Miss-Delectable
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Byron Crawford: Couple taught new deaf dog some old tricks
Jasper is deaf.
His owners, Pamla Wood and Steven Shindle, didn't realize at first that the 4-month-old Great Pyrenees puppy they had gotten from friends could not hear.
"After we'd had him home for a while I became convinced that he wasn't hearing," said Wood. "He didn't respond to voice in any way. I can yell. I can try to make a high note or a low note. He doesn't hear any of that."
But Wood and Shindle have taught Jasper -- now 1 1/2 -- a series of hand signals for everyday activities around their 40-acre farm above the Kentucky River Palisades in Mercer County.
The "sit" signal, for example, is a fist gently nodding up and down.
"Stay" is the open palm pointed upward.
"Good dog" is a thumbs up.
"A friend of ours is an American Sign Language translator, and when she came over she was like, 'That's not what that means,' " said Wood. "But to train a dog, it's all what you train the dog to."
So Wood and Shindle have chosen the most simple signals for Jasper, hoping they also would make sense to guests at the farm, or to children who might want to play with him. In all there are about 15 signs.
"No" is to shake the forefinger back and forth. "Get back" is the back of the hand pushing away. "Lie down" is an open palm parallel to the floor and waved in a downward motion.
There are signals for going outside, going to bed (tilting a cheek to the hand), walking, being quiet, coming here and "Do you want a drink?"
"It's just like talking to him," said Shindle. "He really learns it."
"The challenge was to try to make him look at me," said Wood. "But he's just like any kid. If he doesn't want to see what you're telling him to do, he looks the other way."
Meagan Stange, a veterinary assistant at Jefferson Animal Hospital and Regional Emergency Center in Louisville, said that while the medical staff occasionally sees dogs that are deaf, the condition is not common.
"We see it occasionally as a congenital issue in young dogs, but more so in the older dogs from having chronic, prolonged ear infections, diabetes or other contributing conditions," said Stange.
Though Jasper appears profoundly deaf, Wood and Shindle say he responds from other rooms in the house when there are footsteps on the wood floors, and he often reacts to hearing farm machinery in nearby fields, a train in the distance or cars coming up the driveway.
True to his breed as a flock guardian, Jasper spends nights outdoors watching over a small herd of goats on the farm. And one day soon, the couple plans to place a flock of sheep under Jasper's care.
"The funniest thing is, I sometimes have a very percussive sneeze, and he'll be sitting next to me in my office and he just jumps up and barks and wants to go outside and see what's there," said Wood. "He doesn't know where it came from, but he knows there was a noise and he wants to take care of it."
Jasper is deaf.
His owners, Pamla Wood and Steven Shindle, didn't realize at first that the 4-month-old Great Pyrenees puppy they had gotten from friends could not hear.
"After we'd had him home for a while I became convinced that he wasn't hearing," said Wood. "He didn't respond to voice in any way. I can yell. I can try to make a high note or a low note. He doesn't hear any of that."
But Wood and Shindle have taught Jasper -- now 1 1/2 -- a series of hand signals for everyday activities around their 40-acre farm above the Kentucky River Palisades in Mercer County.
The "sit" signal, for example, is a fist gently nodding up and down.
"Stay" is the open palm pointed upward.
"Good dog" is a thumbs up.
"A friend of ours is an American Sign Language translator, and when she came over she was like, 'That's not what that means,' " said Wood. "But to train a dog, it's all what you train the dog to."
So Wood and Shindle have chosen the most simple signals for Jasper, hoping they also would make sense to guests at the farm, or to children who might want to play with him. In all there are about 15 signs.
"No" is to shake the forefinger back and forth. "Get back" is the back of the hand pushing away. "Lie down" is an open palm parallel to the floor and waved in a downward motion.
There are signals for going outside, going to bed (tilting a cheek to the hand), walking, being quiet, coming here and "Do you want a drink?"
"It's just like talking to him," said Shindle. "He really learns it."
"The challenge was to try to make him look at me," said Wood. "But he's just like any kid. If he doesn't want to see what you're telling him to do, he looks the other way."
Meagan Stange, a veterinary assistant at Jefferson Animal Hospital and Regional Emergency Center in Louisville, said that while the medical staff occasionally sees dogs that are deaf, the condition is not common.
"We see it occasionally as a congenital issue in young dogs, but more so in the older dogs from having chronic, prolonged ear infections, diabetes or other contributing conditions," said Stange.
Though Jasper appears profoundly deaf, Wood and Shindle say he responds from other rooms in the house when there are footsteps on the wood floors, and he often reacts to hearing farm machinery in nearby fields, a train in the distance or cars coming up the driveway.
True to his breed as a flock guardian, Jasper spends nights outdoors watching over a small herd of goats on the farm. And one day soon, the couple plans to place a flock of sheep under Jasper's care.
"The funniest thing is, I sometimes have a very percussive sneeze, and he'll be sitting next to me in my office and he just jumps up and barks and wants to go outside and see what's there," said Wood. "He doesn't know where it came from, but he knows there was a noise and he wants to take care of it."