Hand signals
Mum is having to use hand signals with Shadow. Unless Mum shouts very loudly, Shadow just doesn’t hear her. A lot of the time Mum forgets that Shadow is deaf and calls her as normal. Then she has to go to find her and signal what it is she wants her to do. It’s no good saying you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Shadow seems to be learning very well despite her age. Mum and I have always done some with hand signals but Mum wasn’t the one who originally trained Shadow so it isn’t something she’s been as used to.
Confused
One of the things Shadow can still hear is when we bark very loudly. At that point she joins in but has no idea what she’s barking for and then doesn’t know to stop.
She’s also more confused because of not hearing what’s going on. We had two doors open yesterday while we were all outside. Shadow had had enough and was a little warm so she went to lie in the shady spot by the back door. Mum had no idea that she was waiting there and came into the house from the patio. After a while she asked me where Shadow was and we all had to go to look for her. She’s always so happy when she finds us again that it makes us feel bad for losing her in the first place.
Doing well
Considering she will be 13 and a ¼ in another week, she’s really doing very well. She happily runs across the garden over short distances and is so happy most of the time. She spends all day as close to Mum as she can be and trips Mum over regularly. Moving to the house we’re in now has worked really well for Shadow. Mum says the upheaval of moving has been worth it just for that.
Love
Wilma
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