My thoughts on this come from having a deaf from birth Bulldog, Laura, and now fostering a deaf, or almost completely deaf Bulldog, Julius.
I vote for barking being an instinctive thing. Both of the deaf dogs here will let me know when they want out to potty or play, Laura especially, but she was raised here.
Laura also barks louder that the hearing dogs but will also do the quiet 'woofs' to get my attention, then go to full volume if I don't respond asap.
Julius is more normal with his barking but I think that is because he lost his hearing due to massive ear infections, so he had the advantage of having his hearing at a young age.
Both Laura and Julius, esp. Laura, need to be able to see me or another dog or s/he goes nuts with barking, scratching, jumping to get to me. Laura has been that way all along. I can't put her into a closed room, even a plastic crate with minimal view out is enough to send her into a frenzy, but she does fine in a wire crate. I think some of that from Julius is that he has only been here about 10 days (we are his 4th home in 12 months) and hasn't fully settled in yet.

When I first found out Laura was deaf (8 weeks old) I went overboard in handling her and started teaching her hand signals for what we would need to communicate to her. She does so well people never have a clue she is deaf, unless I tell them.
On the other hand Julius' surrendering owners didn't suspect he had only minimal hearing or was deaf and complained that he wouldn't come when called, didn't listen, would startle easily, etc. and he hasn't been worked with to learn anything. Thankfully he is housetrained, but that is all he knows! I have much work ahead to bring him to the point where Laura is at.

Your posts from the Vet's study have been interesting, I'd like to know what her conclusions are.

and boy, she is mouthy. I have had cats all my life and never had one make the unusual constant sounds she does. It always sounds like she is very distressed. Vet says it is because she is deaf (from birth). I think I am used to it now and most of the time I tune it out. She is very sweet, pretty, pure white, long hair and that makes up for it. I love her to bits.

I used to walk dogs at a boarding facility, and one of our usual customers was a deaf dog. He was the loudest barker of them all. He was one of my favorite dogs, but boy could he be loud and annoying, haha.

Here's my thoughts on barking:

There's many reasons why dogs bark. Some barks are from being excited and happy while others are barks to tell threatening animals or objects to keep away.

Barking is something called a modal action pattern (sometimes called a fixed action pattern or FAP). A modal action pattern is a pre-set behavior that occurs in nearly all members of a particular species and it requires some type of stimulus to release this behavior. Although modal action patterns are a pre-set behavior, this does not mean that the animal in question will never re-learn this behavior.

In other words, yes your dog is going to bark at whatever stimulus catches his attention, but that does not mean that you cannot teach him how to be quiet or give him an alternative behavior to do in place of the barking. Of course, that is if you want to teach him this. If you're fine with the barking, then let him do it. Just because he cannot hear himself bark doesn't mean that he's going to stop barking. Think about this--if he was out in the wild and he's deaf, he's not going to let a predator know that he cannot hear them, so he's going to use the exact same defenses as a dog that can hear. He's going to bark. So, this is my explaination of why deaf dogs bark.

I hope this can help answer some of your questions.

good thing you found homes for the deaf pups.
they are a bit more of a challenge.
what I do with Gus is
Kiss him to not startle him when he is sleeping..

he started to get really startled at night time here. he sleeps on the floor beside my bed. If I happened to get up and walked over top of him..he would snap.
he is now on the bed with me again..so this is much better. he is fine up there but prefers the floor.
ONCE he is out asleep he stays that way..but on occasion will sit up to bark for no known reason. apparently the vet told me that many deaf dogs bark for no reason..but just to bark.

that is another reason I think that deaf dogs bark.is cause they are startled with something when they are sleeping.

glad you posted on this thread
makes me feel better
and you are very knowledgeable as well
thanks for response
Pat

The 2 other females were given away to families and the male was kept as a show prospect until he was about 13 months old, then placed as a pet with a family.
When seeking homes for the deaf girls I found that people divided into 2 categories - either they wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with a deaf dog, or they had a prior experience with a deaf dog and knew it was no big deal or if they had no prior experience, they wanted the challenge.
Certainly I wouldn't seek out a deaf dog, but I also wouldn't be put off by one. They make wonderful pets, if you are willing to work within their limitations.

