Working hear

October 06th, 2016

You may have seen guide dogs but have you heard about hearing dogs? These specially trained dogs help improve the lives of people with hearing impairments.

Dogs can alert their owners to sounds around the house by touching their owner with a paw. They detect sounds such as doors opening, telephones ringing and babies crying. Most importantly, hearing dogs alert their owners to life-saving sounds like smoke alarms.

Lions Hearing Dogs in Mount Barker is the only accredited hearing dog training centre in Australia. They will be holding an open day and market on Sunday, October 9 to raise funds for the not-for-profit organisation.

The annual open day will have dog demonstrations, market stalls and a free sausage sizzle. An AUSLAN interrupter will also be present. Hearing dog owners will travel from all over Australia to share how their hearing dog helps them, with some owners having a hearing dog for over 10 years.

Lions Hearing Dogs CEO David Horne said the aim of the open day is to promote awareness of the program.

“It is a day to show people what hearing dogs do, how they are trained and how they help hearing impaired people,” David said.

Lions Hearing Dogs are provided free of charge to people with hearing impairments all over the country. Since 1982 they have supplied nearly 500 dogs Australia wide.

Hearing dogs give their owners a sense of confidence and help them get back out into the community.

“When people are out and about their dogs give their owners a sense of awareness. Owners use the dog's body language to understand what's happening around them,” David said.

“Often deafness is an invisible disability. The dog shows that the person has some form of hearing loss.

“Sometimes if you have a gradual hearing loss you can become withdrawn and the dog gives you confidence. Others will come up and talk to you about your dog.”

When dogs are in public they wear a bright orange jacket to alert people that they are a working hearing dog and they should not be patted.

“It is best to not interrupt their work, people with hearing dogs are just trying to get about their business,” David said.

The training centre at Mount Barker is on six acres with kennels and training facilities. It take between six to eight months to train a hearing dog and costs $30,000 per dog. Therefore, Lions Hearing Dogs relies on the generosity of the community.

Trained hearing dogs usually come from pounds and shelters. Most breeds can be trained although small cross breeds such as Maltese shih zhus are popular.
Lions Hearing Dogs trainer Belinda Waters said the best thing about her job is seeing the difference the program makes to the lives of both the dogs and the people who receive them.

“We rescue the dogs in the first place from, potentially, death row,” Belinda said.

“Working with a person who's hard of hearing and seeing how much that dog's companionship can benefit them is very rewarding.

“First and foremost the dog can actually save someone's life. If you're profoundly deaf and you have a fire in your home at night, to have that dog actually alert you to that can be life-saving.

“A lot of people say that just having the dog within their home can make them feel calmer and reassured, so they sleep better and are less anxious in their house.”

Training each dog takes her 6-8 months and centres around teaching them to respond to specific household sounds, including doorbells, ringing phones, smoke alarms and children's crying.

“It's all done by positive reinforcement and food rewards,” Belinda said.

“When we're looking for dogs we seek out those that are food-motivated and have a natural curiosity.”

The Lions Hearing Dogs open day and market will be held on Sunday, October 9 from 10am-2pm at 793 Mount Barker Road, Verdun. Entry is free.

For more information about Lions Hearing Dogs or to make a donation call 8388 7836 or visit their website at http://www.hearingdogs.asn.au.

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