How to train a deaf dog to stop barking may seem impossible. So how do you do it? You do it without sound. Just because you can’t use sound, this doesn’t mean you can’t communicate with your deaf dog. Deaf people can communicate without sound, and so can your deaf dog! Can you then learn how to train a deaf dog to stop barking? Yes, you can!
You can train your deaf dog to stop barking using hand signals, light and vibration.
We will get into each of the techniques in this article. Deafness is not necessarily a complete show-stopper. In fact, it only enhances other natural abilities the dog already has, which you can use to train it not to bark.
Consider that certain dog breeds are more naturally susceptible to deafness than others. Did you know, for instance, that 1 of every 3 Dalmatians are born deaf in one or both ears? And yet Dalmatians can function normally despite these shortcomings because of their keen sense of sight and high energy levels.
Barking Because of Deaf Dog Separation Anxiety
What’s the cause of your dog’s barking? Deaf dogs in the throes of a barking episode because of separation anxiety are difficult though not impossible to train. They require a special approach to keep them from tearing things up when you are gone, or from urinating and defecating their surroundings. These problems are overwhelming when your dog hears you. How much worse can it be when you cannot communicate with your dog!
Nonetheless, keep in mind that an anxious dog is not acting out because of its deafness. Your dog is being destructive or annoying because it is irritated, resulting from what your dog perceives through its other active senses. So, be patient and don’t get mad at your pooch. Use your dog’s sensitivity to your advantage.
To stop a deaf dog from barking due to separation anxiety, you will first need to understand your dog’s anxiety symptoms to deal with them.
Breaking Separation Anxiety That Makes Deaf Dogs Bark
Between deaf dogs and hearing dogs there is very little difference in what to convey to the animal to overcome its separation anxiety. The stresses are about the same. Simply put, deaf dogs may be a bit more prone to separation anxiety because they already feel some exclusion due to their inability to hear. If you disappear, there is no more signaling of what to pay attention to, than if they could hear even if you were not in their presence and they knew you’re still around by the sounds you make. But they still can be communicated the same message as a hearing dog to deal with this anxiety.
To start addressing your dog’s separation anxiety, you will need a crate or kennel where to leave your dog for short periods, even when you don’t have to. Follow these instructions for more specific guidance on how to crate train your dog. Don’t start out big. Make these experiences short and rewarding by using treats. You have to teach your dog that being alone is good.
While your deaf dog is alone, it may destroy its bed and surroundings. So, you may want to opt for some tools-of-the-trade. One useful tool in the process of breaking your deaf or hearing impaired dog’s separation anxiety is a chew proof mat. It can get expensive to replace beds repeatedly, so this option may be less expensive in the long-run.
It’s a tool that helps you reinforce the lesson to your dog that it is okay to be alone. How? Well, obviously by dispensing a treat once you’ve taught the dog what the toy is for. When you activate the toy to dispense that treat, it will toss one at your pup in your absence to reinforce that being alone if fine.
But how do you ultimately teach all this to your deaf dog? Tell me how to train a deaf dog to stop barking once and for all!
How Do Vibrating Collars, Flashlights, and Hand Signals Stop a Deaf Dog’s Bark
The first and most important step is to compel attention from your deaf dog to train it. Without getting its attention, you will never be able to communicate that you want the barking to end. So, since it is unable to hear, obviously you won’t use vocal commands to teach. But you will use the dog’s remaining senses, which tend to be extra keen. A deaf dog feels. A deaf dog sees. A deaf dog smells. Use these senses to communicate the behavior expectations you have for your dog, using the science-based dog training techniques of positive and negative reinforcement.
Vibrating collars, flashlights and hand signals with treats will accomplish this task. Let’s take a look at these three and their application in how to train a deaf dog to stop barking.
Vibrating Collar
A vibrating collar is a highly effective dog training collar for getting your dog’s attention precisely when it starts barking. These humane collars do not cause any pain to your pup. The vibrating units are usually quite small. Though they may seem uncomfortable to your pet at first, they do no harm to your dog by design.
How does it work?
You press a button on a remote control and a pair of nodes in the collar around your deaf dog’s neck vibrate. These secure the dog’s attention right when you hear your dog bark the moment it no longer can see you and thinks that you’ve disappeared.
