A tiny blue heeler turned into an unexpected lesson at home for two West Virginia audiologists.
Dr. Michael Squires and Dr. Carlee Squires, who own and operate Audiology Services of West Virginia Hearing and Balance Center in Parkersburg, adopted Pips and her sister Ruth without realising at first that Pips was deaf.
“The funny thing is, we had no idea she was deaf when we adopted her,” Michael tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Pips was the runt of the litter, so naturally our daughters were drawn to her immediately. She was tiny and very cute.”
Michael said the signs were easy to miss at first.
“As with small children, there is not much ‘listening’ happening with puppies early on,” he shares. “They are still learning commands, and even responding to their name is a challenge.”
Still, he and Carlee “could tell early on that something was different” with Pips.
“Pips was not as vocal as her sister, Ruth,” Michael explains. “She did not bark unless she was startled. When she barked, we noticed her bark sounded different than Ruth’s. Of course, she was smaller, but it was a different sound, not necessarily just a higher pitch.”
Michael said his aunt’s work with deaf children at a camp program, along with his own work as an audiologist, shaped how he understood Pips’s behaviour.
“Drawing from those experiences, and that of being an audiologist, I understand that when more hearing loss is present, vocalizations can sound different,” Michael says. “It makes sense; when you can’t hear the production of sound, it is hard to self-monitor.”
One evening confirmed their suspicions.
“I distinctly remember a warm evening when we were getting ready to bring everyone in for bed,” Michael shares. “At the time we had three dogs (we now have four) and I went outside and called for them from the garage. All of the dogs came in except for Pips, who was asleep in the driveway.”
Michael says he “yelled, clapped, whistled,” but she “never flinched.”
After that, the couple researched how to support a deaf dog. Michael said they had previously owned a blind dog and already knew the “patience” needed to train and support a dog with a disability.
Through his research, Michael found that roughly 10 percent of blue heelers are affected by hearing loss.
“In utero, the kidneys and the auditory system form at the same time,” Carlee explains. “So often, kidney issues and hearing issues go hand in hand.”
Once they understood Pips was deaf, the family changed how they communicated with her.
“Once we realized that Pips was deaf, we accepted that we would have to readjust how we approach communicating with her, which shouldn’t be difficult because it is how we counsel patients and families about communicating with their loved ones with hearing impairments,” Michael says of Pips’ training.
The family gets her attention by “flipping lights on and off if she is across the room, waving at her to get her attention to give her a hand-command, and sometimes just simply touching her when she is focused on something else.”
Michael said the biggest similarity he has seen between his deaf patients and Pips is “sensitivity to visual stimulation.”
“In humans, there is a difference in impact between some hearing loss and no usable hearing/deaf,” he adds. “With Pips, we believe that she is completely deaf and therefore relies on her other senses to get information about her world.”
The family also tries not to startle her while she sleeps.
“We try to gently touch a back paw or nudge the chair on which she is sleeping,” Michael notes. “Once she is awake, she is ready to go, but it takes her a minute to figure out her surroundings.”
Pips and Ruth later went to obedience training with a family friend and professional dog trainer, where Pips began learning sign commands.
“With training a deaf dog, you just replace verbal commands with visual commands,” Michael says. “She has a remote collar that vibrates. The vibration signals, ‘Look at me.’ Once we can get eye contact with Pips, she is very responsive to commands such as ‘come,’ ‘sit, and ‘place.”
Pips still has plenty of energy. Michael said she loves playing with Ruth and spending time outside with the family.
“She can play fetch for hours, and our kids love to go out and throw a ball for her in the yard,” he shares. “We have many great memories with Pips. She is a lively little heeler with a ton of energy. We live on almost 80 acres, and she hikes the whole place right there with the rest of our dogs.”
Michael said he wants to keep speaking up for deaf dogs and other animals with disabilities.
“There are many dogs out there who are deaf, blind, or have other disabilities who deserve a chance to be loved,” Michael concludes. “However, that change comes with responsibility for the owner (and some extra work). But ultimately, they are the best dogs, and we should love them all the same.”
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