Stop Press:

Deaf Dogs at Crufts 2003

Vicky Martin and Womble will be appearing at crufts this year on Saturday and Sunday Vicky say's "Womble will also be representing the NCDL at crufts as part of their agility team, so if anyone is going make sure you call by the ring and cheer the team on"

If you know of any other deaf dogs taking part in this years Crufts please contact us and we will post the details here.

We would like to organise something for Crufts 2004, maybe we could arrange a deaf dogs stand at Crufts to educate people about deaf dogs and what wonderful inteligent companions they can make - would anyone be interested in taking part ???

Bon Bon Finds a Home!

"Just a note to let you know that Bon-Bon our deaf black Lab has now been rehomed, in part thanks to the appeal on your website. Many Thanks - on behalf of the Labrador Lifeline Trust"

 

BERTIE PASSES KENNEL CLUB BRONZE GOOD CITIZEN AWARD !

Bertie took the bronze test last week and passed, he is also now taking part in agility classes which he loves!!

Petpager Vibrating Collar Review:

Thanks to Interpet who supplied us with a Vibrating Collar for review, the results of our testing can be seen by clicking here.

Tara stays with her owners: 20-02-02

We were contacted today by Home rescue with the following news: "I'm pleased to report that Tara is now actually being kept by her owners rather than being rehomed :-)"

DIZZY PASSES KENNEL CLUB BRONZE GOOD CITIZEN AWARD !

Dizzy passed her bronze 'Good Citizen' award this week:

She took the test whithout the examiner realising that she was deaf (we didn't want any special treatment) and passed with flying colours!

New links to vibrating collar information added to training section:

We have added some new links to information on the DDEAF site about vibrating collars, and will soon be adding information on where to obtain these in the UK, the current situation appears to be that they are not generally available, and a conversation with one distributor revealed that the 'Innotek' models apparently failed to get CE approval, but the distributor is sending us some information on other types which we will post as soon as we receive it.

New updated rehoming section added

The re-homing section of the site has been redesigned and is now all fully operational.
Please click here if you can offer a good home to a deaf dog - or know of one who needs a good home!

This Site is mentioned in the latest edition of "Your Dog" in the 'Dogs on the net' section

Mailing list for deaf - blind dog owners:

There is a mailing list for owners of dogs who are both deaf and blind:
click here to visit the list. If anyone has any information on the training and care of deaf-blind dogs please click here to send it to us as we would like to include some additional information in the training section.

Training:

We now have some contact details in the training section for anyone wishing to find a trainer in their area, only a few so far, but hopefully this will improve with time! There is now a section for trainers outside the UK so please click here to send in any details to be included

Bertie - a new member of the family.

Bertie has just joined the family he is a beautiful deaf white boxer puppy we will post some more pictures and information as soon as possible, at the moment he is settling in to his new home well and is sleeping beside me as I write this!! - more pictures in the Gallery

Bertie's progress:

Week 1.

Bertie is continuing to settle in well, he has been to the vet for his first vaccination and is starting to relax more and play with the other dogs. His house training is going well and he only has the occasional accident! We are practising the recall command with him and he is responding well (he is very keen to come to us at the moment anyway as everything is so new to him). We are looking for puppy classes in the area so that he can socialise with other pups once his vaccinations are completed.

He is very relaxed and wakes very calmly from his many naps (we haven't seen any evidence of the 'startle effect' on waking which some people claim to be a problem with deaf dogs - Dizzy has never had this problem either)

Week 2.

Bertie has now mastered the sit command and sits perfectly when we give him the sign.

Week 3

Dizzy has accepted Bertie well and plays with him, Bandit still has some problems accepting Bertie into the pack, and growls at him when he approaches uninvited, we have also just discovered that Bandit has a hip problem which may account for some of his grumpyness! Bertie is growing rapidly and looks as if he is going to be quite a big boy! He is now starting to understand the signs for 'OFF' (which is handy because he keeps getting up on the sofa uninvited) and the recall sign (he usually comes when he is 'called'). We are planning to start him in puppy classes at the beginning of September.

Week 4

Bertie is growing FAST he plays with Dizzy all the time! He is starting to play with Barney but still hasn't managed to persuade Bandit that he isn't a threat. He is due to start classes next week so we will see how he gets on with other dogs!

Weeks 5 - 8

Bertie is still growing fast and now going to puppy classes, he started off a little nervously and wasn't quite sure what to make of the other pups, but he is now starting to take it in his stride. So far he has learned sit, down, stay and come (although stay needs a lot of practise!). He makes new friends every week (both human and canine). His only problem at the moment is that he is a TERRIBLE traveller and will throw up and often poop every time we go in the car, so we have temporarily taken to sitting with him on our laps (yes - we know that it isn't as safe this way but we can't cope with clearing up the car three or four times per trip!). Hopefully he will settle down and get used to car travel soon!

Bertie Grows up and Dizzy's training progresses!

Bertie is now almost full grown and very handsome. He attends training classes with Dizzy twice a week and is always excited to see all the other dogs and their owners. He is now about eight months old, about a month ago he went to the vets to be neutered, he made a very quick recovery from the operation and was back home by lunchtime! He is standing next to me as I type this barking happily at the window (he must be able to see something that I can't!). Dizzy is continuing to do very well in her obedience classes, always amazing new members when they find out that she is deaf!