The Bulldog has a fairly short lifespan for a dog of its size, averaging to just 8 to 10 years. There are a number of factors which contribute to this shortened lifespan including several serious health conditions. While responsible breeding can help to reduce your dog’s risk for chronic disease, it is by no means a guarantee that he will never get sick. One of the more serious health problems to which this breed is prone is congenital deafness. Keep reading to learn more about deafness in Bulldogs and how to deal with it.

How Common is Deafness in Bulldogs?

Congenital deafness, or hereditary deafness, is typically caused by the degeneration of the inner structures of the dog’s ear. In many cases, degradation starts when the puppy is just a few weeks old, though some Bulldog puppies are born deaf from the start. Though this condition has been studied as a congenital health problem, researchers still don’t fully understand how to disease is inherited – it doesn’t seem to follow a set pattern for inheritance. It is possible that the genes for coat color and the genes for deafness are correlated, but there is no strong evidence to support this theory as of yet.

Tips for Helping a Deaf Dog

In addition to having an extremely strong sense of smell, most dogs have very strong hearing as well. In the event that a dog loses his hearing, however, he has a unique ability to make up for it by using his other senses. In cases where Bulldogs go deaf over time they usually adapt well to a loss of hearing. When a dog is born deaf, however, he will never experience the sensation of sound and he won’t know that he is different from any other dog. It isn’t always obvious when a puppy or a dog is deaf – you must look for behavioral clues.

Puppies generally start responding to sound at 10 days, so you will probably have to wait at least that long to be able to tell if a puppy is deaf. Some of the clues that might indicate deafness include lack of response to squeaky toys, tendency to startle easily, sleeping more than usual, reduced activity level, and excessive barking. While you cannot “treat” deafness, you can make adjustments to your training style and to your dog’s lifestyle to help him adapt. You may need to use hand signals instead of verbal commands during training – just be sure that each signal is distinguishable from another. You should also be more mindful about keeping your dog on a leash when he is outside because he won’t be able to hear if a car is coming.

There is no reason why a deaf Bulldog can’t live a long and happy life. It may take some extra effort on your part to properly train your dog, but with solid hand motions and positive reinforcement you can train a deaf dog just as well as a hearing dog.