Byrne Robotics: Gwynne is Deaf

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Topic: Gwynne is Deaf

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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136570

Posted: 14 July 2026 at 2:47pm \| IP Logged \| 1	post reply

Not a great surprise at her age, 12/13. And on the bright side she is no longer terrified of thunder or lawnmowers.

What I find fascinating, though, is how quickly she has picked up on the improvised sign language I have been using to communicate with her. Almost immediate!

Clever girl!

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Michael Penn
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Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13271

Posted: 14 July 2026 at 3:41pm \| IP Logged \| 2	post reply

I've read that people will try to "call" a deaf dog from a different room -- not too far off, of course -- by stamping on the floor or flicking lights on and off. Do you use any methods for Gwynne, JB?

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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136570

Posted: 14 July 2026 at 4:02pm \| IP Logged \| 3	post reply

I find she responds to loud clapping, tho it sometimes startles her.

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David Miller
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 3222

Posted: 14 July 2026 at 4:33pm \| IP Logged \| 4	post reply

My mother was convinced our family retriever was deaf, but the dog could
manage to hear somebody buy Oreo cookies four miles away and it really
seemed like she was just ignoring Mom.

One of my mother’s current dogs is deaf AND demented. She likes to have
her head scratched, but forgets you were even there after turning around
and jumps three feet in the air if she’s touched again, since she doesn’t
hear it coming.

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Bill Collins
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Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11638

Posted: 15 July 2026 at 12:47am \| IP Logged \| 5	post reply

Had two rescue dogs with and age gap of three years. As
they got older one went deaf and the other blind, and it
was beautiful to see how they used each other as their
respective eyes and ears. My previous rescue dog to my
current one developed diabetes due to recurring bouts of
Pancreatitis caused by his poor start in life. The vet
warned us he would go blind virtually overnight, which i
found a bit far fetched. But it happened and he learned
to cope with it amazingly quickly.
I must add, i really think fireworks should not be sold
to the public, they are a menace to pets, especially as
they seem more about the noise than the spectacle
nowadays. We get protracted period of them here due to
November 5th and nowadays Diwali. I say it's supposed to
be the festival of light not obnoxious bangs.

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Brian Miller
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Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 32112

Posted: 15 July 2026 at 2:04am \| IP Logged \| 6	post reply

Glad to hear she’s adjusting well.

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Cory Vandernet
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Henchman

Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 886

Posted: 15 July 2026 at 5:10am \| IP Logged \| 7	post reply

Khira, our Siberian Husky in her later years was deaf and mostly blind, one day she escaped the backyard somehow, crossed a very busy Edmonton Trail here in Calgary. We searched for her for about 3 hours she was found by animal services in a school yard she'd never been to before. Here's her mugshot. She almost made it to 17 years, I still think of her fondly.

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