Can hard of hearingn dogs hear a whistle?

BCSnob wrote:
We also have used flash lights as a means to call deaf dogs back into the house at night

I don't know how the schedule got started and I haven't been able to change it but between 1:00& 2:30am they get me up for whiz time. I let them out, turn on the porch light and lay on the couch waiting for them to return. I don't want to call them and maybe interrupt their "need" thus requiring another "call". Sometimes I doze off and look for the porch light when I come to. If it's off, I know I let them back in. Time isn't always obvious.. If it's on, they either haven't finished or I overslept. Sometimes it's getting daylight when I wake up. The porch light is still on but luckily our dogs learned to never "go on the road" .. "Road is bad".. They're asleep in their beds, I close the door, turn off the lights and try to get back to sleep.. One good thing about being too old to hold a job, I don't need to have a good nights sleep... :)

Thanks for all your replies. That pretty much negates my idea of a high pitch whistle. When I call the dogs I naturally use the "come here" hand signal and sometimes I only use it when they're looking at me but I've found it doesn't work too well when he's sleeping in the other room. It took me about a week to figure that out... :B

We also have used flash lights as a means to call deaf dogs back into the house at night

CA POPPY wrote:
When our old dogs became hard of hearing, they learned to respond to me clapping my hands loudly.

That was my experience, also - Ike seemed to be able to hear a clap, but not a voice or whistle. And as someone else pointed out - hand signals become fairly important. I'd clap, Ike would look at me, and then respond to a hand signal.

Loss of higher frequencies is also what sheepdog handlers notice and we use whistles while working dogs on livestock.

It's been my experience that they lose higher pitch, frequencies first.

I taught our lab mix hand commands while he still had hearing. Hand commands become our only communication method later.

When our German Shepard got hard of hearing I'd just whistle and she could hear it much better than my voice, particularly when we were out side. Clapping my hands outside was useless but worked inside.

I second the loss of high frequency hearing comes first. That's why clapping works. You might pick up a duck call type whistle - something with a lower frequency - and try that.

Stomping in the house often works because the dog feels the vibration in the floor.

I had a dog that went blind and death about the same time. I could get her to wake up with a low sound (usually banging something to make a deep sound), then I had to touch her so she'd know nothing was wrong. Waking up was tough for her.

When our old dogs became hard of hearing, they learned to respond to me clapping my hands loudly. Somehow, they could still hear that for a long time. I reinforced it with a treat and that locked it in really well.