It’s now part of Emmett’s permanent record.
There it is, right at the top of his chart at his new vet’s office:
Diminished hearing.
To be honest, and to get my guilt out there, when asked how long it’s been in decline… well… I have no idea. None. Last year we were consumed with Lucas. If Emmett’s hearing loss started even a year ago, we missed it. And, frankly, I suspect he’s been experiencing it slowly over a long period of time because he has compensated so dang well, well enough that, if you didn’t know him inside and out, you probably might not notice at all.
Why?
He’s found himself a hearing ear dog!
Here’s the funny thing: Emmett was never Cooper’s biggest fan. He liked him OK but in an annoyed-big-brother kind of way. Somewhere along the line, though, Emmett realized the value of Cooper.
Cooper jumps up and runs when called for dinner; Emmett sprints after him.
Cooper dashes to the door when called in from the yard; Emmett follows.
Cooper leads the way on walks and hikes; Emmett knows when we’re stopping, turning, or crossing.
On a couple occasions, particularly when they’re out doing dog stuff in the yard, Emmett won’t see Cooper come to the door. Emmett will keep doing his dog things (finding gross rabbit poop to snack on), then look up, look around… and realize, all of a sudden, that he’s by himself. If he doesn’t see Coop, he gets kind of lost and starts darting about looking for him.
Same thing in the house. If he can’t see us or Cooper, he starts pacing. Even if we call him really loudly, it’s sort of tricky in our new house because the upstairs has an open loft area above the kitchen, and Emmett gets confused. So, one of us goes down (or up) to fetch him, or…
We send Cooper!
It’s funny watching their relationship evolve. Emmett’s become more tolerant and forgiving of Cooper’s shenanigans, and in turn, Cooper’s stepping up and sticking by Emmett’s side. (Honestly, I think Cooper has always wanted to be glued to Emmett. He looks up to his big brother. Until recently, until Emmett needed him, Emmett didn’t allow too much of that. Now? They’re together all. the. time.)
It’s nice, and it makes my heart happy to see them bonding like this. We really weren’t sure how this would evolve, but they’re doing so well. Better, really, than before. Which is bittersweet.
Overall, I think Cooper’s glad to have a job, and Emmett’s glad to know when to come in for dinner! If the weather changes–it’s snowing in April, for heaven’s sake–we may take them on a short hike this weekend; otherwise, Emmett will be content to follow Coop around the backyard and go on his weekend trip to Lowe’s with John!
Happy weekend! Any special plans for you and your pups?
That is a great picture of the two of them together! Who am I kidding they’re all great pictures!
Aw! Thanks! They’re easy to photograph since they’re so handsome! 🙂 (Lucky me because I’m a terrible photographer…)
Ahhhhh, I love them! I always call it ‘hearing selective’ since I’m never sure how much of it is physical or just a realization that they can pretend to not hear! I sort of have this vision of your three dogs having a dog convo about ‘if I have to leave, you two gotta look out for each other, promise me you will work on this’. Of course my boys convo was probably ‘dude, when I go, you are going to HAVE to snuggle her. No, no you won’t get cooties’.
HAHA! YES! Hearing selective. That’s always been Emmett. He’s a stubborn lug, that’s for sure. I think that’s part of why it took us so long to notice, actually. We were so used to just chalking up being ignored to his stubbornness!
Having a job is important! Of the two poodles, D’Art (the senior one) is always so happy to see Teddy and will look for him if he’s not around. Teddy, well, he plays things a bit more cool! Reading this has made me wonder if D’Art’s sweet enthusiasm is partially driven by a need for the extra security of having Teddy by his side. Either way, I know how you feel seeing your boys being bonded! Warms the heart! Happy weekend, Maggie!
That’s so precious between your pups! I adore the relationships and bonds that they form–they’re as unique as their personalities! Thank you for sharing that. 🙂
Glad that they’ve found a need for each other! It’s a special phenomenon when the leader has to become a bit of a follower. Cooper has to take the lead a little more for his big brother. I love it!
Still don’t have any special plans for my pup. Of course, she’s having the time of her life living at my parents’ house and bugging the heck out of Loki and Thor. (Who are losing weight due to Daisy-mandated playtime!) Miss her much, and don’t even mind that she’ll be completely spoiled and be 6 months backward in training by the time I get her back!
Being separated is hard… but it sounds like she’s having fun as their personal trainer! 🙂
This is going on with my boys right now, too! Ty’s losing his hearing and about the only thing he does hear now is when Buster barks. I’m not really sure when it happened either, because Ty’s spent most of his life ignoring us – but he could always hear a potato chip bag rustle, and now he doesn’t. So he keeps an eye on Buster, and we’re breaking out the hand signals we used when we taught the boys their basic obedience commands. So far, not hearing doesn’t seem to be bothering Ty at all. Glad to hear that your boys are coping well, too!
