Deafness is often difficult to assess accurately, mainly because dogs are not able to tell us when they have trouble hearing. Usually, it is their failure to obey commands or respond to familiar noises that first alert dog owners to a deafness problem.
If possible, dog owners should start adjusting lifestyle and interactions to accommodate the loss of full hearing capacity during the beginning stages of hearing loss. Picking up early hearing loss can be a challenge, but your veterinarian can test the dog if you have identified any signs of reduced response to sound/voice.
When a dog begins to go deaf the process is normally a gradual one. You will probably not be able to tell that your dog is going deaf until they have lost most of their hearing. Most dog owners who discover that their dog has gone deaf have noticed for awhile that something about their pet seemed a little off, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on what it could be.
Deafness in dogs and cats can be of two kinds: conductive or sensorineural. If sounds cannot travel properly in the external or middle ear, the problem is said to be conductive. If the deafness is sensorineural, the inner ear is involved and deafness is usually total.
Diagnoses of deafness in dogs can usually be made by observation but your veterinarian 1can definitively diagnose hearing loss through the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test. The procedure is painless and takes 10-15 minutes to administer.