A recent study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign confirmed that dogs can suffer from hearing loss the same as humans. What is important about this study is it shows that dogs can suffer from hearing loss due to loud noises. This is especially important for people who use dogs to hunt, and dogs that must work around loud noise such as airports and other types law enforcement jobs.

If dogs must work around loud noise, you can get them Mutt Muffs, earmuffs designed for dogs. This will help prevent deafness due to loud noise.

The other causes of hearing loss are disease, inflammation, aging and hereditary (congenital). The breeds and individuals that have the Merle, piebald, and harlequin coloration are more likely to have congenital deafness. For example about 30% of Dalmatians are born with partial to total deafness. There are about 30 breeds of dogs that suffer from deafness due to genetics.

If you plan to get a puppy from one of the breeds that have a high instance of deafness, you can get a Baer test done to determine if the puppy has a hearing problem.

Better breeding can help reduce congenital deafness in dogs. If breeders avoid breeding dogs with the Merle gene, or who are deaf already, in time the instance of deafness will be reduced. In breeds where the Merle gene is not predominant, avoid breeding dogs that have the Merle coloration.

If you notice a change in your dog’s response to your commands, have him checked by your veterinarian to determine that your dog does not have an infection which is causing a hearing loss.

Most importantly, be aware if your aging dog starts to lose hearing, you will have to watch and be careful that your dog does not become injured because he cannot hear the approach of cars and other dangers. With care, a deaf dog or a hearing-impaired dog can life a long, healthy and safe life.