Training Ideas for Deaf Ferret?

[Deleted]

Hi All!

I hope this is the right place for this.


My husband and I have determined that our little Hobbs is deaf. I was planning on clicker training him, but that is not going to work if he can't hear. And he can NOT hear anything! I can hold him and yell at the dogs, no reaction. I can jingle keys loudly, right behind his head, no reaction.  I can squeak a squeaky toy a zillion times, nothing.


So I guess what I am saying is, Does anyone have any tips/ advice on training him? Even if he can't do tricks, there are some safety things I want him to be able to respond to.


Thanks In Advance!!

[Deleted]

Many ferrets are deaf! I even had a situation where a ferret kit with very serious health issues was deafblind for about a month until we lost her to a juvenile cancer.

As with deaf dogs, if you're going to work on training a deaf ferret you will need to use hand signals and other visual cues. I don't always use a bridge, but a clicker is nothing magical, just a bridge to signify "yes! That's what I want, a treat is coming." For deaf animals, you can use an obvious hand signal or light - like a flashlight you can flash on for a moment - as a visual bridge.

As for a solid recall, you can use hand signals when the ferret is in view of you, but you will have to get creative otherwise. If I were in your situation training a deaf ferret to recall indoors, I would start at night with a single light on in the room. Turn the light off, bridge, high value reward, repeat until the ferret learns "hey, when the light goes off my person gives me this really yummy treat." See the idea? Start working from a distance or when your ferret is distracted and you can use a change in light as a recall cue for times your ferret isn't in your line of sight.

Many deaf animals will also respond to vibrations. Once you start training with a deaf animal (or a blind animal or any animal that presents an initial challenge) you will become comfortable with how that animal learns and find new ways to communicate.

Ferrets are more challenging in terms of training anyway as they tend to have short attention spans and are picky about food rewards. Good luck, keep us posted about your training work!

[Heather]

I too, used the lights as cues. Instead of a clicker I used one of those penlights...the ones you attach to your key chain (just make sure you never shine directly at the ferret). I also tapped my foot, especially during the day when your flashlight is less than optimal. Deaf ferrets are very good at following cues from others as well. At one point over 75% of my business was deaf (10 ferrets) and another was blind. If you were watching the wee sods playing you'd never know. The problem came when rounding them up as some preferred not to sleep with friends
ciao

[Deleted]

Is he your only one?  My deafie a lot of times takes cues from his cage mates - he sees them responding and does so likewise.  When it's just him, I find myself stomping my feet so he can feel the vibration.

[Deleted]

Nov 7, 2016 14:05:25 GMT -5 Heather said:

I too, used the lights as cues. Instead of a clicker I used one of those penlights...the ones you attach to your key chain (just make sure you never shine directly at the ferret). I also tapped my foot, especially during the day when your flashlight is less than optimal. Deaf ferrets are very good at following cues from others as well. At one point over 75% of my business was deaf (10 ferrets) and another was blind. If you were watching the wee sods playing you'd never know. The problem came when rounding them up as some preferred not to sleep with friends
ciao

OMG Heather, my deafie Noodle missed half of the play session last Wednesday.  He was asleep under a towel and didn't get caught up in the scramble to get out of the cage.  Two hours later I realized I hadn't seen him and he was on his back, under the towel, sawing logs.  I felt bad.

[Deleted]

Aftershock Any tips? I myself could use some tips now

[Aftershock]

I connect verbal cues with physical, for myself and the animal. It's a bit difficult at first, but makes life easier overall. I start off with 'yes' and 'no'. This works best while litter box training. They hop in and go, salmon oil and yes and nod. They -have- to see you though. If they would bite our feet under a blanket, I'd take them out, no and shake, and put them down then tuck the blanket in around me so they couldn't get in.
Mine love to see the rest of the house, so I motion for them to come to the baby gate, and then they get a ride. I am able to use this around the room now to ask them to come over.
Sometimes they would try to climb the cage while I was cleaning, so they would get a no and shake and a 'down' cue. I only have to do a down cue now.
They actually look up more often when I'm in the room to see if I will cue them now.
they are such sweet babies.

[Deleted]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses! I will continue to work on the cues! and I will keep you updated on how it goes!

[Aftershock]

I look forward to hearing how training goes!