Dargo is deaf and doesn't see well.

[Dargo]

Not me, the real Dargo. He was born on new years eve 2001. He now has finally decided that he would prefer to go inside the garage at night when it is really cold instead of always staying outside; regardless of the weather. His younger buddy, Bruno, is the pretty well the same, and he is 2 years younger. According to our vet, both are well past the average age for nearly 90 pound dogs.

My question is this, how do I call Dargo in at night? He is literally as deaf as a stone. I used to get his attention by stomping around, literally, and waiving a flashlight. Now the old guy seems to fall asleep earlier and, therefore, doesn't see the flashlight and doesn't notice you stomping either. Fortunately he is not ill tempered so when I find him and wake him, his first instinct isn't to be aggressive. He seems happy and knows it's time to go to his bed...if he doesn't get lost along the way.

He has always had the run of roughly 12 acres we call our 'yard'. His Invisible Fence collar battery has been dead for at least 5 years (shh, don't tell him). Now it is a chore to get him in at night. If he isn't asleep in one of his favorite spots, he is almost impossible to find at night since he does not hear. I've tried a dog whistle. He clearly does not hear that either. With my 'flashlight trick' not working after he falls asleep, any ideas?

 

[Doc]

Sorry to hear that about Dargo. We had one go blind, but he was an inside dog. Thank goodness he could still hear.
When trying control a dogs barking i was looking at options and one was a shock collar which I'm sure you've heard of and I know you would never use that on the poor old fellow. But they also had a remote control spray citronella collar. It would spray a mist of citronella scent and that was supposed to stop the barking. You could probably just put water in the spray part and use that to get his attention. Otherwise I'm at a loss.

 

[BRGTold]

How about one of those LED flashing dog colars..just a thought..

 

[Melensdad]

Hold up a sign?

 

[JimVT]

try a cheap laser. they work good just shine it next to him. we used them in noisy places at work to get peoples attention.
green will work in daylight
jim

 

[bczoom]

I like Bob's answer but was thinking along the lines of Doc's solution. Some sort of really low-dose shock to wake him up and get his attention.

 

[Galvatron]

He may be deaf to most noises but have you tried a dog whistle??

 

[k-dog]

Get a strobe light of some kind and turn it on. Dogs pick up on stuff fast. When we turn the light on at our basement door at night our Dog is there waiting.

Along the same lines, I had a boss who was deaf and if his interpreter wasn't there in the office, you just flicked the light on and off once or twice if his back was to you. We were told you can really startle a deaf person walking up on them. And the last thing you want to do is startle a 90 pound dog regardless of age. I did it my mistake to our 110 pound Shepherd lab mix and almost got taken down.

 

[XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq]

How about one of those LED flashing dog colars..just a thought..

+1 Otherwise, get one of those fancy GPS tracking collars they use for hounds - just because it would be fun to have.

 

[EastTexFrank]

We've never had a dog with those problems so I can' give any concrete advice except for the flashing strobe light on the collar. I use one on our traveling dog when we are RVing in the summer. Trying to find a black dog in a dark RV park in the middle of the night is almost impossible. They work if you have a clear line of sight but they can be smothered if the dog is curled up and asleep. I also have a shock collar, and I like them, but that's a bit drastic on an old dog.

Quite a few of those other things mentioned might work with an old, deaf, half blind dog but the best bet would be the GPS location collar. It's the most expensive choice and I don't know how well they work but it would seem to be the most humane.