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DeafDaneDad

DeafDaneDad

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Hello!
I'm DeafDaneDad, otherwise known as Sirius.

I'm a hearing interpreter student and the proud owner of a deaf white great dane, named Castiel. Along with my partner (henceforth known as Partner), and our four cats, Shinigami, Leo, Malp and DHD My partner has a blog about the challanges and trimumphs of training him: Deaf Dog Blog

I'm here looking for...well ....friends! I don't have any deaf friends that I can practice my sign with. Sure I can practice on my partner, but partner only has a limited vocabulary, and isn't that fast. And sure I could practice signing at Castiel but....he'll just look at me like I'm stupid and can't really talk back you know?

I'm going to George Brown Collage here in Toronto Ont, Canada, in the fall to start on the road to becoming an interpreter. I then want to go on to become a deaf-blind interveanter, perhaps after a few years working as an interpreter.

My over arching goal is to one day uproot the family (Partner, Castiel, and the cats) and move us all across the pond to the UK. Though I think it might be tough having to relearn a new sign language.

My bigest faults I think are my spelling. It gets kinda....special. I'm not a very good speller and it comes out in my fingerspelling of some things. My instructors used to say that my facial expressions though were really good!

So here's hoping to finding some deaf friends to help me with my signing!

DeafDaneDad
 
Hi Sirius,

I just read your partner's blog and enjoyed it very much. Loved the entry about crates! They certainly are life-savers. Most dogs will love their crates if they are introduced as a quiet and safe place to go for a nap. I have two dogs: Pippin and Casey, both miniature poodles. Pippin came to us as an adult, already house-trained. Casey we got as a puppy. We started crate-training him immediately, as an aid to house-breaking and as a safe place for him to sleep at night, as well as a good place to be to stay out of our way while making dinner, etc.

He LOVES his crate. He is now 2 1/2 years old, doesn't sleep in a crate at night any more, but whenever we go anyplace in the car (a station wagon), he's in his crate in the back. I open the hatch, say "up," and he jumps in immediately. In fact, he loves his crate so much, he has tried to jump into the car when the hatch was still closed, and bounced off the rear window, much to his surprise.

In theory, poodles are smart. Sometimes he seems determined to prove otherwise. ;-/

Are you going to take puppy kindergarten and obedience classes with your dog? It will be harder to get his attention if he can't hear you, but every single command is given with both a hand signal and a verbal command. Just delete the verbal and you can still train him.

Both my dogs will respond to hand signals alone for commands like sit, stay/wait, down, through (a trick I taught them to weave through my legs), come, up, and a few other things.

I used the Nothing in Life is Free theory (i.e, they have to sit before getting the ok to eat their dinner, before going out a door, before entering the car, etc.), and it works well. Makes them focus on me and what I want them to do, and helps keep them safe.

Also I have noted that much as I'd like to believe my dogs do things because they love me, the difference between how quickly they get the idea from me alone vs. me armed with a several small bits of hot dogs is quite the reality check. ;-)

Anyway, welcome to the forum. I'm looking forward to hearing more about you and your dog. (How do you pronounce his name? Like Cast-ee-el or Cast-eel or - something else?)
 
Hi,

I wrote a long answer, but when I tried to post it, got a response "administrater will post it after approval" or something like that.

Anyway, welcome, from one dog owner to another. I like the blog about your dog. Yes, crates definitely are a life-saver!

Will you be taking your pup to puppy kindergarten classes? You can teach him every command he needs to know by visual signs. Dogs are more visual than verbal anyway, so every command has its corresponding sign. My two poodles know come, sit, down, stay/wait, up, and several other things both by words and by visual signs alone.

I can't help you with your signing to people, as I don't know a thing, but I hope you find someone here who can fill that role.
 
Hi. I rescue deaf dogs and I am deaf. I find them the best, most attentive and easier to train.
 
Beach Girl: Yah we're taking him to puppy classes in a few weeks. We have to take him to get second shots and proof of deworming first. He goes for second shots on saturday. Cas knows Sit and Come and No right now. But he's only 13 weeks!

Bottesini: That's cool that you rescue the deaf pups. We need more people who'll rescue/adopt them. Its not THEIR fault their deaf. When people find out my Cas is deaf, we go "Shh! We're not telling him!"
 
