IMPORTANT - poll for ALL members

[Maureen Richards]

Deaf Boxers

We rescued a fawn boxer 1 1/2 years ago after my 11 yr old
boxer Max died. The boxer rescue people said she had a short
attention span. But when we got her home, we found out she
was deaf! It didn't make any difference! She is a wonderful 7
year old that understands hand signals and is very well behaved.
She was house broken and crate trained and she got along very
well with our 6 year old Rottie. Unfortunately, our Rottie Jake
had to be put to sleep in April because of a massive liver tumor.
It was quite a shock because he was only sick a short time. Our
boxer girl really misses him. And she is definitely a joy in our
lives. Deaf or not, a boxer is a boxer and she has all the common
traits.


Tawney's mom
Tawney-7yr old deaf fawn
Max--fawn male waiting at the Bridge
Jake-Rottie waiting at the Bridge

 

[mitchellbxlover1205]

I own a white boxer who is deaf. She is 5 months old, I was aware of her condition when I decided to buy her. She is so sweet I forget she is deaf. Im always afraid she will get away and won't hear me if I call her, I hope it never happens. We also have two hearing boxers or as you have all said they have selective hearing like my kids and husband .
I do find that I am going to alot of work to do with her since she cannot hear us.

 

[karens]

Lily

Lily is the only deaf Boxer I have ever been in contact with. She is featured as the rescue on the home page. I was part of a CUR that brought her to Green Acres. She was the sweetest little thing and if I wasn't already at max-capacity with three, she never would have made it to Wisconsin.

 

[JTPappy]

Matt,

I have never encountered a serious denial problem concerning the existence of Boxers who are deaf, or of the fact that White Boxers are more likely to be deaF than Boxers of Color. What I do see is a problem, ranging from lack of education on the subject, to pure stupidity on the part of some breeders, that holds that a majority of White Boxers will be deaf. It is this attitude that is used by most of the idiots who cull all White Boxer pups.

I know of 200+ White Boxers who work every day as Service Dogs in the USA. A White Boxer recently retired as a Guide Dog. She was at that time the oldest working Service Dog of a medium or large breed in the USA. She was at the time of her retirement and is today a tad over 16 year old. Currently the 2 oldest working Service Dogs in the USA are also Boxers. They are both 15 years old and one of them is a White Boxer.

Keep these FACTS in mind when you form a poll such as this. Be sure to be fair on both sides of the issue.

BTW: Two working Service Dog Boxers ARE deaf. They both became deaf after having been trained as mobility assist (wheelchair) SDs. They were already keyed to visual command "keys" for their SD tasks and both do quite well despite being deaf. Both Boxers are flashy Brindles NOT Whites.

Jim

 

[Greg]

hears to good

Bugsyloviconis white and hears to darn good. Key words car, bye bye, treats, bisquit, and ice cream. These are all key words that he hears to good. He also knows how to spell. If you say the word car he does his jumps and flips. So you spell C-A-R and he flips. You wisper C-A-R and he flips. Bugsy is eight years old and white, with perfect hearing. I am so lucky to have a white boxer with perfect hearing and I'm so sad for the ones that are hearing inpaired. Ya gotta luv em'

 

[mitchellbxlover1205]

Just one more thing to say, Since having a deaf dog along with the two that can hear I forget she is hearing impared sometimes. She is just like the other two and sometimes I wonder if she is faking the whole thing () but seriously she is great and I couldn't imagin someone culling her just because she was white or deaf!!!! I wish foe her she could hear but there is nothing wrong with her because she can't (to me).:D

 

[velosue]

It can be inferred, by anescedotal evidence that there is a higher incidence of deafness in whites as to colored boxers. The question is it a relatively small difference, for example 1/2% compared to 2% (arbitrary #'s) or a much greater percentage.

The reason the question is important is to impart useful breeding guidelines. Culling is a deplorable and disgusting habit and one I hope is much less followed here than in certain places in Europe and elsewhere. But I am sure if breeders had SOUND evidence that supported extremely large percentages of white boxers are likely to be deaf, I am sure they would follow recommendations on spaying and neutering whites and (coloreds that predominately bore whites).

Maybe someone out there can devise a collar that vibrates (such as you can have your pager do instead of the audible beep) in order to signal your deaf dog that you are calling it.

This is an instance where the US Boxer Assoc needs to take a role in doing surveys.

