Need some help my best bud lost his hearing

S

springertime

New member
My 11 yr old springer (Cade) and I (now 73) want to go on 1 last hunting trip to South Dakota something we enjoyed since he was a pup. In the last few months he's lost all or most of his hearing. Always used e-collar on him, used tone function to reel him in when he's out of range. Without the e-collar he's a hard charger mostly out of range. Took him out the other day for a run hoping I could use the vibration function in place the tone but there was no response. He cannot hear the tone sound anymore, and the vibration mode seems fairly weak on my unit. I have only used the shock function when he didn't respond to tone. My e-collar has only 1 setting for vibration. My questions are as follows: are there e-collars with various vibration settings, has anyone ever had experience hunting with a deaf dog, does anyone have any other suggestions. Thanks Mike
 
Unless you don't mind investing in a new unit, I would dial the intensity back on the shock collar and give him a nick. If he's a hard charger it probably won't hurt him much. Just watch him closely. If he comes back and walks with you after the nick, it's time for plan B.
 
Last year I used the lowest shock setting that would get her to turn around and see me so I could hand signal.
I have Grouse hunted my deaf dog twice this year with no problems but it is risky. Im not sure I will take her to Iowa this year now. Im leaning towards no. At 13 there's more than her hearing that could be an issue but she still has the ability to find game in a limited capacity.
 
Use the shock when he doesn’t respond to the vibration mode just as you did with when tone training. Probably a smart, wise old boy, he will get it ! Wondering if you have ran a beeper on him during his hunting career ?
 
Not sure what you mean by beeper. Very early on I trained him to return on whistle and the tone mode. My units vibration mode is very subtle no response at all. Ordered dogtra 280C after discussion with several folks, the vibration mode is supposed to be attention getting.
 
By beeper I was referring to beeper locator collar or bell on collar wondering if this may have attributed to the hearing loss. As this also happened to my Griff .
 
I am of the opinion that some beeper collars do contribute to old age hearing loss.

I had one collar that I glued 1 inch PVC to each speaker and then stuffed the PVC with some amount of cotton to deaden the volume.

Not sure how effective that was but that dog lived to 15 without any hearing loss that I could tell.

I have since moved on to the Garmin Alpha system and don't have to worry about any noise.
 
This is why leash training and quartering are so important. There is little you can do with a collar if this discipline was never imposed. I don't run a collar on my female Springer as she doesn't need it. The first time I hunted at my new lease, one guy insisted on my collaring my dog, " or she will ruin the hunt." I told him " dinner and drinks are on you, if she doesn't." Turned out his collared dog stole a flush and retrieve from my 14 year old male. He bought that night. You won't change an old dog's behavior. He doesn't know what you want from him. I'd suggest just jumping small patches of ditch cover where he's in gun range, instead of trying to control him in row crops or shelterbelts.
 
springertime said:
My 11 yr old springer (Cade) and I (now 73) want to go on 1 last hunting trip to South Dakota something we enjoyed since he was a pup. In the last few months he's lost all or most of his hearing. Always used e-collar on him, used tone function to reel him in when he's out of range. Without the e-collar he's a hard charger mostly out of range. Took him out the other day for a run hoping I could use the vibration function in place the tone but there was no response. He cannot hear the tone sound anymore, and the vibration mode seems fairly weak on my unit. I have only used the shock function when he didn't respond to tone. My e-collar has only 1 setting for vibration. My questions are as follows: are there e-collars with various vibration settings, has anyone ever had experience hunting with a deaf dog, does anyone have any other suggestions. Thanks Mike
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My brother has a completely deaf 14 year old dog that gets around amazing for her age. For the past 2 years we give her hunts by herself with a tracking collar and just follow the dog. This doesn’t answer your question but at this stage and the short walks she can make it feels right to just let her do her thing. If she has never been stimulated with shock I’m not sure I could try that on a 14 year old friend.. good luck!
 
My 16 year old golden is totally deaf. I have a sport dog vibrating collar that I have started to work with. Before I nicked her lightly but felt bad. Ran into a couple in the campground with a deaf lab. They affixed an air tag to his collar so they can find him if he gets lost. Oh I have gotten a couple roosters over her this year.
 
It's tough hunting with a deaf dog and can lead to some anxious moments. I had a deaf Brittany that got lost in heavy cover and cattails. Took some time to find him. You can vibrate them and shock them but if they can't see you they have no idea where you are. Years ago I also had a friend from Colorado bring a deaf dog to South Dakota. That dog got lost twice in unpicked corn fields. Thought we would never find him. Once we did he was back in the truck never to come again. The dog's instnct is to follow their nose and that can lead them away from you. If you bring a deaf dog to SD be very careful in the type of cover you hunt them. Probably the safest way would be with a GPS collar, that way you would always know where they are at.
 
Is your pup whistle trained? Can he hear a whistle? Lot of times the whistle pitch is detectable with some hearing loss in dogs.
 
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