:wave:DeafDaneDad!
Cas is adorable:D I love Danes. I'm a trainer and involved in rescue and shelter work, also train much with my own dogs, of which I have three.
Have done some work with deaf dogs.
I have two Rotties and a 13 yr. old Lab.
My youngest Rottie just turned 1 year. She is our third Rottie baby:D
I'm hoh <new>
hubby has Congenital Rubella Syndrome
 
DeafDaneDad said:
Beach Girl: Yah we're taking him to puppy classes in a few weeks. We have to take him to get second shots and proof of deworming first. He goes for second shots on saturday. Cas knows Sit and Come and No right now. But he's only 13 weeks!

Bottesini: That's cool that you rescue the deaf pups. We need more people who'll rescue/adopt them. Its not THEIR fault their deaf. When people find out my Cas is deaf, we go "Shh! We're not telling him!"
Click to expand...

DDEAF - Deaf Dog Friendly Rescues & Shelters - USA Multi-State

Here is an organization if anybody wants to adopt deaf dogs.
:lol: At the bolded. :deaf: and I thought it was a superior way of being. :hmm:

I think my being deaf make a deaf dog perfect for me. I am pretty sure there are more deaf people , than deaf dogs available to adopt.
 
Woohoo! I do know deaf dogs can be trained to very high levels. There is even a special fielt trial/hunt test circuit strictly for deaf dogs. The only difference? Instead of using whistle commands, they use a vibrating collar.
 
How cool; I didn't know they had such a thing for competition.

The only experience I've had with deaf dogs was when our elderly dog began to lose his hearing a little bit a few months before he died. When he no longer barked when the phone rang, I knew his hearing was going.
 
@misty Lilly: Yep that's our Cas at 6 weeks. He's MUCH bigger than that now! almost dubbled in size and starting to look more like a Dane every day!!

@Phillips: HORSIE! (Sorry I'm immature....GOD i miss horseback riding,....)

@Dixie: Once he's old enough, we're getting Cas a vibration collar. It'll be his look at me/recall command. He's just too small right now.
 
Awwww that picture of your puppy is soooo cute!

:welcome: to AD!

There was another ADer who dedicated her life to rescuing Cane Corsos...she doesnt come here anymore, unfortunately.
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. Just enjoy reading and posting all the threads here. See you around here. :wave:
 
As a HOH and an ASL 1 student, I believe there is still room for improvement. I think as long as you utilize your facial expressions and try your best to act out or sign what you want to say, deaf or HOH people will understand you because ASL in my opinion is about how one person expresses themself and that's what I love about learning this language. Just keep working on your fingerspelling and you'll get it buddy, I believe in you! I have a difficult time reading my teacher's fingerspelling because he goes so fast.

Most kids in my class don't take ASL seriously or even our teacher nor do they care about the deaf culture. Most say they're taking it because it's easy. They will talk in class when they have signed the "No English in Class" contract, they will use their phones during small group work, and just laugh hysterically. That pisses me off because my teacher (deaf) Tim (who is the sweetest, most caring teacher I've ever had) doesn't deserve that type of disrespect.

Any ideas of how I can change their minds about the deaf culture? And about ASL?

Have a great night! Nice to meet you too!!!

P.S. I was born with empathy so I understand what it must feel like to be in your shoes. It's not entirely fun when my mother yells at because I say "What?" a lot or ask for repitition.
 
Tbone- there's really not much you can do in those instances. I mean you can TRY and talk to them, get them to see the language for the beautiful dance it is. I've had people ask me WHY I wanted to learn sign. I say "Why not?" Though alot of my friends love to watch me sign as they say its "beautiful'.
You could try having them watch youtube videos of signed songs. I know that CaptainValour on Youtube does popular/well known songs and it might apeal to them. You could be like "Look, if you take the class seriously, YOU TOO could do this!"

I'm working on it, My partner throws things at me (kidding, not really) when I spell stuff wrong. Lol!
 
That is so not cool to have your partner throw things at you and thanks for the advice DDD, it means a lot. There are a few people who take the class seriously but there is a handful that just don't care for it.

Like I've told Beachgirl and others in this forum, I know that I will progessively be losing my hearing as I get older. I'm a tad bit scared but thankfully I'm learning a language that will help me in the future!
 
What are taking besides ASL? Do you intend to make career of ASL in some way, or just use it as a communication tool while you follow a career in some other area?

Best advice I can give you is keep following your interests and stay open-minded about where it all might lead.
 
Partner doesn't ACTUALLY throw things. Its more I get a funny look or partner will correct me by going "You sure?" And If i'm not I'm like "....How do you spell *insert word here*?" When I get that 'your asking me again!' look I go "I'm working on my spelling! your helping!"
(we do love each other, insanely much. We bicker like an old married couple and when people ask us how long we've been together and we tell them roughly two years, their like 0_0 "Only two years?!")
 
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