# Need tips on potty training a deaf puppy...



## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

I have a friend/aquaintance who has a four month old West Highland White Terrier! CUTIE!!!!!
Anyway, she is deaf (the puppy) and they are having trouble potty training.
I think she is attempting to crate train, has tried wee pads...several avenues.
The husband is ready to boot the dog out.

Anyone have any experience/tips?

It seems like it would be challenging to me b/c the dog could not hear voice inflections etc. to know when behavior was good/bad. I didn't have any good advice except patience and persistence...


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## carrie (Aug 24, 2004)

sheesh......well, i would just think patients and persistence is the way to go. if the puppy is caught in the act...move her to the pad. i'm thinking if she keeps being moved to the pad, maybe she'll catch on....?


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

well being the preferred method of training is not to fuss but only to reward the positive..it shouldnt be any different than a hearing pup...so yes persistance and patience is the key


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## Guest (May 23, 2006)

It must be as frustrating fo a dog to be deaf as it is a human, perhaps more so. Maybe the dog could be better potty trained if it were trained to go outdoors. If the owner took the dog outdoors and the dog goes potty, then the owner could praise her, bring her indoors and give her a treat. This way the dog would associate going outdoors will give her a treat. All of our previous Malteses were trained this way and worked well. Yes it was, and is a pain to go out in bad weather, but they get use to it, and are not out that long a spell. If the dog stands by the door, then perhaps it has to go potty, or wants a treat, but it is worth letting her out to see what happens.!


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## Carole (Nov 1, 2005)

I have always read that dogs actually do better with hand signals even more than voice.

With Bella and Krista...though I use my voice...I always do gestures too.... Like circling with my hand over the pad mimicking the way they circle before pottying ...and you could still clap and be happy when they please you...even if they don't hear this they can read the body language that you are pleased... of course treats for a job well done are appreciated by the fur-angel whether they can hear or not hear.









Hope my suggestions are helpful.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

1. Food

2. Physical praise (pats, scratches)

3. You can "clicker" train deaf dogs with a little hand held pen light. 

If they're this frustrated, they really ought to get a trainer out to consult with them and help them learn how to teach their dog and let it know what behaviors they like.


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## Furbabymom (Dec 17, 2004)

<span style="color:#3333FF">It is more difficult to train a deaf dog but it is possible by being consistent, using hand signals and getting excited and happy as well as giving treats. It is not really that difficult to train a deaf dog (of course a hearing doggie is easier to train since they learn a certain word you use) that is smart to potty where you would want him or her to. 

I trained Skeeter by using hand signals and jumping up and down and getting excited when he made on the pad or outside and immediately giving him a tiny piece of his favorite Baa Baa Q Snack. I also limited his area to be a smaller space within my office by using using gates since he did not like being in a puppy pen or a crate. It is best to make sure mistakes or not make to ensure success and rewards for doing well early on in the potty training progress by being there to really make sure too many mistakes or not made. If I saw him circling ready to squat I picked him up to put him on the pad. If I saw he was going to make a poop where he should not, I picked him up and put him on the puppy pad as he was pooping and then got all happy but looking so excited and pointed to the poop on the puppy pad as I gave him a treat.

I took him out for walks frequently to the potty area as well as had puppy pads down which was possible since I have a home office and I brought him home in August after my busiest time of the year since I am a CPA. I was still busy with extensions but at least I did not have clients in and out of here and I was able to make the time to do what I had to do to train my special furson properly. He soon became dual trained to go both on pads and outside. He never marks either or lifts his leg outside or inside my home. He is a good boy and sometimes fakes having to go outside to potty in my backyard just to get a potty treat.







He knows how to sit and lie down with hand signals also my smart little Skeeter.

If the owner is not home during the day since she works, you can buy a play yard or puppy pen like I did for Panda in training her. Put an open crate on one side with a bed inside, a bed also in the pen, a puppy pad and bowl of water. Do not allow much more room than this and the puppy will soon also know to go on the pad since he or she will not want to dirty up their bed.

Susan, Skeeter, Sassy, Panda & Lexi</span>



> I have a friend/aquaintance who has a four month old West Highland White Terrier! CUTIE!!!!!
> Anyway, she is deaf (the puppy) and they are having trouble potty training.
> I think she is attempting to crate train, has tried wee pads...several avenues.
> The husband is ready to boot the dog out.
> ...


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## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

> well being the preferred method of training is not to fuss but only to reward the positive..it shouldnt be any different than a hearing pup...so yes persistance and patience is the key[/B]










Well, I guess I would have flunked "preferred training 101" b/c I use voice tone a lot with mine. My voice when I catch them in the act of doing something inappropriate is firm and serious...vs...baby talk high pitched jump up and down and clap my hands silly when they do something right (plus a treat or bonus loves). I am not mean enough that I cause them to cower or flench...but they know I mean business. 
I don't fuss if I don't catch them in the act. I may mutter under my breath...ha ha...
Anyway, it worked with mine, they are not traumatized.