You press a button to engage the vibration and gain a minimum reaction from your dog, just enough to catch its attention, enough so that it stops momentary barking. As soon as the dog stops barking, you press the button again to cease to vibrate the collar. Then, present the dog with a treat. If you’re using a dispenser, then have it toss one to the dog. Reward the silence.
If the dog begins to bark again, repeat the process. Vibrate to catch the dog’s attention, sufficiently to have it stop barking. The moment there is silence, reward with a treat. Do this a few times, then remove the collar. They are not meant for regular wear but only for training purposes.
Once you have taught your dog to give attention to the training collar’s annoying vibrations when the animal strains to bark, yet the annoyance goes away and a treat replaces it when it no longer strains to bark, you are ready for the next phase of training your deaf dog not to bark.
Flashlights
Now your dog knows not to bark because of vibrations. But what if it is not wearing its training collar and it starts barking? How will it know to stop if it cannot feel the signal? You can train your deaf dog not to bark using a flashlight from a distance.
For effectiveness with these flashlight tools, a dog owner must utilize a light that the dog will see with its peripheral vision, not a spotlight that concentrates light on a singular bright point. Some dogs have compulsive behaviors and will simply look at the spot as a play-thing, rather than associate it with your command and become triggered.
The goal is always to put your dog’s attention on your command. Therefore, it is important not to relate flashlight exercises with play-time but with stop barking.
There is a possible drawback to using a flashlight when gaining your hearing impaired pet’s concentration. If your pooch is looking completely away from you, you will not be able to flash the light in its eyes. So, if it is very important that you gain the attention of your pooch at a distance when it’s barking, then the vibrating collar may be your only option.
Though rare, some dogs might become frightened by a flash of light, which will make it more difficult to use it for positive reinforcement training and is especially bad in dogs that have anxiety already. But test the exercise on your dog and learn what works best.
The moment your dog starts to bark, distract him with strobes of light. If it stops barking, toss a treat its way. If it starts barking again, strobe the light in its face. The instant it stops barking, toss a treat its way. Reward the silence, distract the noise away.
Eventually, your dog will give its attention to you whenever you flash strobes of light on its face, because it will be expecting a treat. Use this to your advantage, as it is the communication bridge for the next part of the training.
Hand Signals
A deaf dog won’t always be able to see your hands if it starts to bark. But don’t underestimate the power of hand signals. They are a necessary part of training a deaf dog to stop barking. The importance of hand signals comes after ensuring that we’re able to secure the dog’s attention the moment it begins to bark, using either vibrating collars or strobe flashlights.
Hand signals enable us visually to convey multiple commands clearly to our deaf pooch once we have gained its attention. We can use hand signals to teach our pups to do many things. How do you signal to your deaf dog to stop barking, if it is looking at you?
When your dog looks to you, present a hand signal. A “thumbs-up” means pay attention. Let the dog follow your hand for a moment. Then, quickly flip your thumb down and turn your hand into a fist and present your deaf dog with a “jackpot” of treats with your other hand, whether the dog was barking or not. We must clearly communicate this way to the hearing impaired dog that what it looked at carries positive consequences if the dog concentrates for a moment.
This is a major distraction factor in getting the dog to stop doing whatever it was doing before in exchange for a very positive outcome, if that thumb flips downward. The more that you build this foundation through repetition, the more your deaf pup’s focus will concentrate on your hand the moment you make the dog turn in your direction to see a thumb pointing up waiting, after you flash a strobe of light on its face.
Distraction is key to success in training a deaf dog to stop one behavior for another using hand signals.
How to Train a Dog to Stop Barking Won’t Happen Overnight
None of these results will happen overnight. But with consistency and resolve, you can teach your deaf dog to stop barking. In fact, using these methods you can also teach your deaf dog anything a hearing dog can learn, because by catching the dog’s attention and signaling something you reward the dog for doing, you will be reinforcing that very behavior!
Plus, you can use these methods with the knowledge that your deaf dog is safe and comfortable. A deaf don’t deserve no punishment for failing to do what it cannot be expected to do. It simply cannot hear. But with love and patient it can learn to understand you, if you first come to understand how best to communicate uniquely with it.