Looking for advice on how to train deaf border collie :)
My deaf 5YO border collie was gifted to me & my siblings as a Christmas gift back in 2020. She was a Covid puppy and became EXTREMELY attached to me. She was originally supposed to be the family dog, but when I moved out 2 years ago she became fully mine since I had become her #1 human.
I love her more than anything, but my parents had never owned a dog before and honestly didn’t do much training with her. Since she’s been with me, I’ve taught her some hand signals like sit, wait, and go away. Even though she’s deaf, she is INSANELY intelligent and picked up visual commands super quickly.
The issue is that aside from those few things, she’s lived a very free life. She’s allowed on furniture, isn’t crate trained, jumps on people, and aggressively licks everyone’s face which most people understandably don’t love 😭 She’s super sweet overall, but she’s also very anxiously attached to me and whines/barks whenever I leave her home alone (never more than 6/7 hours a day.. 😏67hahah). She also gets into the cat litter and cat food if I’m gone too long.
My boyfriend is moving in with me in July and for his comfort/mental wellbeing we really need to create more structure for her. We’re no longer allowing her upstairs because it’s carpeted, and she’ll mainly stay downstairs where there’s wood flooring. We also want to crate train her for when we’re away or when she needs downtime. No more furniture/couch/bed access either because the SHEDDING is absolutely unreal 😑 my clothes and entire upstairs are constantly covered in hair no matter how much I brush her weekly. Also don’t want her jumping on guests or obsessively licking people. (She LOVES people) Honestly a lot of these restrictions seemed harsh at first but dogs do thrive on routine & structure so I would like to put in the work for her mental stimulation as well as our comfort. Before anyone comes for me I walk her for an hour or more if I can everyday and she gets a ton of attention from me when I am home & that isn’t changing. She also travels with me and lives a very nice life for a dog haha.
I feel confident she can adapt because she’s honestly so smart, I just don’t know where to start. Has anyone here trained a deaf border collie later in life? Any advice on crate training, separation anxiety, jumping/licking, or managing the shedding? Also are shock/vibration collars considered okay or harmful for deaf dogs?