puppy deafness

Question
my puppy doesn't seem to be responding to any voice or voice commands. ofcourse it is just 22 days old as of today but we are worried. is there any way to get rid of its deafness. when it is sleeping , we create some noise but it hardly seems to notice.

pl help.

Answer
Hi there,

Though totally incapable of following any sort of a command at three weeks of age, the puppy can be handling daily, by adults, supervised children. Just getting used to being with people, and enjoying it, is all the training that's required at this age.

Hopefully this puppy hasn't been taken from it's mother yet. Generally speaking, a puppy taken away from it's mother and litter mates before eight weeks of age, may not realize its full potential as pet. To maximize the mental and psychological development of puppies, they must remain in the nest with their mother and litter mates until eight weeks of age.

It may be that the puppy is just sleeping soundly, and the noise you've been making isn't waking it because it is already used to the household sounds.

"Hardly noticing" sound when he's sleeping, isn't the same as not noticing. When the puppy is awake, does it respond to you?

To test your puppy, stand behind him, but make sure he doesn't know you're there. You can also try a test when your dog is asleep. Try some of the following:

- Jingle keys

- Squeak a squeaky toy (be sure that air from the toy doesn't hit the dog)

- Call your dog in a normal voice

- Clap your hands (you should be far enough away so that he doesn't feel air movement)

- Whistle loudly

- Turn on a vacuum cleaner (be sure it's far enough away from the dog so that the vibrations don't reach him)

- Bang two pots together (be careful of air vibrations reaching your dog)

- Ring a bell.

You can also try yelling loudly, or blowing a whistle, if you keep in mind that some deaf dogs seem to hear very loud, or very low, noises. They may perk up, look around and have an expression on their face that says "What was that?" However, the dog usually doesn't orient to the source of the sound. So, if you are in front of your puppy and yell "HEY!" he may turn around and look behind him. Or he may look around the room. It's almost as if they sense the sound, rather than hear it.

If your puppy doesn't respond to your tests, or you have any concerns about his hearing, you should have him examined by a veterinarian.

If it turns out that he truly is deaf, it's not the end of the world. There are plenty of loving, happy, devoted deaf dogs that are great pets. Deaf dogs can be trained, you just need to go about it a little differently than with a dog that can hear.

You can read about it here:
http://www.critterchat.net/deafpuppies.htm

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti