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Hearing Dogs

© Maureen Fleury

Maybe when you have been at the mall or walking down the street, you have seen a blind person walking with a Seeing Eye dog. The dogs usually wear a jacket and they are trained to help blind people find their way around. There is another service dog and they are called Hearing Dogs. They are trained to help deaf people with their day to day life by being their "ears".

These dogs are specially trained for the job and are taught how to react when certain sounds happen. Deaf people do not hear an alarm clock, doorbell, telephone or a baby crying. If the alarm clock starts to ring, the dog will go and wake up its deaf owner. If there is someone at the door, the dog will touch the owner with its paw and take him/her to the door.

Hearing dogs are especially alert for dangers around the house, such as smoke detectors, fire alarms or burglar alarms. They are trained to alert the owner and do other gestures such as lying down or rolling over in order to signal an emergency.

It takes many months to train a Hearing Dog. The dogs have to be trained to react to certain sounds and must be well-behaved. The Hearing Dog will go out in public with its owner, so it must know how to act in a store and not growl or snarl at people or at other dogs. In addition to training the dog, the owner must be trained to know what each action of the dog means. The Hearing Dog is under the care of a trainer for the first few months and then is introduced to the owner. It takes a few more months for the owner and the dog to be trained together.

Just think of how much help a dog can be to a deaf person. A deaf mom cannot hear the cries of her baby when she has fallen down. The baby may be injured. The Hearing Dog is trained to listen to all sounds in the house and will immediately run to the mother and get her to tend to the baby.

Dogs have a gift of a keen sense of hearing and that is why they are good for the job. In addition, dogs can remember repetitive tasks when they are properly trained. In addition to being the "ears" for a deaf person, dogs are devoted companions.

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