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SPCA for Monterey County offers training for deaf dogs | The Salinas Californian | thecalifornian.com
Meet Jasmine, a 3-year-old Australian cattle-dog mix who's been deaf since she was a puppy.
Jasmine and her owner, Kim Madolora of Salinas, will be among the first participants of Deaf Dogs 101, a new dog-training class offered by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for Monterey County.
The classes begin Sept. 1 and are aimed at helping owners communicate better with their hard-of-hearing hounds.
Beth Brookhouser, the SPCA's director of community outreach, said they have wanted to provide the training for quite some time.
While the SPCA has had deaf dogs in its care, Brookhouser said, none is housed at this time. She said "Zeus," a partially deaf 8-year-old pit bull mix, was recently adopted.
The classes are meant to provide dog owners with more insight for communicating more effectively through hand signals and body language, Brookhouser said, because deaf dogs aren't able to respond to voice commands.
The thing about deaf dogs, she said, is that they communicate a little bit differently and require more understanding on the part of the owner when it comes to training.
"Otherwise, they are highly adoptable and very wonderful dogs," Brookhouser said.
Other tips participants can pick up include new ways to wake up their dogs without startling them and how to "call" them back when they get out of the house, she said.
Madolora said she was unaware Jasmine was deaf when she first came in as a puppy.
"I just thought she was so adorable," she recalled.
Even when she was told Jasmine was deaf, Madolora said, it didn't deter her from wanting to adopt her.
Madolora, a dispatcher/customer service at the SPCA, said she would like to communicate better with Jasmine and work on reducing the volume of her bark, things she hopes to accomplish in the new class.
Meet Jasmine, a 3-year-old Australian cattle-dog mix who's been deaf since she was a puppy.
Jasmine and her owner, Kim Madolora of Salinas, will be among the first participants of Deaf Dogs 101, a new dog-training class offered by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for Monterey County.
The classes begin Sept. 1 and are aimed at helping owners communicate better with their hard-of-hearing hounds.
Beth Brookhouser, the SPCA's director of community outreach, said they have wanted to provide the training for quite some time.
While the SPCA has had deaf dogs in its care, Brookhouser said, none is housed at this time. She said "Zeus," a partially deaf 8-year-old pit bull mix, was recently adopted.
The classes are meant to provide dog owners with more insight for communicating more effectively through hand signals and body language, Brookhouser said, because deaf dogs aren't able to respond to voice commands.
The thing about deaf dogs, she said, is that they communicate a little bit differently and require more understanding on the part of the owner when it comes to training.
"Otherwise, they are highly adoptable and very wonderful dogs," Brookhouser said.
Other tips participants can pick up include new ways to wake up their dogs without startling them and how to "call" them back when they get out of the house, she said.
Madolora said she was unaware Jasmine was deaf when she first came in as a puppy.
"I just thought she was so adorable," she recalled.
Even when she was told Jasmine was deaf, Madolora said, it didn't deter her from wanting to adopt her.
Madolora, a dispatcher/customer service at the SPCA, said she would like to communicate better with Jasmine and work on reducing the volume of her bark, things she hopes to accomplish in the new class.