Hear my voice
Is our Penny going deaf?
For the life of me, I can’t work it out.
As behaviour goes, she’s an excellent dog. She pees and poos in the garden. She is very well behaved around the house or on the lead. She has a few quirks all right such as refusing to enter any shop but will sit outside waiting patiently for my return and ignoring all distractions. She won’t get into the front of a car but is very happy to lie on the back seat. Nothing can persuade her to climb on anyone’s lap. She won’t exit the car unless her lead is clipped to her harness [unless the car is in the front garden]. All in all she is the epitome of the perfect dog.
On the negative side, she has never responded when called. My little theory is that she was trained to respond only to her name, but we don’t know what her name was as she was found straying the streets. We only call her Penny because the rescue centre called her Penelope [and you’re not going to catch me yelling that name up and down the lane].. She responds to her name in the house all right but not outside. Weird.
I do get the impression though that her hearing is going. It is more difficult to get her attention and one has to use a fairly loud voice to gain any reaction. She is reacting less to the staff in the coffee shop too [unless they have a fistful of chicken for her].
On the other hand I just broke wind and her head shot up in fright. It wasn’t a particularly loud breakage [around 2 of either the Richter or Beaufort scales] unlike one of my more spectacular ones which tend to happen after a feed of Mexican Spiced Beans [I keep meaning to record one to use as my ringtone]. It sounded a bit like a duck being strangled in the distance but Penny reacted like she’d been shot. There’s no doubt that she heard my little performance.
So is she going deaf?
Or is she just ignoring me?
Could Penny’s reaction have come about after stimulus to her olfactory, rather than her auditory, senses? Just trying to consider all the possibilities, you understand.
Beat me to it.
I beg your pardon. My olfactory efforts are as sweet as a freshly mown field of hay.
Selective hearing, all females possess it – anything that threatens them (like a rogue fart or that tasty au-pair) and they’re all over it like a rash, anything you want them to do and they never hear a word of it. Genetics.
I confess I have had my own suspicions in that direction.
Dear Grandad
Pardon?
DP
Hah!
So you’re yelling Penny up and down the Lane. I see what you did there.
One-sided hearing loss, maybe? With my late dog, I had the same problem for a while to define if his hearing was going or not. Until the day, when on my usual whistle which usually made him truly shoot in my direction – he ran the exact opposite direction, very obviously desperately trying to make out from WHERE the hell the whistle was sounding. He heard it alright, but not from where it came.
The dog we have now – 13 y border collie – shows some signs of hearing loss now, too. Sometimes you can walk right up to him and he doesn’t hear you until you’re right behind him. He also doesn’t react too well to his name – although we definitely know the right one. I have the theory that, as he grew up in a big pack, he decided to not overdo obedience but always wait for the second or third yell before deciding that, yes, she means ME and not any other dog of the pack. Hubby’s convinced his hearing’s going. I’m convinced he’s exercising selective hearing. Definitely not exclusive to females – I can sometimes see in his body language that he DID hear me but just decides it’s not important enough until I yell and make perfectly clear that I, indeed do regard it as important enough. A whispered “okay” to give permission to roam is NEVER overheard.
So, I guess it’s a combination of hearing loss, maybe one-sided, different form on different days, and selective hearing. Maybe that’s true for Penny, too?
Post title reminded me of Hear My Song, sung by that lovely Irish man, who was reputed to have a way with the ladies.
As I know deafness numbs the higher frequencies first and then goes down the scale. Penny will hear the low notes and also the ultrasonic chords that your own hobbled ear cannot discern. So possibly your own emissions are an ultrasonic symphony to a canine ear. A new career awaits you as a shepherd who controls dogs without audible commands.
Your field name will be The Amazing Mr Lapete O’Mane, the Irish dog whiffler.