Twenty ears

Whew, BIG sigh of relief, the hearing tests are over! And out of twenty little ears we have 19 that hear. This is great news, of course all 20 would be even better, but to only have one ear out of this many is really good.

The average rate of deafness in Dalmatians is about 30% which means only about 70% have normal hearing. So one ear out of 20 is about 5%, much lower than the average.

Many years ago there was no test for deafness and so it was not truly known that Dalmatians did have this genetic defect. Thus they had the reputation for being unintelligent. Today we know that quite the opposite is true and in fact Dalmatians are very smart and learn quickly. They just don't do well with repetitive tasks such as fetching a ball and that sort of thing unless you find out what motivates them to do so.

Often when asked to perform as task multiple times, a Dal will stop as if to ask 'why do you keep throwing that ball if I just have to keep bringing it back to you?' They are kind of a 'what's in it for me?' kind of dog. But when you find that thing that motivates that dog he will do anything you ask, provided that reward is there at the end.

Anyway, back to the BAER testing. I took some pics of the pups actually during the test so try not to be alarmed as no puppies were harmed while being tested.

Charlie Brown being hooked up for the BAER test. Those are electrodes that go to the testing  computer.

Charlie Brown being weighed.

Another one of Charlie.

Charlie getting his microchip.

And vaccination.

Another one of Charlie. Can you tell he is a bit of a ham? Takes after his Dad.

Frieda being examined.

Heart sounds good, hey, what's over there?

Frieda being vaccinated.

Linus examination.

Linus hearing test.

Lucy hearing test.

Another of Lucy.

Patty Cakes getting some love from Dr. Brad's assistant.

Patty passes inspection.

Sally getting her exam.

And vaccination.

And a treat from Dr. Brad, yummy puppy wormer!

All done Sally!

Schroeder

Shermy

Snoopy

Another of Snoopy.

Violet gets an exam too.

Ears look good.

Violet getting ready for her hearing test.

One week to go.

Here we are at 5 weeks and with only 1 week until BAER hearing tests. BAER stands for Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response. It is the official name of the test performed on Dalmatian puppies, usually at about 6 weeks of age to determine if the pup can hear. The test can tell if the pup can hear in one or both ears. There are some other breeds who use the BAER test, Boston Terriers, Australian Shepherds and Catahoola dogs, just to name a few. The test has been around for some years but is getting more high tech as computers are now used in the testing. Next week I will take some pics of the pups getting their hearing tested.

Since last week I have been putting the puppies on the grooming table once a day for a minute or so to get them used to being on it. Some of them stacked a little better this week but some still need more practice. I am sure you will be able to tell who those pups are by their photos!