To communicate with a deaf dalmatian, you must use sign language. As hard as it may sound, it's very easy. Police dogs have been trained that way for years. But you also must know that signs that go along with emotion, like "good boy" and "no" have to have a facial expression to back it up. Just like "no" to a hearing dog must be in a stern voice to be effective. By using the facial expressions, your dog will also recognize a smile or a wrinkled forhead. For "good boy" we used the ASL (American Sign Language) sign for"I Love You". I think he thinks that that sign is also his name since we never really established a sign for "Angus". His "no" sign is a wagged index finger. He has a whole repetoire of tricks - sit, drop, roll over, stand, speak, shake hands, and "five". And he has signs for play, walk, outside, treat, water, swim, Dad, Laura, Keiko (our other dog), cat, go and "down" (use for objects and him). I also have a gesture for "where?" which he seems to understand. We also talk to him all the time, so even if he can't hear us, he knows if we are happy with him or upset with him.

Because Angus is deaf, his sense of touch is very sensitive. Sometimes it seems like he must be able to hear a little because he'll turn his head when we speak to him. But he's very sensitive to sound vibrations and since my Dad has a deep voice, he can feel the sound waves. He's gotten so now he knows when my Dad is coming down the road before our hearing dog notices it. His vision is also very keen. His favorite "toy" is a laser pointer. He'll chase the little red light for hours. And if anything moves, he sees it and wants to chase it. He also has a hightened sense of smell which can make walks a chore sometimes.
He's learned to look at us now for approval, but when we first got him, his eye contact was not in use yet. I said earlier that you can't be a lazy pet owner because, if the dog is tearing up your garbage, and you are three rooms away, yelling at the dog won't stop him. You have to physically get up and go to the dog to get his attention. I still have to do that with Angus sometimes. If he's doing something he knows is bad, he won't look at me. If he is in the same room or on the same floor space (two rooms that share the same floor) two stomps on the floor will get his attention and he will turn his head and look in the direction of the "sound." If he gets one big stomp, he knows he's in trouble.

The first question that people ask me when they see Angus is if he is mean. This dog doesn't consider anyone a stranger. He greets someone he's never met with as much enthusiasm as he greets us when we come home. We've tried to socialize him so he does well during fire prevention presentations. He's very good with children. When he was young, we began startling him when he was asleep or if he wasn't facing us, so he would be used to an unexpected touch and wouldn't bite when someone came up behind him. This has proven to be a good idea because children don't always come up in front of him. If children are around him, he stands still and lets them pet him. If the child's hands or face smell like food, however, he feels obligated to clean them up. We plan on using him for Fire Prevention demonstrations and it's a good thing that he behaves well around children. We've taught him to "stop, drop and roll" and to feel a door. We hope to teach him "stay low and go"

Over all, it's been a joy having him. He is a dalmatian which means he has boundless energy and gets bored quickly. But he's smart and a willing learner which has made training him so easy. it can be stressful owning a deaf dog because they have to be fenced in and can never be off a leash when outside the fenced-in area. Angus has a escaped a few times and it's scary not knowing where he is. Since he can't hear cars coming, getting hit by a car is a real possibility. But he's easy to sneak up on, so sometimes he's easy to catch. But if he doesn't want to be caught...