How to look after a dog who's gone deaf, by A-list trainer Ben Randall

Paws for Thought

Ben Randall handles a query from a reader whose dog has lost her hearing.

Training a dog can be hard work at the best of times, but an extra layer of complexity is added when you’re dealing with a four-legged friend who no longer has all its senses, it can be even trickier. That’s the problem faced by our reader this week, who emailed me with this problem (as you can do too, at paws-for-thought@futurenet.com).

Dear Ben,

My dog, a 12-year-old bulldog, recently went deaf, and she now can’t hear a thing. Since then, she has started being more vocal: every day she barks in the early hours, any time from around 3am — she will not stop unless you get up and see her. The minute we walk in the kitchen she stops barking and is so pleased to see us. We let her out for a wee, she rushes out, then comes back in and goes back to sleep — but only if you stay with her.

This has been happening now for around five months. We are taking it in turns getting up with her, but we are at breaking point with the lack of sleep because the barking wakes us both up — and it must really irritate our neighbours, as she is very loud.

She sleeps where she has all her life, in a dark room with a big, comfy bed and access to food and water. Nothing has changed other than the loss of her hearing. We’ve tried the ‘leave’ technique but it doesn’t work, and just leaves us stressed — and her too! Is there anything you can suggest to help? — BC, via email

Thanks for writing in — I really do have huge sympathy for you in this instance, as I know just what you’re going through. I’ve trained several deaf and blind dogs for clients recently, and in the past have had several dogs myself who’ve lost their hearing in their twilight years.

Stopping a dog from waking up too early is something I get asked a lot — particularly of puppies — and this piece runs through how to handle it. Usually, some training will get you to a point where you can call out the leave command from half-way down the stairs, and the dog would soon realise that they need to be patient and head back to sleep. But you’re in a totally different situation, since your bulldog won’t hear you — and once you enter the room to see her, the message she gets is that barking has worked and successfully brought one of you down.

So let’s do what I always try to do, and ask you to put yourself inside your dog’s head to think about it from her perspective. I find this always helps me understand the situation and circumstances that drive a dog’s behaviour.

How would it be for you and me, if we went deaf? Waking up at night not being able to hear a thing would be really scary, and that’s even as a human who can understand what has changed for them, read about the differences they’ll face and understand life and its dangers, all things that make hear something like this easier to come to terms with.

Dogs don’t have that. One minute they can hear, one minute they can’t. It must be terrifying for them, and I think this is probably why your dog is waking – instead of dropping back off naturally, as we all do during the night, she’s worried because she can’t hear, and so barks to call out for help. Once she’s started barking though, she’ll be confused that she can’t hear herself doing so, and will probably think that you can’t hear her either. No wonder she’s getting stressed – and no wonder you, and your neighbours, are getting stressed too.

There is a chance that this could be a simple issue of bladder control as your dog ages. You mention that she goes out to wee after you have come down and greeted her, and I want you to please ask yourself this question: when you do go down, is she desperate for a wee? Or do you feel that she’s just going out from habit? If she really is desperate, it could well be that she simply doesn’t have the bladder control she did a few years ago. If you think it might be the problem, regulate her water intake from around 5pm, and don’t leave her with water nearby, just as you’d do to stop a puppy weeing in the night.

Keep your fingers crossed that this helps, but I have a feeling it may not be the case. With a dog of this age, and a life-changing health issue like deafness, sometimes you have to approach it from a different angle. What I’d suggest — if you’re happy to do this — is to bring her closer to you at night. Can you fit her bed or crate on the landing outside your bedroom? Or somewhere else nearby? If she can sense you and smell you close by, it may really help, and it may be enough to reassure her enough to let her drop back off to sleep. And if she does still wake up, at least she’ll be closer by to save you going all the way down to see her. It’ll mean changing a routine that has worked for you for many years, but as if it helps your dog stop barking in the night, and leaves you well-rested and less stressed, it’s got to be a better way forward.

For more detailed advice about Ben Randall’s positive, reward-based and proven BG training methods, one-to-one training sessions, residential training or five-star dog-boarding at his BGHQ in Herefordshire, telephone 01531 670960 or visit www.ledburylodgekennels.co.uk. For a free seven-day trial of the Gundog app, which costs £24.99 a month or £249.99 a year, visit www.gundog.app/trial