Every breed has one or more genetic heath problems. PRA and Hip Dysplasia seem to be the most prominent ones but for some, mainly those of white color, like Dalmatians, it is deafness. As there are also many almost white Tibetans, some breeders, including us here at Dalghani, have started checking their puppies for deafness.

Experienced breeders can tell whether or not a puppy is completely deaf by the time it is 4 to 6 weeks old. Dogs can also be born unilaterally deaf, having one deaf ear and one ear with normal hearing. As these dogs can hear it is hard to diagnose the problem. Both unilateral and complete (bilateral) deafness can be confirmed in puppies and dogs 5 weeks of age and older by the brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) test, which is administered by some veterinarians and many University veterinay hospitals.

For this test, electrodes are placed around the head of the puppy or dog and a tiny earphone is inserted into one ear at a time. Once the puppy or dog is "wired for sound", the quick and painless procedure transmits high-frequency sounds at various decibel levels through the earphone, and the electrodes detect whether the brain registers a response to the sounds.

The pictures show Mona, an 8 week old puppy, being tested by Becky, the technician at WSU in Pullman, WA. A printout of the test results is given to the breeder. If the puppy or dog hears in the ear that was tested, the tracing is a jagged line with peaks and valleys, looking like a series of mountain ranges. If it is deaf in that ear, the line is almost flat.

Below is a printout one of our puppies received, both ears were fine (bilateral clear).

The testing is not cheap and for us it involves long trips across the border to Washington State University with young pups, but knowing that there are no hearing problems in our litters is well worth the trip and the expense.