Advice on training a deaf senior?

[Jason_C]

Katy is 12, and if she's not deaf then she's not far from it. Sometimes I think she hears me, but other times I can walk up behind her (being intentionally loud) and put my hand on her back and she'll jump.

I work nights, usually go to bed at 4 or 5am.

Before her stroke, she always woke me up at 11:30am, on the dot! It became one of those amazing things, sometimes I'd wake up on my own and just watch the clock, and as soon as it flipped to 11:30 she'd be there!

After her stroke, though, she's been waking me earlier and earlier. This morning she woke me at 9am! I love her, but it's hard to function on less than 5 hours of sleep every night.

Worse, every night at around 9:30pm she starts groaning and grumbling; not in pain or anything, she obviously wants something! And show won't stop!! If I make a move to stand up then she'll start barking and spinning in circles! But she doesn't seem to want anything! LOL Just bored and wants attention, I guess.

It's cute, but when you're in the middle of a TV show (I've been watching Suits) and it's at the crux, it's more than a little annoying.

Back in the day, I could just give her a firm "No!" and she'd quit. But now that doesn't work. I've given her the traditional finger-over-the-lips "shhh!", but if she recognizes the move she doesn't care.

Any suggestions on expressing a "no!" when she can't hear it?

 

[Ann]

Hand signals are your friend here. Checkers is almost completely deaf and nearly blind but hand signals worked well when she could see. Lacey, at 13 is somewhat deaf now too. With her, I find two sharp claps work to get her attention first. If you can designate a hand signal for "no" and only use it for that, Katy will figure it out.

She might also be suffering from some "senioritis". It sounds like she's more restless than she's been. That happened with Checkers, she was pacing and panting in the evenings when we'd try to watch TV because she thought it was bedtime. I discovered a chew called "Senior Wellness Quiet Moments" that is a combination of herbals and melatonin that just takes the edge off. My vet endorsed it too, and you can get it here on Amazon. I started giving it just after her dinner but my vet suggested twice a day, morning and evening, and that's what I've done since. I don't think there's anything in it that wouldn't be good with Katy's recent issues but maybe check with your vet first.

 

[Sharon7]

Agree with Ann's post on all fronts. Hand signals are easy to teach with some treats. And yes, she may have some mild cognitive changes. I'm sorry you're losing sleep over it. You might try crating her so you can get a bit more solid sleep time.

 

[Caro]

Hand claps or whistles for us too. Tully is also 95% blind so that's an added challenge. If I wake her up when she's on a dog bed (which she always is) I stepped on the dog bed before I touch her, then she's less likely to startle.

It will take Katie a while to work out her routine too. But a couple of things I found with Tully - don't let her sleep all day, and especially not a long sleep before bedtime if I actually want to get a full night's sleep. I always take her out to toilet right before I go to bed, which can actually be a nightmare because she doesn't want to go out in the cold. But if I don't get her outside she'll be up too early.

Could you make Katy's meal time later so she's not barking for food and to adjust her body clock?

On the plus side, I've found as Tully got deafer she stopped barking all together - she was scaring herself with the sound.

 

[woof]

Another echo for Ann's post many dog respond to hand signals- hey our words don't mean all that much out side of the tone-- so treats and hand signals at least some simple ones--it will take time. Hard for us because most of us are not used to dealing with the world in that way..