Family's Sweet Way of Training Deaf and Blind Shepherd Mix Is So Irresistible

For most people, training a dog consists of teach them to come when called, to respond to verbal cues and occasionally even hand motions. But all of that goes right out the window when the dog in question is both deaf and blind. But just because a dog can neither see nor hear does not mean they are untrainable. For dogs like these, people advocate a system of training that involves specific touches and gestures made on the dog’s actual body.

Here, you can see it in action with a deaf and blind dog named Aston.

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“I’m very deliberate about what cues I teach Aston,” writes his mom, Miriam, on this post of the dog playing in the backyard before being asked to go inside. “Since his body has limited space for touch cues, overloading any single area with too many cues could lead to confusion if I’m not very precise when communicating with him.”

Related: Deaf and Blind Dog's Way of Telling Mom He Wants to Swim Is Absolutely Precious

Touch Training a Dog

When touch training a dog, it’s important to differentiate between the kind of touch that is supposed to be a command and just regular petting.

“One cue I chose not to teach — at least for now — is ‘inside,’” she explain. Instead, she chooses to combine other cues that get the same idea across. Aston is a remarkably smart dog who has no problem learning cues and is eager to obey his beloved human mom.

“When it’s time to go indoors after playing outside, I combine two of Aston’s existing cues — ‘all done’ followed by ‘let’s go,’” she writes. “Aston understands this combination means we’re going inside and promptly runs to the door ahead of everyone else.”

Here is how the cue works.

"All done" is a finger and thumb swipe down on each side of the dog’s face. "Let’s go" is a forward swipe under the puppy’s chin with a flat palm.

Aston picks up on the cue immediately and gallops over to the back door, place that he knows exactly how to navigate to from memory. Even without eyes, Aston can keep up with the sighted dogs in his family, and the specialized training means that he and Miriam have a truly deep bond that’s beautiful to see.

Miriam hopes that by sharing her journey training Aston that people realize how capable blind and deaf dogs actually are to being trained and to living full and happy lives.

Deafness and Blindness in “Double Merle” Dogs

Though not specified in this post, the coloration on Aston indicates that his disabilities are actually due to his genetic makeup. In some breeds of dogs, such as Australian Shepherds, there is a coloration pattern called “Merle” which gives a dog large white patches. Problems, however, arise when the dog inherits the merle gene from both parents, a condition known as “double merle,” which often comes along with congenital malformation in both the ears and eyes of the animal. In some cases, such as what appears to be happening with Aston, the eyes are missing entirely.

Many dogs with white areas around their ears are deaf. This is because the same cells that cause pigment in the skin also help translate sounds in the inner ear. If they do not exist, the dog can’t hear.

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