and they are very easy going. I have had deaf dogs before and used hand signals with them as I do with these. Dogs in general are much more tuned in to body language than to verbal cues so hand signals work well.
I would not put a giant sign on either of my dogs that say "DEAF DOG" It is not something that other people need to know. If someone is trying to get my dog's attention I tell them how to do it but I think pity or having people feel sorry for you is damaging. It affects self-perception for both dogs and humans even though they have no reason to think of themselves as lesser or missing out.
Humans hear in the womb and our nose is the last sense to fully develop. Dogs are just the opposite -- they rely on their noses to find the mother for the first 7 to 10 days or so. So we tend to think of hearing as a very big deal and even use the phrase "my dog doesn't listen" to refer to almost any time that our communication (eg body language, context, etc) is not being responded to in the way we want. We project our own hearing preferences onto dogs but hearing is not primary for them -- smell is. Many dogs, especially floppy-eared breeds, have limited hearing. When a dog tilts its head it is doing that to try and hear better.
My dogs do many of the things he mentions such as maintaining physical contact especially when we are sleeping and I love that. Makes me feel just as secure and peaceful as they do. I wake my dogs up by putting food or my fingers near their nose. They don't react to other dogs barking or "strange noises" which is great.
Every dog is different and lovable. Deaf dogs are just dogs.
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