I have noticed with Laura especially, she really uses her nose. She will stick it at the bottom edge of a door and give a good long wiff to find out which dog is in a room. When I want to awaken her from a nap, I place my hand a few inches from her nose and within 2-3 breaths, she wakes up and is all happy to see me.
Laura also watches you very closely and responds almost instantly to movements and facial expressions, she learned early on to pay attention so as to not miss anything.
Julius doesn't rely on his nose nearly as much, and he hasn't figured out about watching closely either. Again, I think because he had hearing to start out with, and it may have something to do with the differences in how I raise a dog vs. how others do it.

nice name for a bulldog as well
love it
they really do not know for sure what happened to Gus. big show names back to Britian in his background too.
but makes sense that the parents must somehow carry the recessive gene somehow..
what happened to the rest of the puppies in the litter??

deaf bulldogs are not that hard to handle really. they pick up fast with some hand signs.
Gus is all bulldog in his clowiness
a great dog for the vet to study. he is soo funny and loveable..
I would adopt another deaf bulldog in a heart beat again.

All 4 pups in the litter were white, 1 male has hearing and the 3 females are deaf. Sire is mostly white with red markings (piebald), Dam is red brindle with white markings, both parents from serious show backgrounds and no deafness on either side that has been disclosed to me.
Spent quite a bit of time talking to my Vet and also the Vet that did the BAER testing on the litter about the possible causes. They both said some antibiotics, illnesses or trauma to the Dam while pregnant could cause deafness. None of those things applied to her, so I have to conclude that both Sire and Dam carry a recessive gene for deafness.

Here is a photo of Laura when she was about 1 year old, she took a Group 1 at the Puppy Match that night. I see no harm in taking her to Matches, she loves the attention she gets and it's good socialization for her.

the white gene definetly played a part in Gus deafness. we feel that it is..a result of his MOM having an ear infection during pregnancy ..at least that is what we came up with. he comes from great show lines from his MOM and his DAD side and no other signs of deafness in her lines. Gus was actually bought as show.

he does pretty good really for being deaf...but he can be very very loud. if he does not get his way..sometimes..louder.lol

a deaf cat is very interesting. that is the first deaf cat that I have heard of..
a deaf animal is a great pet and i would adopt another deaf dog for sure here.. Gus does really well being deaf...and with hand signs he is a truly changed dog..easier to communicate and things.

thanks for your input about your deaf cat..

Gus is very loud compared to my other bulldog as well when he barks.
he is great at hand signs too.
actually I would adopt another deaf bulldog but you are right..it takes a long time to get them to that point especially with a older deaf dog. I had no idea that Gus was deaf until he was 2 years old. yes he did not listen, did not come when he was called and such...but it was the noise of the contractors putting in my front door.. Gus slept through it all and did not say a word. that made me think something was seriously up.
joking said to the vet I think he is deaf and it turned out from the Baer test he has been deaf likely since birth...
I was lucky in the sense that I used alot of hand signs in training my dogs already......so Gus did know somethings. he was harder to housebreak as well but eventually caught on.

goodluck with deaf rescue bulldog there...

hopefully the end result of all the testing will be sent to the University of Guelph soon. I still have one more day of not talking to the dogs here, and hand signs for the day to complete the study. Gus also has one more day at the vet soon too. he will spend another whole day there..

will let you know the results when I hear them too.

the vet has also been doing the same study at her home with her own dogs. she has 6 ranging in breeds. the big difference is she does not have a deaf dog.

Gus is the reason that this study happened. he is the best bulldog on the planet. love him dearly and enjoy learning with him through this process.

thanks for your imput Robin

I have had a number of people bring that up to me..so how does Gus know to bark and not had any real answers on that
but makes sense in the wild..he would have to bark at a predator..
makes sense
thanks for your imput