# Deafness at 12 years old



## iGirl

Over the last couple of months I noticed Phoebe was sleeping in more - but then more recently I've caught her acting startled when I came into her field of view. The more I thought about this I realized she wasn't hearing the footsteps. She wasn't getting up in the morning because she wasn't hearing us get up, or making noise in the kitchen.

I've given her the squeaky toy - and rattle the cookie jar tests behind her back, and sad to say she's completely deaf. 

We wil take her to the vet and get it checked, but may just have to accept it because hearing loss is common at her age. I just don't want to be foolish and spend $500+ to run all kinds of unnecessary tests... but by the same token if there is something simple that can be fixed, of course we would want to do it. The thing is, most places that discuss hearing loss in dogs say it's not preventable or treatable.

She's doing well otherwise - There aren't any other dogs, or kids in the house to scare her, and she is never off leash as fences aren't allowed here.

Happy 12th Birthday! (October 2015)


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## YogiBear's mom

We've had the same discovery with our 13 year old girl. She sleeps so soundly that sometimes I worry that she has died in her sleep. But then she wakes upon being touched. We are going to take her in just to double check that there isn't an ear infection or something going on as it seems as if it came on suddenly, but my guess is that she was compensating for a while and now those tricks aren't working.

Best of luck on this!


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## goldy1

Belated Happy Birthday to sweet Phoebe. She looks great.

Yes, unfortunately this is not uncommon. I think it's worth taking her in to be checked. They may be able to clean her ears so that she at least will have some hearing.

Good luck.


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## goldy1

Belated Happy Birthday to sweet Phoebe. She looks great.

Yes, unfortunately this is not uncommon. I think it's worth taking her in to be checked. They may be able to clean her ears so that she at least will have some hearing.

Good luck.


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## iGirl

YogiBear's mom said:


> She sleeps so soundly that sometimes I worry that she has died in her sleep.


I had that same feeling before realizing what was going on! She was out cold, not moving and wouldn't get up to any sound. Scary. If we don't find an ear infection, at least we'll now be able to make some adjustments for her. I've found a flashlight gets her attention sometimes.


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## CAROLINA MOM

Phoebe's beautiful, belated Happy 12th Birthday to her. 

I think it's pretty common for the Seniors to lose their hearing. My girl turned 11 in Dec., I have noticed that she doesn't hear as well as she use to. 

Definitely worth having her checked out though.


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## rooroch

My cocker was deaf at 12 and one of the labs at 13. As our dogs are off leash all the time I taught them hand signals. They would stop on a walk where there was a choice of direction and I would stick out the arm in the direction I wanted to go and off they went!!. Come here was a pat on my knees with both hands. They quickly learnt to look for different instructions. Good luck.


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## swishywagga

rooroch said:


> My cocker was deaf at 12 and one of the labs at 13. As our dogs are off leash all the time I taught them hand signals. They would stop on a walk where there was a choice of direction and I would stick out the arm in the direction I wanted to go and off they went!!. Come here was a pat on my knees with both hands. They quickly learnt to look for different instructions. Good luck.


Hand signals is a great idea, I did this with my old boy too, it was around 12 years old as well that I began to notice that he wasn't hearing as well. A very Happy Belated Birthday to your beautiful girl!


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## Jim18655

I had a deaf beagle that I stomped on the floor to get his attention, My daughter has a totally blind terrier mix that amazes me with how he gets around. He knows how to find the steps to the deck and how many steps to take between landings even though he only comes here every couple of months. She just moved and he learned the sound of the elevator and turns toward the one that arrived. Don't under estimate how smart and adaptable your dog is.


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## lgnutah

We have noticed that sometimes our 10 1/2 yr old Brooks doesn't hear things when he's sleeping (like someone coming home) whereas when he was younger he would always wake up if someone came in or even drove in the driveway.


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## fostermom

We lost our old girl back in August at 14 1/2. In the year before we lost her, we noticed that her hearing was going at a pretty quick rate. Then she had a Vestibular Disease episode. That can be brought on by an inner ear infection. Once we got some heavy duty antibiotics in her, her hearing got much better. She obviously had some age related hearing loss, but nothing like what she had before the antibiotics. Like you all mentioned, she would sleep so deeply and I couldn't wake her up and would think maybe she had passed in the night.