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## Boobookit (Dec 3, 2005)

Hi,

Yes, I would do as the other said with the hand signals that this pup will get used to. Besides catching the furbaby and either putting him/her outside or on the pee pee pad so that it learns the difference, tell your friend that she can stomp her foot....the vibration would be felt by the puppy. 

My girlfriend's son was deaf and when he was young if she would "yell" at him in sigh language he would simply close his eyes!! So she would stomp her foot and he would feel the vibration and then he knew he was in trouble. 

Stomping your foot to a deaf pup would be the same as raising your voice to a hearing pup. He will "get the idea" that his/her attention was needed!!

Just a suggestion.

Marie & Pacino


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## Furbabymom (Dec 17, 2004)

Thank you Marie since that is a good idea. My Skeeter rarely makes mistakes but surprisingly he got jealous I was giving so much attention to Lexi today that he decided to pee not on the pad. It was not marking since he does not do that. It was a full fledged pee. I have to start taking him out more often since he prefers to go out then use the pads. 

I decided to try stumping my food near him and he did feel the vibrations. I will start adding stumping to my hand signals. This list is great since we help one another and life is a continuous learning process.

Susan & my furkidz in NJ



> Hi,
> 
> Yes, I would do as the other said with the hand signals that this pup will get used to. Besides catching the furbaby and either putting him/her outside or on the pee pee pad so that it learns the difference, tell your friend that she can stomp her foot....the vibration would be felt by the puppy.
> 
> ...


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## Boobookit (Dec 3, 2005)

Another thing that I would like to add in besides stomping the foot for attention is the fact that you cannot feel sorry for the pup because he/she is deaf. She/he doesn't know any better, this is a way of life for that furbaby and he/she has no clue what he/she is missing because he/she never had it. So as far as that puppy is concerned everything is normal and you just need to find what works. 

I would use sign language on the puppy...I would definitely learn more then I know now, what an experience to know signing and have the puppy learn it!! You can turn something that you considered negative into a wonderful positive experience! There are no limitations here!!

You know what? I think I am going to teach Pacino sign language as I think that would be awesome!!

Marie & Pacino
PS: Susan, what part of Jersey are you from? I am in Monmouth County!


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

My friend who does deaf dog rescue recommended this web site:
http://www.deafdogs.org/


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## Furbabymom (Dec 17, 2004)

Marie, I live in Morris County which is in the Northern part of New Jersey. 

I need to learn sign language since one of my neighbors is deaf and she keeps wanting to teach me and Skeeter sign langauage to help me better communicate with him and with her. I made up my own sign langauge but it would be nice to have easier conversations with Diane rather than me having to say it slowly and keep repeating what I am saying so she can read my lips. 

I try to help others when I see posts I am familiar with since I am always learning so much on this wonderful site with such nice and caring and fun members with you as an example.

My family lives in Atlantic County, NJ and I have relatives in Camden County, NJ as well as in Virginia and Philadelphis. I love Monmouth County for its great location within the State of New Jersey as well as it location to both New York and New Jersey beaches.

Pacino is adorable and I love his little outfits.

Susan, Skeeter, Sassy, Panda, & Lexi  



> Another thing that I would like to add in besides stomping the foot for attention is the fact that you cannot feel sorry for the pup because he/she is deaf. She/he doesn't know any better, this is a way of life for that furbaby and he/she has no clue what he/she is missing because he/she never had it. So as far as that puppy is concerned everything is normal and you just need to find what works.
> 
> I would use sign language on the puppy...I would definitely learn more then I know now, what an experience to know signing and have the puppy learn it!! You can turn something that you considered negative into a wonderful positive experience! There are no limitations here!!
> 
> ...


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## Boobookit (Dec 3, 2005)

> Marie, I live in Morris County which is in the Northern part of New Jersey.
> 
> I need to learn sign language since one of my neighbors is deaf and she keeps wanting to teach me and Skeeter sign langauage to help me better communicate with him and with her. I made up my own sign langauge but it would be nice to have easier conversations with Diane rather than me having to say it slowly and keep repeating what I am saying so she can read my lips.
> 
> ...


Oh, that's wonderful...we are not that far from each other...maybe someday we can arrange a play date for our babies!! That would be great for them!! Thank you, yes, everyone on here is very nice!!

Marie & Pacino


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## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

> My friend who does deaf dog rescue recommended this web site:
> http://www.deafdogs.org/[/B]










Thanks...I will pass that along!


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## Furbabymom (Dec 17, 2004)

Thank you so much for this site that I saved to my favorites.

Susan, Skeeter, Sassy, Panda & Lexi  





> My friend who does deaf dog rescue recommended this web site:
> http://www.deafdogs.org/[/B]


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## Furbabymom (Dec 17, 2004)

Marie,

We could find out where out who lives in New Jersey or close enough and have a fun play date later on in the summer or early fall. I would really enjoy arranging a play date for our babies once I get done more of these extensions. It would be a lot of fun.

Susan, Skeeter, Sassy, Panda & Lexi




[/QUOTE]

Oh, that's wonderful...we are not that far from each other...maybe someday we can arrange a play date for our babies!! That would be great for them!! Thank you, yes, everyone on here is very nice!!

Marie & Pacino
[/QUOTE]


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