training
Focus and a Visual Connection In the second part of her feature on activities for deaf dogs, Morag Heirs examines
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competitive Obedience and Rally from the perspective of a hearing-impaired or deaf dog bedience as a sport (rather than basic manners training) has been around in various formats for at least 80 years. It is an integral part of several other sports like Working Trials in the United Kingdom, and Schutzhund, but it is also a separate activity in its own right. Competitive Obedience generally includes heelwork routines, pace changes, recall, positions, scent discrimination and retrieval among other tasks. Instructions are called out by a steward, and every system has their own rules and regulations. In contrast, Rally usually consists of a numbered course where each sign or station gives the competing team instructions. The exercises are very similar, but are done at the team’s own pace. Rally often requires longer stretches of heelwork but the style may be less demanding. Each country has several flavors of obedience and rally. Scoring, deductions and expectations vary widely even within a single sport so do familiarize yourself with the relevant rules. Check out the options where you live to find out more, and remember there are now online leagues and competitions too.
Deaf Dogs
I became interested in obedience and rally after adopting my first deaf dog, Farah, a border collie. She was a bright dog who would have been an excellent working dog if only she could hear, and clearly we needed something to focus on. At the time it was difficult to get into competitive obedience train-
Photo © Peter Steffensen
Maria Jensen (with deaf dog, Yoda) says that deaf dogs teach you to become a better trainer
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BARKS from the Guild/May 2018
Photo © Bob Atkins & TD Rally
Deaf dog Farah started her Talking Dogs Rally career as a veteran but successfully completed her Level 1 Title and Championship, and Award of Excellence
ing in my area if you wanted to use reward-based methods, and my deaf dog was met with a great deal of skepticism. Instead we trained on our own and went to workshops where possible. The introduction of Rally into the U.K. felt like a good opportunity for us, and the Talking Dogs (TD) version of Rally in particular allowed for disability modifiers. Being busy learning and promoting the sport of Rally meant that it was hard to enter into trials. Farah only started her TD Rally career as a veteran but successfully completed her Level 1 Title and Championship, and Award of Excellence. Every round she did was 190/200 or better. I made contact with Sally Sanford (ZeeZee deaf Toller; Shetland) and Maria Jensen (Yoda border collie; Denmark) to discuss training and competing with deaf dogs in Obedience and Rally. Between us we have worked with dogs who were born deaf, born deaf and partially sighted, or lost their hearing early on in life. (Early Onset Deafness appears to have a genetic basis in border collies). I was always very conscious that Farah was able to succeed so well in the ring because we had a super strong set of foundation behaviors.
I became interested in obedience and rally after adopting my first deaf dog, Farah, a border collie. She was a bright dog who would have been an excellent working dog if only she could hear, and clearly we needed something to focus on. At the time it was difficult to get into competitive obedience training in my area if you wanted to use reward-based methods, and my deaf dog was met with a great deal of skepticism.