Deaf but not Dumb

This really doesn't have anything to do with hunting your dog, but an interesting story. This past weekend at Uncle Earl's we set up camp across from a family from Arkansas that call themselves Killin Time Kennels. SUPER nice folks who took to our boys and let them spend time messing with their pups, etc.

Anyhow, from a picture I noticed one of their main stud dogs was mostly white. I asked the question if hearing had ever been an issue with his offspring. The guy told me over the years they had one pup born that was deaf. He had given the pup to his sister-in-law to raise in a pet home. Neat thing was that she taught the dog sign language. He said the dog responded and would do lots of things such as sit, lay, fetch, retrieve specific items, etc. from signed commands.

I enjoyed his story, and thought it was pretty neat that she had taken the time to do this. He said she felt the dog was more intelligent than most other pets that they had raised. Just like what has been proven in humans, I would suspect when a dog is born perhaps lacking a particular sense, they are also born having a naturally keen ability in another.