Deafness or loss of hearing in dogs may occur due to a variety of reasons, which include birth defects, accident, injury or disease. Dogs that are born deaf are known to suffer from congenital deafness, which could be the result of certain genes being more dominant than others. It is pertinent to note that congenital deafness occurs more in dogs with a white coat, largely because the deafness is related to some pigment found in their coats. Other causes of deafness in dogs include old age, sudden exposure to loud noise, wear and tear and the like.

Deafness or hearing problems in dogs can be unilateral or bilateral. In other words, hearing problems can occur in a single ear or both the ears. As a pet owner, it is important to understand that deafness in dogs is not curable but there are ways in which you can ensure that your dog lives with its limitations, even if the deafness is absolute.

According to most vets and experts, hearing difficulty is one medical condition that is easily noticeable by pet owners. Lack of response to any kind of call automatically refers to some problem in hearing. It is also essential to point out here that this lack of response could also be due to the presence of wax in the ears, which stops conduction of responses to and from the ears. A simple swipe with a cotton swab will remove the wax and dirt and open it for regular sound conduction. However, in cases where the pet does not hear even after administering this simple solution, the possibility of an actual hearing problem crops up, which requires both attention and treatment.

Deafness, whether congenital or through injury or disease, requires a thorough checkup to ascertain the extent of the problem. While the BAER test or the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response test is the best way to ascertain the extent of hearing disability in your pets, there are simple tests too that can be performed by the pet owners at home to test the hearing ability of their pets. These include calling out to your pet, shouting orders, ringing the door bell, using a dog whistle, squeaking a toy or jangling your car keys, clapping your hands and the like. While clapping your hands, care should be taken to be far away from the dog, so that he or she does not respond to the movement in the wind.

Responses to these tests will be varied as it will depend on the extent of deafness in your pet. Accordingly, it is important to start a regime that will help your pet overcome its disability and lead a normal life. As mentioned before, there is no absolute cure to this problem but there are several ways in which you and your pet can communicate, despite the disability, which can be achieved through training. Irrespective of the extent of deafness in your pet, it is important that you take good care and not allow your pet to roam freely on the road, as it could be exposed to accidents, due to the lack of proper hearing abilities.