| So Your Dog Is Deaf? |
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| Ok, so you want the serious side of this web site? Here ya go! Dalmatians are the leaders in incidences of deafness but are VERY closely followed by Australian Shepherds (Aussies) due to merle to merle breedings, Border Collies, White Boxers, Australian Cattle Dogs, etc. You name the breed and we've seen just about every breed pop up with a deaf dog in it. The American Kennel Club recognizes 148 breeds. Other organizations around the world acknowledge more or fewer depending on where they are. In Dr. Strain's studies, he identified 73 breeds with congenital (genetic) deafness. The truth fo the matter is that ALL breeds - even the non-breeds like our 'All American' Heinze 57 Mix - are susceptible to deafness. Whether it is caused by genetics, trauma, chronic ear infections, or old age, every dog faces the potential of becoming deaf. I have two questions to ask. The first is why do so many breeders, trainers, veterinarians, and others insist that genetically deaf dogs are dangerous, untrainable and better off being "humanely euthanized" without ever suggesting that dogs "suffering" from other causes of deafness not be considered in the same light? My second question has to be "So What?" There is nothing I have read or experienced to make me believe that there is anything different about (or harder to train to) a deaf dog. Every one I've ever known (or known about) has been able to train side by side with hearing dogs. No special classes - no special pace - we simply communicate our desires to them in a language that is actually much easier for them to understand. Hand signals, facial expressions and body language are visual stimuli that all dogs start learning as soon as their eyes open - whether their ears do or not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Genetics of Deafness 101 (more or less) - Sorry about all the Dalmatian information but that's what I have and know more about! Deafness is mostly, but not always, related to the piebald gene. The piebald gene is concerned with coat color or skin coloring if you will. With me so far? Ok! So let's use one of my favorite breeds as an example here. Dalmatians are actually black dogs with an overlay of white (kind of like putting a white swiss cheese coat over them!). This overlay of white is the pieblad factor. Sometimes deaf dogs have MORE white than their hearing counterparts. But then again, sometimes not (go look at Gypsy again)! Now here comes the confusing genetics so stay with me. When a Dalmatian puppy is born it is deaf as are all puppies at birth. But with some of them there are genetic influences going on. There are most likely 3 to 4 different genetic markers for deafness in Dalmatians alone. Now for example let's look at two Dalmatian pups that are just born, one will grow and mature normally and will be a hearing dog and the other will be deaf. They both have the correct equipment to hear but pups are born with a 'plug' in their ears to protect the ongoing growth of the inner structure. The 'plug' usually is gone by about the time that they open their eyes. From the time they are born until about the time that they open their eyes this plug more or less keeps them from hearing much. Hence, everyone thinks all dogs are born deaf but really aren't. Ok, so, in the inner ear their are cilia, hairs that grow that play a role in the ability to hear. The hearing dog's cilia grow and the inner ear develops normally and the dog is able to hear, while in the dog with the genetic markers in place to cause deafness the cilia deteriorate and also the tissue they grow out of and the dog becomes deaf. A dog must be born with a certain combination of genetic markers for this to happen. A hearing dog can have certain of the markers and another could carry others. When these two dogs mate some of their offspring could have the correct combination to become deaf. Since a deaf dog already has the correct combination of genes it should never be bred as the potential to pass on the combination would be greater! Do you understand now? Oh yeah and there is only a six percent increase in deafness in Dalmatians with blue eyes. But are the blue eyes a result of the piebald gene or another of the genetice markers they are working to find? And a big thanks to a guy named Ed Cargill for the genetics lesson he gave to the deafdogs mailing list back in August of 2000! Ed is working on a project at the University of Texas, I believe it is, looking for the genetic causes of deafness in Dalmatians and English Setters. |