In the first few months of Vince's life it became evident that he did not like things to change too much, especially when he was out for a walk. He was quite easily spooked and some care was required to ensure things didn't sneak up on him. It was also evident that he was not a fan of (some) other male dogs. At 8 weeks he felt man enough to snap at a full grown Staffordshire Bull Terrier, fortunately "Floyd" was a wee softie and didn't retaliate. No harm was done in any case.

We worked hard to train Vince that everything was NOT out to get him and nowadays he is fine off the lead, just like most other assertive dogs. Off the lead he acts like many other Dalmatians (and other 'guard type' breeds) in that he will 'chase off' any uninvited dogs who approach.

We also had to be careful with people approaching Vince. If people approached him and used the typical hand held out approach he would offer to snap at them. Because of his deafness we think he was extremely nervous and worried he would be struck.
Nowadays, and for quite some time now, he is fine with all people. He runs up to the gardener at our local park to say hello and so forth. And he is an absolute star with our 14month old daughter.

Vincent is very well trained. He does Sit, Stay, Paw, Lie Down, Recall, Roll Over, (Jump) Over, Go to Bed, Go…(wherever you point), and he even speaks (pretty good for a deaf dog, and our first one at that). His hand signals are not standard ones, rather ones which we devised ourselves. I use a fist raised to the chest for sit - and he responds, without fail, every time. He stops and sits automatically at the kerb before crossing the road, and sits down at the lightest tug of the leash when stationary - most of the time he sits down as soon as you stop moving.

Recently we retrained him at meal times, as he had become a bit of a glutton, and offered (just once) to growl when my wife moved his food dish. By the time I returned from offshore a few days after this incident, he had been successfully trained to wait until given the command to eat his food. This is very humorous as his food is always laid down before our other dog gets hers, but he has to wait until after the other dog has her food before he is allowed to eat.
He gets very anxious waiting for you to come back and tell him it is okay. If you get distracted, or decide to test him, he squeaks to remind you he is still waiting. He just WILL NOT help himself. This took just days to train, and is so inlaid now that he needs no reminding.

Vincent is a very healthy 5 years old now, and weighs in at a solid 35Kg. None of which is fat - he is very strong and his rear leg muscles would make Arnie jealous.

For the first 2 years of his life Vince was plagued by allergies. From about 9months to 2 years he got a daily injection of serum which was to help against these. Gradually, year by year, his itchiness got less, and I am glad to say that now he only occasionally has a lick of his paws. He even stops doing this on command though.

One funny tale I like is his first snowfall.
We opened the back door that first winter to a curtain of soft snowflakes floating to the ground. Imagine our surprise when he refused point blank to go out and play. I carried him outside, but as soon as he was released he bolted back inside and looked outside shivering in fear at the falling white things. It's something I had never given any thought, but given that he had shown signs of a similar behaviour with leaves we came to the conclusion that because he can't hear he finds it harder to judge what will hurt when it hit him. If you think about it we hear something hitting the ground and have a good idea how solid it is - he has no idea. Anyway, he was eventually persuaded to stay outside long enough to realise the white things did not hurt, and now he loves the snow as much as any other dog I have owned.

Nowadays we are pretty relaxed with his behaviour. Like any strong willed dog, he needs to be kept in his place, but he's a big softie and loves giving kisses and cuddles. Still not that keen on strange dogs, but he has a girlfriend, Bella the Greyhound, whom he loves. He knows quite a few other dogs, and any he is allowed to spend time with are soon welcomed into his circle of trust.

Vincent's favourite treat is Wine Gums. He knows he is not allowed to eat off the table but believes anything on the floor is fair game. Being a Dalmatian he has developed a trick to overcome this problem. Nudge the bag of Wine Gums onto the floor, then they are his!

Knowing what we have learned from our first deaf dog, we might do things slightly, and I do mean slightly, different next time round. One thing is for sure though. We would not change him for the world. He's our little pup and we love him, flaws and all. And he makes it perfectly clear how much he loves us.

DEAFNESS - Not even an issue.

Would we do it again? - Absolutely, unconditionally, without hesitation. When can we start?

ACTIONS, as they say, SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.

Hope you like our little tale, there is so much more to tell.

A few more happy pics for all to share.