Is your Pomeranian going Deaf? It’s funny but every Pomeranian I rescue has some sort of need for “extra love”. That love may come in form of medication, physical therapy or special attention. Today’s story you will read about Sophia and how I discovered my Pomeranian going deaf… and her amazing talent for being able to “Read Lips”
When I first rescued little Sophia I thought she was the cutest thing! Sophia’s foster mom had named her Tinkerbell, and I didn’t think it went with her personality, so I changed her name as soon as I got her and started calling her Sophia. I noticed that she didn’t pick up on her name as quickly as the other Pomeranians in the Pommy Mommy household. I kept calling her by name thinking if I said it enough she’d eventually pick up on it!
A few days went by and I noticed that she didn’t respond to my voice. I was concerned and decided to see if I could do some “homemade” tests to see if Sophia… was a Pomeranian going deaf. I stood behind her and snapped my finger to see if her ears would perk up… Hmmm, nothing. I turned my iPod on to see if she tilted her head or to see if her ears moved… nope, nothing.
Sophia
I took her to the vet and asked if they could tell me if she was even able to hear at all. I was told that the only way you can test a dogs hearing is to do a test called BAER.
The only way to know for sure if your Pomeranian going deaf or is going partially deaf can be understood by submitting him/her to Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test. This test uses a computer to record the electrical activity of the brain in response to sound. According to The Deaf Dog Education Action Fund, BAER “does not measure the full range of canine hearing, but it will tell you if your dog has hearing within the normal human range.” … that still didn’t give me any answer that I wanted.
Sophia
My vet did not offer this service and I decided not to look into having this test performed because I could tell myself that she could not hear an inside voice, and was definitely a Pomeranian going deaf. It was quite strange because when there were loud noises her ears did “perk” up.
I wanted to be able to communicate with my little Pomeranian so I decided to teach her hand signals. She knows how to do a little dance by a hand command as well as sit and lay down. Pomeranians are so smart! Even at 12 years old this little girl can learn “new tricks!”
Sophia waiting to play
A Pomeranian going Deaf knows how to read lips… yes you read that right, read lips! This is how it goes down:
Sophia wanders on over to me when I’m at my desk and decides it would be a blast to sit at my feet and bark at me. She only barks one bark at a time (this is because she’s waiting for me to respond) I open and close my mouth (no sound comes out) Because she can’t hear, she thinks I’m barking back at her, so she responds with another single bark. I “bark back” opening and closing my mouth. This goes on for about 7-10 “barks” then she lays down and does a little dance and convinces me to come down on her level and play with her… This just happened as I was in the middle of writing this. She’s such a little princess!
Can you hear me Mr. Tortoise?
If your Pomeranian is not responding to your voice, make sure his/her ears are not full of wax! This is the first thing to understand to know if you have a Pomeranian going deaf or just an ear full of wax.
If you do have a deaf Pomeranian… tell them that you love them by getting them a Pommy Box.