YES! Hand signals! I am so grateful that, without any purpose or intention on our part, the very first trainer we worked with when we first adopted Emmett taught with hand signals. We used them over the years, but maybe not consistently enough. Now, I’m working very hard to use them throughout the day, and he seems to be remembering them all. The only one that’s new that I’m working on is a thumbs up instead of “good boy” or the click!
That is so sweet. Glad that they are getting along finally.
Thanks, Adam! The fighting with the stress of Lucas was tough, and I wasn’t sure how they’d come out of that experience. This is a relief, that’s for sure!
Love the pix!!
When Callie passed back in August, our vet said to me that the relationship between Shadow and Ducky would more than likely start to improve over time. And it definitely has improved. Has Ducky matured? Probably. But Shadow had started mellowing out even before Callie started showing any signs of being sick. And I think Callie was teaching Shadow how to deal with the little brat, possibly knowing her days were numbered. Yes or No I can’t say for sure; but Callie was a wonderful teacher so I think yes.
As I read your experiences and follow along on your journey, I keep feeling like Cooper and Ducky have SO much in common. I do think Coop’s matured a bit, too, like Ducky. But is that making the difference in their relationship? Or are they just learning a new “normal” for the two of them? I don’t know, but I’m so happy to see this stage in their relationship!
This is so sweet, but also shows Emmett’s ingenuity.
Ha! True! Which is funny because he hasn’t always been my brightest crayon… 😉
I love this! How lucky is Emmett to have a buddy like Cooper?
Don’t beat yourself up about not noticing the hearing loss sooner. We recently went through a rough diagnosis (hemangiosarcoma) that led to the loss of our beloved dog. In hindsight my husband and I realized that she had been a little more reclusive lately but I couldn’t even begin to tell you when it began. I felt bad too. But it’s hard to notice these things when they happen so slowly and other things are going on your world. Life happens sometimes, yanno?
I’m so sorry for your loss, Jen, but thank you for sharing your experience. You’re so right; life just happens, regardless of whatever else is going on.
Sweet dogs you have! I love how Cooper helps Emmett around the hours. I have 2 Yorkies that don’t play together. They are aware that there are 2 of them in the house and that’s pretty much it!
I love how unique their personalities are and how that translates into their relationships. This was an unexpected evolution between these two, but I’m grateful for it. Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
Did you have them at the same time? My dogs are about 3 years apart and the older one used to go to work with me everyday for the first 3 years of his life. Then the company policies were change and he had to stay at home. The younger one supposed to be his friends and that didn’t work 🙁 Many pet owners said it would work out better if I had them at the same time.
Nope! I think so much of it depends on personality. We had Emmett for about 7 months, then we adopted Lucas, and Cooper didn’t join the family until 3 years after that! I wouldn’t worry about the timing as much. Newt, the cat, came along a few years after Cooper, and it took us 6 months of daily positive reinforcement training with Lucas to get him to stop trying to eat her! By the time he passed away, they could easily share the couch!
I love these two – I’m so glad I found your blog and to read this encouraging post. My cocker Winnie’s sight is going as she’s not so hot catching the ball anymore. Luckily her nose is working perfectly still. I might need to look out for a sight companion for her soon!
Thank you for the kind words, Conrad! I love the idea of a sight companion. Let us know how that goes! 😉
This is so very sweet.
My dog Lasya was almost completely deaf by the time she left me and like you, it sort of snuck up on me. We were visiting my dad and she had run off ahead on their property and had no idea I was calling for her (she was generally pretty good about that, it wasn’t “selective hearing.”) I had to stop taking her to the barn with me since she could easily wander off and not know when I was leaving.
I hope you get to go hiking!
That is something I worried about, that something would happen and he wouldn’t hear me calling him. Thank you for sharing your experience with Lasya!
We’ve had deaf dogs paired with a hearing dog for, probably, going on 15 years. Both the hearing dogs knew what “Find your sister/brother” meant and would tear off into the yard to get the deafies attention so they’d come in. It’s really astounding to watch.
That is both adorable and incredible, Katie! Thank you for sharing!
I just found your blog–so sweet. Emmett and Cooper are making me smile today. I have two again girls myself; my girl Lolly is 11 and Ava is 10…their faces are frosting over (I love the look, honestly) and they have their issues but for the most part, their lives are pretty darn great. I have an inkling things are the same on your end!
Welcome, Stacey! So glad you’re here, and I can’t wait to learn more about Lolly and Ava! I’ve never heard it called frosting over, but I love that expression. I have to adopt that for Emmett! 🙂 Usually I just say he’s in a George Clooney phase!
What a wonderful relationship these two have developed! Sometimes it takes time or circumstance for dogs to start valuing each other. I’m glad they have each other.
Love & biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Hahaha, this was too funny :”finding gross rabbit poop to snack on”!
My dogs do this too! And it always raises the same question; “WHY?”
That’s so nice that Cooper is taking such good care of Emmett! Just beautiful!!
Love x