Deepfork's Battle of Jericho

CD, RAE, OA, NAJ, NJP, CDX, R1MCL, CGC, FFX-AP

Meet Jericho, my hard-of-hearing, High in Trial obedience dog. Jericho is a brilliant, happy boy who has no idea he is any different than any other dog. A pure-bred color-headed white sheltie, Jericho has proven easy to train and easier to love.

I purchased Jericho at the age of 8 weeks old, thinking he was deaf. After I got him home, I discovered he was not totally deaf. Jericho can hear loud noises, and if I talk loudly to him, he cocks his head and listens carefully. Because Jericho has some hearing, he is able to compete in AKC performance events.

So now Jericho is training as a performance dog. Training a deaf dog is not too much different than training a hearing dog. You have to be more patient and willing to often get up and go over to the dog to "tell" it what to do. Because yelling at my dog in the performance ring is not acceptable, I am training Jericho as if he was stone cold deaf. Jericho watches my hands attentively to "hear" what I'm telling him to do with hand signals. He has extremely good focus, which is imperative for him in competition.

Jericho has been a star from the beginning, and earned his Canine Good Citizen Certification at the young age of only five months.

At the age of 11 months, he attended his first competition trial - an APDT Rally Obedience show. In three runs, Jericho earned his Level 1 title with the Magna Cum Laude distinction (meaning his average score was between a perfect 200 and 190). I was so proud of my little dog!

Jericho is proving to be a great obedience dog and has earned AKC's highest Rally Obedience title - the RAE. He also earned his ASCA CDX title in one weekend with three First Places and two High in Trials!!!  It was a wonderful weekend for both of us and it was the first time either of us have ever shown in Open.  His Utility Obedience training is coming along very well.  He just loves training for obedience an ADORES his dumbbell, gloves and his utility scent articles.

He is also competing lightly in agility, and I am amazed daily at how well he can play the game without hearing. At the young age of 15 months, he earned his AKC Novice Titles (NA, NAJ) in just three runs for each title. That is the fastest those titles can be earned! He now competes in AKC's preferred program.

Jericho's favorite game is tug-of-war, and he loves to take his leash and play tug instead of walking nicely like a well-trained dog. Highly socialized, Jericho loves to be petted by people and will eagerly climb in any lap offered to him. He also has a chair fetish and will jump into any chair he finds. He's often seen at agility trials checking out the folding chairs of other competitiors. He's very tactile and always wants to be touching me, which is very understandable considering his handicap.