Every once in a while we get a special dog trainee at DognPooch. We happened to get one of them this week. Meet Fitz – a very special dog who is deaf and doing great!
This is his progress after just 24 hours of training. We worked with him to develop hand signals and to help him understand the pressure he feels from the e-collar.
Hand signals can include a fist motion to signal “sit”, a flat hand moving downwards to signal “down”, and a hand up to signal “stop”. Tapping your leg to signal “heel” is a great signal too.
Training a deaf dog could be challenging, expecially since we are so used to useing our words to communicate with our dogs, despite them not speaking English (or what ever languague you use at home). That’s why it is important to use a variety of training tools and techniques to help guide your dog into the behaviors you want.
With Fitz, we use the e-collar to get his attention – since he can’t hear, and then we can use hand signals to give him further instruction. In only 24 hours, he is doing a great job walking by our side. With some consistency, he’ll be trained in no time!
Here is another video of Fitz showing off his obedience skills. It is especially challenging to train a deaf dog and that is why we love e-collar training so much! It allows us to gently get his attention so he can figure out what we are asking him to do.
Owner’s Testimonial
We love hearing how we’ve touched the lives of the dogs we train and their owners. Check out this amazing testimonial from Fitz’s owners.
