I have a 4 month old female Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix. She was the last born, and for the first few weeks she was real quiet, then started barking when crated or seemed like she was looking for attention. Her bark is real high pitched, very ear piercing and alot louder than her brother and sister. I have tried to clap my hands behind her, I think she feels the air behind her and responds...I call her name, she doesn't respond. My husband walked up behind her and snapped his fingers in both ears and nothing, no response, then she saw him and turned around. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions other than taking her to the vet to test her more to see if she's really deaf. She's aggressive, interactive with the other pups, play bites which I've read that they will bite harder if they can't hear. I didn't know if putting her in a room alone to test her and trying something to see if she really is deaf. Sometimes if I raise my voice, I think she hears me, other times I think it might be because the other dogs stop when spoken to. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!
DixieMom-Molly'sMommy

Is she white by any chance? the definitive way to test for deafness is by BAER testing. It sounds like she is partially deaf, at least. Good luck with her.

BAER testing is the only way to know for sure. If you check with the closest vet school they usually offer BAER testing at a discounted rate (like $50).

Otherwise, it's just guess work. I have a deaf Sheltie I rescued. They make great pets. You just have to approach training from a different way. My girl is totally trained with sign language (some "official" signs, some we just made up - like thumbs up means "good girl".). We did start her with a vibration collar as a puppy to teach her to watch us (like a shock collar, only it just vibrates a little like a pager - the one we got also had a beep feature that we could push to find her if she fell asleep somewhere we couldn't see her :). But by 8 months she didn't need the collar anymore. She's constantly watching us for signs that we are paying attention to her.

You'll probably want to keep the puppy yourselves unless you can find a suitable home that is prepared to take it on properly. My girl was dropped off at the Humane Society by her breeder because she couldn't find a home for her and didn't want her (really sad and irresponsible). My vet volunteered there and called me and asked me to foster her when she found out Sheltie Rescue couldn't come get her for at least a month... I ended up keeping her as I fell in love with her.

I would NOT repeat the breeding. It may be a fluke color issue - or it could be inherited. Again, it's guesswork. I just wouldn't try it again and see if it happens or not. It's probably a coin toss on whether it's inherited. And it could be just the pairing of the two dogs OR it could be a dominant trait inherited from just one parent... so you may want to seriously consider spaying/neutering both of them...

You don't HAVE to have the puppy BAER tested... but if you don't, I would assume it is deaf and start with training it accordingly. You'll need to work on teaching bite inhibition and make sure you work on things like waking the puppy up and such... The deaf dogs that bite are the ones who didn't have good socialization as puppies... or were socialized just like a hearing dog. They need some special consideration.

I do know a couple of great sites on line that talk about owning a deaf dog and training one. I can give you the links to them if you like?

that was going to be my next question, is the dog white? a lot of white Jack Russells= deafness

I picked up a lost what I believe to be a Chi/JRT mix and I do think she is either partially or fully deaf. I found her running down the middle of the main street outside our gated community. She wouldn't come near me - too frightened, so I sat on the sidewalk for probably an hour until she began to draw closer and closer to me. Eventually, I was able to get ahold of her and bring her home. I've alerted AC, but will keep her at home until owners call. Sadly, it doesn't seem that anyone is looking for her. I've posted signs, posted on CL, AC website. Anyway, I was searching to see if this was a common thing (deafness), and guess what.. she's white!