I have a staffy boy and a deaf female english bullterrier. and what a strange dog she is, she is now a year and a half old. All my dogs have come from rescue and this one the same, the very prominent (and in my opinion criminal) breeder wanted her destroyed when she was found to be deaf rather than spay her and keep for a pet.

'Sheep' as we call her is very sweet and friendly to humans and other dogs, she likes to stay close to us, in fact touching. Recently she ripped off a claw on the beach, she wouldnt leave the foot alone which led to several trips to the vets. She made herself very ill by repeatedly worrying the foot but happily now after several head collars, steriods and bandages the foot has healed. Her behaviour however has stayed very strange. When shes off the steriods she will not make eye contact with us, and acts demented - there is no other word for it. Does anyone know what are characteristics of deaf dogs and which are breed characteristics?

She circles manically, she paces and chases shadows, will not make eye contact, without the head collar she now goes stright for her feet and really hurts herself.

Myself and our vet is worried about the thickness of her skull in relation to her brain as a pedigree EBT, anyone any experience of this?

Hiya - dont know nuthin about deaf dogs but I'd love to see some pics of her (and the rest of the mob!).

I love looking at EBT's, you just dont see many of them around here.

pics pics pics

I know this an old old thread, but as someone else replied today I only just noticed it lol.

This is going to sound really stupid but... here goes...

I hear that alot of EBT's can be deaf (white ones), is that due to their colour? (also with other breeds that can come out white). Could someone explain what happens?

I love EBT's and have always wanted one (well since about 8 years ago!), but mum wouldn't let me have one.

They are very unique looking imo and that is what made me like them! I did alot of reading about them when I first saw one (an old mates). They sound great, lovely dogs but can be stubborn . My old friend had a white bitch and oh my God she was stubborn, but gorgeous! Like a tank!

Hi Kay

White animals tend to be more prone to being born deaf due to the lack of pigment in their inner ear. This isn't exclusive to dogs, and can affect all other white animals such as cats, rabbits etc. Having Dalmatians this is one of the things that puppies get tested for (well reputable breeders anyway ). The test is called BAER (Brain Audible Electronic Response) and is usually done on puppies at about 5 weeks old. Deafness can occur in both ears, or just 1 ear and the test will be able to determine this.

Hope that helps

__________________

Wow thank you Gill!!! That answered my question perfectly!

Only read the first thread.. But Our white Staffie was deaf..
And he could sit, down and when out walking if I shook the lead he would lie down at the road.. He would walk on the lead and forget I was there then suddenly turn round and get very excited that he had just noticed me... I used to let him off with our other dog and he just used to gallop one way then back the other then back the other.. he used to come back to me.. I used to put my arms out as if to do a recall.. but sort of in the air.. then he would come galloping back.... He new not to jump up.. The only diff is they can't hear.. Oh If I left him alone like say I had to take the other dog somewhere he used to howl for England..

Also with us having laminate I reckon he could feel vibration so if he was doing something he shouldn't we could bang the floor and get his attention..

__________________

Back to what you are saying.. Am I right, originally staffs do they have dalmation in them...

Also re the deafness I was lead to believe they were to be all white.. but our staffie had spots like a dally in his skin but not through to the hair..

I also have a white cat.. She has had several litters.. the blighter kept getting out.. Nearly all her kits were white but had a grey splodge on each head.. I was under the impression this meant they shouldn't be deaf.. (not one was anyway)

__________________

I have absolutely no idea about staff having dal in them, although we call my sisters staffy a surregate dal because she has spotty skin

The most common cause of congenital deafness is pigment related. Some dogs have white coats, but still have pigmented skin (Samoyeds, West Highland Terriers, and White German Shepherds fall into this category). Although they have white fur, they have black noses and eye rims (their fur is actually not pure white, but a very light buff color). Other dogs normally have colored coats, and white trim (this includes Dalmatians; the white is actually not their real coat color, the "spots" are). The "trim" comes from areas of unpigmented (pink) skin, which produces white hair. If there is unpigmented skin in the inner ear, the nerve endings atrophy and die off in the first few weeks of the puppy's life, resulting in deafness. You cannot tell the color of hairs in the inner ear by looking at any visible part of the dog's ears (including the hair around the ear canal). Although many dogs with white hair on their ears can be deaf, many deaf dogs have colored ears as well.

__________________

Here are some photos

Floyd on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Sheep1 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Sheep2 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Sheep3 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Hmmm ethel makes eye contact wiv us all the time, coz our way of comunicating is thro facial expressions and hand signals,,,she also lip reads some words she lets us know if she wants something by staring at us or getting our hands to take us to wat she wants.

shes neva paced or circled manically tho, shes normal apart from some strange ways about her, like her funny voice lol, and the funny things she does to keep herself amused.... but its nothing worrying.

ethel comunicates brilliantly, shes very clever its unreal....she acts on site, vibration and shadows... but nothing ova the top...just normal behaiviour like a hearing dog would act like....if i want her, and her backs turnt to me, i just knock the floor and she looks around

ive put flood lites out my front and back for her so she knows wen people are coming up the path and does her guarding lol...ive tryed to make life as normal as ever for ethel and shes done brill

u dog is gorgeous btw i want it
here is ethel.