Adopting a deaf Podenco
I adopted Maggie May in January 2019, she’s now nearly two years old!
I was told before she came to the UK that she was almost totally deaf, but it didn’t put me off when I found out. I knew there might be extra challenges but it just made me want to give her a safe loving home even more.
I do have to be a little more careful with her and don’t always let her off the lead in big open spaces unless it’s safe. But she is the most loving dog I think I’ve ever had in my family.
She responds well to training (if you can catch her eye to make the right signals!) and is gentle and playful and hugely affectionate especially with the children in our family. I have another Podenco who is about 4 years old and they are joined at the hip. Podencos are such pack animals, they are definitely happier when they’re together and my first dog, Catalina, was much less anxious after Maggie came along.
I would recommend Podencos to anyone as I think they are the most beautiful souls and wonderful pets, but now I would also recommend taking on a deaf dog. If you feel you can give them the time and attention they need, you will be hugely rewarded!
Daisy
Daisy adopted Maggie May from the Hope For Podencos centre. Deaf dogs do require hand signal training, but this is a great skill to add in when training all dogs as their hearing can become an issue later in life, as it does for us humans!