[lisaly]

Originally Posted by MyTrixie143

I taught my cocker spaniel sign language when she was young. She is 12 years old now and is going deaf. It helps a ton that she knows it already so she isn't being affected a lot by going deaf.

My border collie also knows some sign language and I am teaching my yorkiepoo as well.

I'm sorry about your cocker spaniel. We questioned how much Ashley was hearing, but we were still whispering a lot when she was sleeping peacefully in case we would wake her. We're not sure if it was her dementia or her hearing, but she sometimes didn't respond. She was almost seventeen when she died, so I'm sure her hearing was affected somewhat. She still cocked her head when she could see us talking to her. I don't know why we didn't think of sign language. My nieces learned so quickly when they were little. For preschool, my sister "mainstreamed" them with deaf children. They already knew how to sign, and the school wanted it to be an inclusive experience for the deaf children. It was a wonderful experience for my nieces; they learned so much about individual needs at a very young age. I think when we bring new little ones into our lives, I will teach them some signs. The babies will learn more quickly if we do both, and it's good to think ahead to old age. I wish my sister and my nieces didn't live so far away for this and many other reasons.