We stopped walking her off leash when her hearing got bad. She couldn't hear us call her and I was afraid she'd wander to far away and not know where she was, so she had to stay leashed.


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## Jim18655

lgnutah said:


> We have noticed that sometimes our 10 1/2 yr old Brooks doesn't hear things when he's sleeping (like someone coming home) whereas when he was younger he would always wake up if someone came in or even drove in the driveway.


"I'm not deaf - I'm ignoring you"


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## iGirl

Thanks all - after the vet visit we really don't know much more than before. They cleaned her ears ($42) and suggested trying Prednisone (which we have some from previous staph infections, as I don't like putting her on this for very long).

They suggested the option of going to a specialist, but I think it's unrealistic to chase a "cure" for something that's common in aging dogs.

Oh well, she's happy and that''s all that matters!

At the vet yesterday....


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## swishywagga

Glad everything went well at the vet. Great photo, love her wavy coat!.


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## CAROLINA MOM

She's beautiful.


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## iGirl

Good news! 

I'm happy to say the combination of the ear cleaning and Prednisone has actually helped! She has been shaking her head quite a bit in the last few days, (even before the vet visit) - so maybe something is loosening up.

She's now hearing again at least a little, if not quite a bit more. I came home yesterday and she was sleeping so I rapped my car key on the wall and she heard it. I can stomp on the hardwood flooring out of view and she'll now pop up and look around. I even tried a high pitched squeaky vocal sound behind her, this morning and she heard it.

This is a big improvement. She may not ever be back to 100% but we are cautiously optimistic that her recovery will stick around. 

Thanks again everyone.


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## Finn's Fan

Great news that your old girl has had some hearing restored


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## Andy3710

My vet has just confirmed hearing loss in my 12 year old guy. She prescribed steroid ear drops but is not optimistic that this will help his deafness.

It started the same way for us. He started ignoring us, sleeping a lot, being startled when we woke him up, not being at the door when we came home, etc. When I tested him with doorbells and squeaky toys, there was no response.

Andy knows some hand signals, but does anyone have any tips for communicating when he is not looking at me or nearby? For example, he used to come running when he heard his chow hit his bowl, but now I have to go find him and he doesn’t know what I want. He’s eager to please but he doesn’t know what I want him to do.

I read about vibrating (not shock) collars. Has anyone tried these? This might at least alert him to come to me.

I really want to help Andy but I’m not sure how.

Thanks in advance.

(Not sure why one photo is rotated)


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## Peri29

No vibrating whatever collars please.
You just need to touch the shoulder area in a very gentle way.
I am very happy your girl's hearing ability increased after the prednisone & cleaning. However, please be constant with cleaning. At least monthly cleaning via vinegar & water or /glycerine solution which has also preventative effect. The metabolism of dogs change with time and their tolerance. They are more prone to skin & ear infections with decreased immune system also which causes yeast to grow first of all in the ears. 
Having multiple dogs and they barking at least 18/24 hrs we communicate at home by shouting to eachother (( And having many multiple senior dogs around, unfortunately it effected me the most. When I speak, I have to speak much louder. And it became a habit ( 
With about to get deaf dogs, you shall already start practicing hand movements before they get totally deaf.


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## Peri29

Andy3710 said:


> My vet has just confirmed hearing loss in my 12 year old guy. She prescribed steroid ear drops but is not optimistic that this will help his deafness.
> 
> It started the same way for us. He started ignoring us, sleeping a lot, being startled when we woke him up, not being at the door when we came home, etc. When I tested him with doorbells and squeaky toys, there was no response.
> 
> Andy knows some hand signals, but does anyone have any tips for communicating when he is not looking at me or nearby? For example, he used to come running when he heard his chow hit his bowl, but now I have to go find him and he doesn’t know what I want. He’s eager to please but he doesn’t know what I want him to do.
> 
> I read about vibrating (not shock) collars. Has anyone tried these? This might at least alert him to come to me.
> 
> I really want to help Andy but I’m not sure how.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> (Not sure why one photo is rotated)


By the way, you have a golden Lion!!! So handsome.


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## pot of gold

My dog Bear went deaf at 12, a year later the vet gave him some antibiotics for his hot spot trouble.His hearing was back within a day.Unfortunately he died in his sleep, less then 3 days after his vet visit.We were told that he was in excellent condition for his age.I still am unable to overcome my anger with the vet,how could they not tell he was dying?


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