Possible Deaf Puppy.

Question

Paloma (white dove)   I have a 9 week old female boxer puppy. She is pure white,the only mark of color that she has on here is beside her eye and it is brown and black in color. She is the puppy of my female boxer,who is fawn in color and so is her father. I think she may be deaf,I have noticed that she has not learned her name yet,when calling her,clapping your hands or snapping your fingers she seems not to notice at all. I read somewhere that you could place her on cement and have someone walk behind her and snap your fingers next to each ear and if she doesn't respond then she may very well be deaf,I tried this and I did not get any response. Although she seems not to hear most things,it seems like sometimes she can hear, I don't know if she can just hear up close and not far away or if her hearing is going away completely, she  has a vet appointment next week and I will ask them about it and have them check her out,but until then I would love any kind of advice and expertise on this if you could possibly give me some. I have started her on her hand signals and I am looking into a Vibration collar,without the shock or static options on them. Thanks again for any help that you can provide.

Answer
Many white colored puppies are deaf.  There is a pigment called melanin that gives color to the skin.  It is also part of the hair cells that line the cochlea the organ of hearing.  When there is no melanin, these cells do not work right and that is why the dogs are deaf. There are very few vets that actually do hearing tests.