dog is deaf

Just came back from the vet.  Hoping it was wax in ear canal but no.  My 11-year-old lab is deaf.  Hunting season right around the corner.  any suggestions on how to handle?

Thanks

My lab was mostly deaf at age 14 and my current old gal is 12 years old and mostly deaf. I use a exaggerated hand signals and a vibrating collar and they don't seem to miss a beat. That and being half blind possibly with cataracts, doesn't seem to slow him down...     

Definitely get a vibrating collar and train him to ‘come’ or some other command once it vibrates.

labs love their food!

I had a lab that went def at 13.  Back then I had outside dogs.  Every morning I had to knock hard on the house 50% of the time he would wake up other 50% I would to knock again.  Every morning I don’t know if he would wake up. At 14 he’s sight started going.  He didn’t leave my side for fear of losing me after that. He was the best duck and pheasant dog I have ever had or hunted with.  We hunting with guys who’s dogs were field trail champs and he out did them all.  Man I miss that dog. RIP Harley

sorry I got off track but this brought back memories…

I had a Golden who I had suspected was losing his hearing. Fortunately he was quite responsive to hand signals and his hearing loss wasn’t a problem. Well, that is as long as I had eye contact or more crucially, that HE wanted eye contact. I would make eye contact and motion for him to do something, mostly just a “come here” motion, and if he didn’t feel like doing whatever it was, he just looked away and acted like he never saw a thing. It was really rather amusing watching him see me but look away instantly like he hadn’t. He was old and harmless, so his stubbornness was more entertaining than a bother at that point of his life. 

Quite common as labs age..its usually either vision or hearing. Our 2 labs are one of each.

 Try a very high pitch whistle or create a very high pitch from your mouth. That should catch his/her attention.

If your dog is collar conditioned you can train a sit on vibrate in a relatively short time. Once the dog complies he will typically look back at you. At this point you can do a wave to get him back or cast him if so trained. Good luck

Totally 100% deaf? or will he hear a audible tone on a e-collar?

Most e-collars vibrate also