Is she REALLY deaf?

[PitbullGirl]

I have a friend with a completely deaf Bull Terrier...she was purchased about 2 months ago at a little over 8 weeks and the breeder had no clue she was deaf when she was sold. Riley has been doing wonderfully learning comands by sign language and her owner is totally committed to her. She is LONG passed the denial stage, BUT...
A few days ago, when out for a potty break, Riley was acting like she could hear the crickets! Then, the next day, my friend was behind her and said, "Hello Riley-Roo!" (she talks to her even though she knows Riley is deaf) and she turned around and looked right at her with full attention! Today, my friends mother was outside and Riley was sniffing around the yard...he mother said something to her and Riley snapped around looking startled! Gave her mother full attention! My friend then wistled and Riley snapped around and looked straight at her and came over!
Riley's hearing was tested before and all exams pointed to total deafness, yet within the past few days, she is acting like she is hearing things! There were no vibrations on the ground to get her attention, so all they can think is that maybe she really IS hearing!
Has anyone ever experienced spontaneous hearing in deaf bullies? She called the vet and they never heard of that before, but then again Riley is the first deaf dog they've had there. So, any thoughts? My friend is scheduling an appointment for a check up on the hearing thing...it just totally threw her for a loop because she had never heard of such a thing before! She is NOT in deniel either, so...any thoughts, opinions or experiences that I can pass on to my friend would be greatly appreciated

[mnp13]

I was 90% deaf as a child. I had constant severe ear infections and very poor drainage (much worse than the 'normal' poor drainage) in my ears as well. When we fixed those problems I regained my hearing. Perhaps this was something she had to grow out of and she is regaining the hearing now.

I know nothing about canine ear physiology, but with people the reason that children have lots of ear infections is because the ustation (sp?) tubes that go from the ear to the throat for drainage are parallel or even uphill. As you grow, they begin to slope downwards so the ears begin to drain correctly and no more infections.

She may have had a physical problem preventing her hearing, instead of a genetic one.

Michelle

[mare]

Wow! My Sophie IS deaf, this I know for sure. There are times when she acts like she can hear. When my hubby works late and comes in (our bedroom is right at the front door), Sophie knows! She has actually been sleeping and woke up. It was freaking me out, but then I realized she is SMELLING him. He is a printer, so he comes home with ink odors and because her smell is SO acute, she knows he is home. Now, he is changing jobs soon, so we shall see what happens...she has also looked up when we called her (I always talk to her) and she has gone to the door when a noisy car/truck has passed by. But I think they were just coincidences. Because my hubby is a volunteer firefighter and when his pager goes off--he insists on keeping it very loud--she does not react. She has not reacted to thunder, the smoke alarm, barking dogs, etc. We often have to wake her up in the morning even though she does sleep with us...ahh, the life of my pitbull princess.

I agree with Michelle-Riley's problem could be physical. I am glad she is getting another checkup! IMO, she seems to be hearing. That whistling really makes me wonder!!!

Please let us know what happens. I hope everything works out and if she ISN'T deaf, whatever was/is wrong can be fixed, if it is not starting already...and if it was coincidences, Riley will still be happy because she has an owner who loves her no matter what!

[PitbullGirl]

Thanks for your opinions and advice...I will definetly keep you updated on her progress and what the vet finds...Granted, my pitties aren't deaf, but for a while there we were concerned about Orion (he is predominantly white) Turns out he just has selective hearing But it will be interesting to find out about Riley and her condition

[heatherlyn]

It's impossible to tell the extent of hearing loss without a BAER test.

With Brisbee, we THINK he is unilaterally deaf (deaf in one ear) which originally made him appear to be almost completely deaf using all the 'homemade' tests at our vet. As he learned to recognize our voices he appeared to magically be able to 'hear'. What happens is that with hearing in just one ear you can't localize sound. Once we started working with him he learned our voices were something to pay attention to. It was funny when he was younger because if ANYONE called his name he would look at us, not the person that called his name. Now I don't notice anything that would indicate that Brisbee is partially deaf other than a sound sensitivity.

If she really wants to know if the dog is deaf or has partial hearing, here is a list of vets that do BAER testing and some other relevant links:
http://www.lsu.edu/deafness/baerexpl.htm
http://www.lsu.edu/deafness/deaf.htm
http://www.lsu.edu/deafness/baersite.htm
http://www.deafdogs.org

[pitbullforever]

my parents have a blind cat and sometimes (most of the time) she acts like she can see. she just picks up her other instents (hearing, feeling, smelling, etc.) maybe its' the same with a deaf dog.