Breed-Specific Deafness Prevalence In Dogs (percent)

Breed Dogs
Tested		 Bilaterally
Hearing		 Unilaterally
Deaf		 Bilaterally
Deaf		 Total Deaf
(uni + bi)
Dalmatian 5,638 70.% (3,971) 21.7% (1,226) 7.8% (441) 29.6% (1,667)
Bull Terrier
      white
      colored		 681
360
312		 88.5% (603)
79.4% (286)
98.7% (308)		 10.3% (70)
18.3% (66)
1.3% (4)		 1.2% (8)
2.2% (8)
0.0% (0)		 11.5% (78)
20.6% (74)
1.3% (4)
English Setter 701 88.0% (617) 10.0% (70) 2.0% (14) 12.0% (84)
English Cocker Spaniel
       parti colored
       solid color		 1,511
1,425
76		 94.2% (1,423)
94.1% (1,341)
98.7% (75)		 5.0% (76)
5.1% (72)
1.3% (1)		 0.8% (12)
0.8% (12)
0.0% (0)		 5.8% (88)
5.9% (84)
1.3% (1)
Australian Cattle Dog 442 85.5% (378) 12.0% (53) 2.5% (11) 14.5% (64)
Catahoula Leopard Dog* 162 59.9% (97) 15.4% (25) 24.7% (40) 40.1% (65)
Jack Russell Terrier*
158
91.8% (145)
4.4% (7)
3.8% (6)
8.2% (13)
Havanese* 140 100% (140) 0 0 0
Whippet*

116

98.3% (114)

 0.0% (0)

1.7% (2)

1.7% (2)
Boston Terrier* 104 91.4% (95) 3.9% (4) 4.8% (5) 8.3% (9)
Dogo Argentino* 150 59.3% (89) 29.3% (44) 11.3% (17) 40.7% (61)
Boston Terrier*          
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel*          
English Bulldog*          
French Bulldog*          

*Insufficient numbers of animals tested at this time for percentages to be meaningful.

Breed Deafness Prevalence Data from Other Sources:

  1. Dalmatians (UK)
    N = 1,234
    U = 13.1%
    D = 5.3%
    TD = 18.4%
  2. Dalmatians (Switzerland)
    N = 575
    U = 9.4%
    D = 7.1%
    TD = 16.5%
  3. Dalmatians (Germany)
    N = 1,899
    U = 12.2%
    D = 7.4%
    TD = 19.6%
  4. Border Collies (UK)
    N = 4,143
    U = 2.0%
    D = 0.4%
    TD = 2.4%
  5. Border Collies (UK)
    N = 2,597
    U = 2.3%
    D = 0.5%
    TD = 2.8%
  6. Australian Stumpy-tail Cattle Dogs (Australia)
    N = 315
    U = 12.4%
    D = 5.4%
    TD = 17.8%
  7. Australian Cattle Dogs (Australia)
    N = 899
    U = 7.5%
    D = 3.3%
    TD = 10.8%
  8. Jack Russell Terriers (US)
    N = 1,009
    U = 3.57%
    D = 0.5%
    TD = 4.07%

Source Publications:

  1. Wood J, Lakhani K. 1997. Vet J 154:121-33.
  2. Muhle AD et al. 2002. Vet J 163:311-8.
  3. Juraschko K et al. 2003. Vet J 166:164-9.
  4. DeRisio  L et al. 2011. Vet J 188:286-90.
  5. Platt S et al. 2006. J Vet Intern Med 20:1355-62.
  6. Sommerlad S et al. 2010. PLoS One 5:e13364.
  7. Sommerlad SF et al. 2012. BMC Vet Res 8:1-16.
  8. Comito B, Knowles KE, Strain GM. 2012. Vet J 193:404-7.
Dr. George M. Strain
Louisiana State University
Comparative Biomedical Sciences
School of Veterinary Medicine
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Phone: 225-578-9758
Fax: 225-578-9895
E-mail: strain@lsu.edu

May 16, 2013

Return to Deafness in Dogs & Cats