 

[Bekka]

I have only seen and been in contact with boxers related to my puppy- his mother, father, half-brother, littermates, etc. All were brindled. None of these were deaf. I have seen 2 white puppies at the breeders as well but I'm sure it was much too early to tell if they were deaf (they were 4 weeks). My father met a white boxer who was not deaf.

 

[Marimat]

Originally posted by velosue
It can be inferred, by anescedotal evidence that there is a higher incidence of deafness in whites as to colored boxers. The question is it a relatively small difference, for example 1/2% compared to 2% (arbitrary #'s) or a much greater percentage.

There is no inference about it actually. It is known. What is not known are numbers but as the genetic inheritance is known to be exactly the same as in Dalmations it is more than reasonable to surmise that the same % will arise. That figure in Dalmations is 18% which interestly even this impromptu and yes, anecdotal in places poll shows.

Ref: Article from geneticist Bruce Cattanach (UK) with mention from Dr George Strain (USA)

http://clubs.akc.org/abc/white-deafness.htm

Originally posted by velosue
The reason the question is important is to impart useful breeding guidelines. Culling is a deplorable and disgusting habit and one I hope is much less followed here than in certain places in Europe and elsewhere.

Although I know what you mean I am going to correct this anyway because it will as it always does lead to a fight and I didn't re open the poll to have another brouhaha

Culling IS acceptable. Killing is not.

Breeders cull every litter without having to put a single puppy to sleep. Culling is by definition the removal of an animal from the gene pool. So every pet puppy, coloured or not, that is sold on a spay/neuter contract has been effectively culled. And that is only one example.

As for pointing the finger at "Europe and other places" I think that you will be a) pleasantly surprised at how many whites are allowed to live in these places and b) extrememly disappointed in just how many are still euthanised in your own back yard.

I would say euthanising whites in the US would far exceed euthanising them in Europe because in Europe there is hardly any emphasis on flash, they keep statistics on what whites are produced by what dogs and they produce, per capita, FAR less whites then does the US. Sorry but that is the truth.

Originally posted by velosue
But I am sure if breeders had SOUND evidence that supported extremely large percentages of white boxers are likely to be deaf, I am sure they would follow recommendations on spaying and neutering whites and (coloreds that predominately bore whites).

Well the evidence exists, the statistics to make that evidence more substantive is a long time coming. Most breeders, good ones, are already insisting on spay/neuter contracts because despite the lack of statistics they have already recognised and accepted it is a problem. The general uproar about it comes from pet owners who have bought puppies from mills or BYBs who have not known or cared enough to pass the info onto the buyer.

Originally posted by velosue
Maybe someone out there can devise a collar that vibrates (such as you can have your pager do instead of the audible beep) in order to signal your deaf dog that you are calling it.

It already exists and has done for many years.

http://www.deafdogs.org/resources/vibramakers.html

Originally posted by velosue
This is an instance where the US Boxer Assoc needs to take a role in doing surveys.

No, this is an instance where the boxer world EVERYWHERE needs to take a role in surveys, data collection etc.

It would be extremely simple to do.

All that needs to be done is for registered boxer breeders (no point including the charlotans) to take a leaf out of the book of Dalmation breeders and perform BAER testing on any whites they produce.

Then you just need someone to collate the data and get it out to the boxer public

In as little as a year we would have the stats needed to back the findings of the geneticists.

That's how easy it would be.

What would be difficult would be to convince breeders that this is necessary. Sad to say this is especially true in the US because they are already having to do an inordinate amount of testing for other problems. Hearts, hips, eyes, thyroids are already on the testing schedule - can the breeders afford yet another cost? It's up to them to decide.

MC

 

[Marimat]

Addit

In just a few minutes from posting the previous response I have found a place where breeders could do BAER testing on ANY breed of puppy.

http://members.tripod.com/RavenwoodDals/gdcgfthr.htm

Further, I have established that the testing is done at around 6 or 7 weeks so breeders would at least still have (or should have) their white boxer puppies at home therefore facilitating ease of testing.

If people (breeders) are serious in getting to the bottom of this problem once and for all and dispensing with the need of the often anectdotal evidence they may consider this idea as a worthwhile exercise. I know I will be doing it as if it saves one puppy from premature death by knowing it was deaf before it left me it will be worth any cost.

MC