The first sign your dog is aging can be very upsetting if you don't fully understand what is truly happening, is an increasing inattentiveness and apparent loss of obedience training. When you call to them, your dog seems to ignoring you, or respond to you slowly that you tempted to punish them for disobedience. Nothing of the sort should be done!
More likely or not, they are developing a gradual hearing loss. Both the loudness and the range of sounds are being reduced and account for what seems to be inattentiveness. These same changes, plus slight alterations in the nerve pathways leading to, through, and from the brain, account for they noticeably slower response once they do finally pay attention to you. To punish them, or to subject them to obedience retraining, would be a cruel thing which could easily break there spirit and build a wall of distrust and fear between the both of you.
It’s quite easy to conduct a hearing test yourself. Make sure the room is quiet and there are no distracting sounds, lights, or physical vibrations. While the dog is resting quietly but awake, stand about five feet behind him, being sure they cannot see you. Loudly clap your hands together as you watch his head and ears. If his ears perk up and they turn to see where the sound is coming from, they can still hear quite well. If there is little or no response, there is hearing impairment to some degree. Try the test again but this time a little closer, again being sure that the dog neither sees you nor feels the vibrations or air currents created by the movement of your hands.
Assuming your dog does respond adequately, you may try again with not so loud a clap or by snapping your fingers, progressively decreasing the volume of the sounds. One caution; do not do these tests in rapid succession, as louder sounds may temporarily diminish response to succeeding quieter ones. Allow at least fifteen to thirty seconds to elapse between each decreased degree of sound. By means of such testing, you can establish the approximate level of your dog's hearing ability as well as monitor it periodically to detect any further hearing deficiency. Keep in mind, however, that there can be a considerable variation in his ability to hear spoken sounds of differing pitch. Therefore his response may be quite different, depending on whether the speaker is a woman or man, child or adult.
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