, much of the information may apply to other species as well!
Preparing Your Home
You’ll prepare to welcome a deaf pet the same way you would any other pet! Research the supplies you’ll need that are appropriate for that species at their current age and energy levels. Make sure you have the essential items they need (beds, bowls, housing, toys and food) and also some of the tools you might need for your life together — like a harness for walking, training treats, enrichment activities and more. While it will take some time to really get to know each other, try to plan for what you might need. Deaf pets won’t require any modifications to your home or living space unless there are other medical or behavioral concerns.
When You First Come Home
Most pets are understandably a little nervous or uncertain when they first come to a new home — after all, they don’t realize it’s “home” just yet! Even pets who seem happy to be there are likely still experiencing some degree of nervous excitement and should be given time to settle in and get comfortable. Deaf pets may show a similar range of excitement as other pets, and many will choose to stay close to family members during this time — people and/or other pets!
For dogs who are feeling more overwhelmed, it may appear that they are acting “clingy” but what they’re doing is looking to those familiar with the environment to learn cues for how they can navigate it and what they can expect. Think of yourself as a tour guide for your pet!
Many deaf pets will become less “sticky” as they get settled into the home, but this may also depend on the individual's personality and previous history. It’s important to remember that if you move or are in a new environment with your pet, you will likely see these behaviors return.
Living With a Deaf Pet
- Greeting your pet: It’s important to remember that deaf pets may startle more easily if they don’t expect something. To get their attention, tap on a nearby surface so they can feel the vibrations and turn toward them. Try to approach and initiate an interaction from where they can see you as opposed to coming up from behind. As with any pet, being awoken suddenly can be scary — tugging gently at some blankets can be one way to wake them without startling them.
- Children: If you have young children, make sure to teach them how best to approach the pet. This includes during play! If they’re running closely past the pet and coming from behind, that can be scary — which can be true for hearing pets as well. Using baby gates to separate children and pets during high-energy playtimes can be the safest way to manage interactions.
- Coming and going: When you enter or leave a space, make sure your pet is aware and sees you. Many deaf pets will become anxious if they wake up or turn around and find that you’ve left the home or even the room. Giving them a heads up can help avoid many potentially problematic behaviors and stressful situations for both you and your pet.
- Home environment: If you live in a noisy environment — urban areas, near transportation centers, on a military base, near construction, with loud neighbors or vocal wildlife — deaf pets won’t be bothered by those sounds! They may still react to things they can smell, so if the window is open, the smell of another animal might get their attention. That’s not to say deaf pets are silent — many still vocalize and typically sound like other members of their species.
- Outings: Many deaf pets will prefer to stay close to or within sight of their families when they go out of the home, such as to a park or beach. Dog parks may be challenging for deaf dogs as they can become startled by interactions that are initiated out of view. As with any pet you’re wishing to socialize with others, start with interactions with one known pet at a time, and then try small groups. If that goes well, then you can try a dog park. Visit at a quieter time of day and be sure to stay near your dog. It may also be helpful to have one of their dog friends with them as a buddy system. If you let your deaf dog off leash, make sure they are in an enclosed area!
Identification matters! Putting “I’m deaf” on pet tags, as well as leashes and harnesses, can make a difference. If your pet becomes separated from you, this helps those who find them better understand their needs or behavior. Additionally, seeing this may make someone more mindful of how they or their pets interact with yours. You can also add “deaf” or “I’m deaf” to their name when you register their microchips, in the event they are ever lost and found without their tags.
Training Deaf Pets
Training is essentially the same as for hearing pets, except that your behavior markers (like a clicker) and cues (like “sit”) will be mostly visual instead of verbal. Since many pets are trained with both verbal and visual cues anyway, it really is quite similar — so no specialized training or “deaf dog trainer” is required!
Markers
For deaf dogs, a thumbs-up works just as well as any auditory marker. This should be used at the moment a desired behavior occurs and immediately followed by reinforcement, like a treat or something else the pet enjoys. By conditioning a pet to expect something good to happen when the marker (thumbs-up) occurs, they learn that the marker is an indication of a valuable behavior!
Cues
Cues are what we do to ask for a behavior, like saying “sit.” We only add a verbal cue when the pet has begun performing a behavior with about 80% consistency. Prior to that, we use combinations of luring, capturing (marking the moment a behavior occurs naturally) and visual cues like hand signals. For deaf pets, we skip adding the verbal cue, but all the other pieces — luring, capturing and hand signals — stay the same! As far as hand signals go, the options are endless, as long as the signal is distinct and your pet can distinguish it. Some people will use American Sign Language (ASL) for their visual cues, while others use some of the traditional hand signals used with pet training.
- Gentle touch may also be used as a cue — a soft 1-2 finger touch at a consistent spot on the edge of an ear can be used to ask for focus or to direct their attention toward you.
- Vibrations can also be used to get their attention, though this works better for some pets — and on some surfaces — than others. If you’re walking, a gentle 1-2 tap (similar pressure to double clicking on a mouse or typing on a keyboard) on a leash under a little tension will often be enough to encourage them to turn to look at you. Practice conditioning this behavior in a quiet environment like your living room where there aren’t as many distractions!
- Light can be a useful tool at night — for example, turning a light in the yard on and off in a conditioned pattern that indicates it’s time to come in. Additionally, turning a light on or off when you enter or leave a room can give them some information about your whereabouts (if they’re awake and alert). However, these cues are best used only as a backup. Light as a primary training cue for deaf pets is often not recommended and can lead to problematic behavior (in some pets) or potentially be dangerous if shined into the eyes.
- Vibration collars can also be used as a cue for some dogs — these are collars that DO NOT produce a shock, are NEVER used to correct or stop behavior. The training process is based on conditioning your dog to see the gentle vibration as a cue designed to have them look for you. Tools like this are useful for getting your dog’s attention at a distance — but should not be used unless a trained professional has taught you how to safely and humanely condition your dog to the vibration so it does not elicit a fearful response or is perceived as punishment.
Training Methods and Philosophy
Behavior is never random — it’s always designed to make something happen or to achieve a particular outcome. Animals learn based on the outcomes of their behavior. When we want a behavior to continue, we use positive reinforcement to teach the pet that whatever they just did is valuable and worth doing again!
When our pets are engaging in behaviors we want to decrease, our goal is to redirect them before the behavior happens — and reward any desired results — or to ignore the bad behavior when it happens and then quickly redirect them. This way your pet can learn which behaviors are valuable and achieve the desired outcomes, and which do not. Positive reinforcement training has been shown scientifically to be the most effective and humane method for behavioral training, from basic to severe behaviors!
Reinforcement and Rewards
Deaf pets love the same things as any other pets — offer them species-appropriate food rewards as well as play, affection and praise — even verbal praise! Why verbal praise? For most of us, talking to our pets is natural — so stopping that behavior might have you behaving in a way that seems more unnatural. Behave as you normally would, including talking to them. Verbal praise is so much more than your voice — your pet will see how your facial expressions and body language change when you’re excited or happy, and many deaf pets will react favorably to that expression. If you’ve ever watched people communicate using sign language, you’ve probably noticed it’s extremely expressive — the body language is just as expressive and important as the signs themselves, if not more so!
Another important reward for all pets is one you might not expect — taking a break or allowing the pet to do something different. Think of those breaks or pauses as a “reset” where your pet can sniff something familiar, move to a place they feel safe, play with a toy for a moment or shake it off. Then they have a better chance of being able to succeed with the original task. It’s a little step that can make a big difference! If your pet is displaying signs of stress or being distracted, sometimes the best thing is to give them a moment to take a break until they are ready to work again!