My First Basenji and My Last Dog

[deafdogdusty]

Hello all,
I have a three year old male B/Min Pin mix who is deaf. I have had dogs all my life but a non-hearing dog was a first for me. I got him from a shelter and for four months I could not figure out why he would not respond to my commands. I even had a "trainer" tell me he was mentally retarded! When I figured out he was deaf and read everything I could find on the subject, he learned things so fast. Very smart dog, but boy can he push me around. I laugh at myself sometimes, but then I have to get back in the mode of "leader" and we're just fine.

He has been a joy and I sorta wished I had been exposed to this breed earlier, I was a ****er Spaniel kinda gal. So now, way less grooming, but still endless amount of love.

This is Dusty

[MacPack]

Dusty is darling1 How great that you ignored the trainer and figured out your little guy. They can be so smart that they "fake it" in many ways, making it hard to realize they are deaf, or don't see well. Kudos to you for being such a great mom!

[Buddys Pal]

Darling Dusty indeed! What a cutie, seems so close to a Basenji really….Yeah, glad you persisted with your heart and mind to figure out his deafness. Imagine his point of view that humans were soooooo stupid! Wonder if the other owners knew he was deaf...hope that 'trainer' knows this..you should tell her/him how you found that Dusty was not retarded in his development, it was the other way around!!!

[krunzer]

Very cute! Glad to hear you are making leaps and bounds with her training now that you know what is wrong. Do you do a lot of visual cues and hand gestures for your training then?

[deafdogdusty]

@krunzer:

Very cute! Glad to hear you are making leaps and bounds with her training now that you know what is wrong. Do you do a lot of visual cues and hand gestures for your training then?

Yes, I use lights to get his attention or wave my arms around so I often look like I'm landing a plane. I also use a combination of ASL signs and some that I've made up and he responds very well to them. I have to say he is one of the funniest dogs I've ever had. He is such a love bug.

[deafdogdusty]

@Buddys:

Darling Dusty indeed! What a cutie, seems so close to a Basenji really….Yeah, glad you persisted with your heart and mind to figure out his deafness. Imagine his point of view that humans were soooooo stupid! Wonder if the other owners knew he was deaf...hope that 'trainer' knows this..you should tell her/him how you found that Dusty was not retarded in his development, it was the other way around!!!

This little dog may not have the exact head shape of a B, but he has those ever famous wrinkles. They are so darn cute. His body is very much Basenji and when he walks he has what I call a 'My Little Pony' prance. I just love this little boy so much.

[deafdogdusty]

@MacPack:

Dusty is darling1 How great that you ignored the trainer and figured out your little guy. They can be so smart that they "fake it" in many ways, making it hard to realize they are deaf, or don't see well. Kudos to you for being such a great mom!

Thank you, I think he's a doll myself but I'm partial. You know with him not being able to hear he is very visual and he will watch TV with me. I find that so interesting. He likes animated movies like the ones from Pixar, I can not watch any program with dogs, cats, horses, cows, bears or basically any animal because he starts barking like he is going to be attacked at any given moment. But if we are outside, and we see dogs or other animals he doesn't do anything. Maybe he is just protecting his turf when he's inside. When I tell people that he is deaf, they always say 'oh poor thing' and I always tell them that he doesn't know anything different so he's fine. If he had been able to hear and the lost his hearing that would be much harder for him. But he's really smart and picked up on my sign language very quickly, so he's happy. I'm happy too. Although when he's being a bit unruly I find myself scolding him then I laugh because he can't hear me. Then I tell him 'lucky for you that you can't hear me mister' and I laugh.