Hearing Dog of the Month

Each month a dog is chosen to be 'Dog of the Month' - all of our dogs are special in so many ways. These are just a few of our hearing dogs who have provided love and support to their owners.

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February 2009

Name: Cinders   Breed: Labrador

Like the pantomime character after whom she is named, Cinders had a tough start to life. Her mum was rescued from a puppy farm along with her eight young puppies, and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People selected all of them for training. Unfortunately, only Cinders and her sister Beauty went on to make the grade as hearing dogs, and Cinders was placed with profoundly deaf Ian Finney in Aberdeenshire. Ian has been deaf since he was three.

“During my childhood years I relied on my faithful mother to wake me up in the morning,” he says, “or alert me if I had to respond to various sounds in the daytime. I was quite shy in making conversation with those I didn’t know in case I didn’t hear what they said. As I grew older my thoughts turned to being independent, but although I coped well with hearing aids during the day I was particularly scared of fire or an intruder at night. I found that although technical aids were available, at some point batteries would fail or mains failures would prevent them working.” Eventually Ian did move into his own home, but found his sleep was suffering due to his concern at trusting his life to these products.

As a telephone engineer on a callout rota, he needed to be available day and night to respond to emergencies and also be able to attend courses away from home. His fear of not hearing a fire alarm and having to rely on assistance from hotel staff was realised. He explains: “I had earlier told the receptionist I was deaf, and that night their fire alarm had a false trigger and I was greeted by one of their staff in my room. Imagine both the shock waking up with someone you don’t know peering over you, and the embarrassment of not being able to look after yourself. More and more often my alarm clock let me down, and I started to think about the numerous times I had missed visitors at the door and callers ringing me. At times like this it is easy to sink into depression.”

In 2005 Ian took the decision to apply for a hearing dog and in December 2007 Cinders was placed with him. The impact that Cinders was to have on his life was evident from the outset. “Within days of being at home I had packed up my old gadgets and put them away. I found almost immediately I had a lot more energy in the mornings as I was sleeping so much better, and since we have been home together I have not missed the alarm clock once. First thing every morning I am greeted with a paw on the bed followed by a hug. I also no longer have the irritation caused by missing doorbells or phone calls. Cinders has been so reliable, in fact, that I now often take out my hearing aids when home alone.”

Cinders has also had a beneficial effect on Ian’s work. “Cinders loves being in the van with me and particularly enjoys visits to farms and forests: she is an outdoor girl at heart. Before we were paired up I used to work through my lunch break, but now I am finding lots of parks and forests to give Cinders a run and it helps improve my health by allowing me to relax away from work for a while.

“Hearing Dogs changed Cinders’ life when they took her on from the puppy farm, and Cinders has, in turn, changed my life. Every morning the friendly paw that reaches out to me not only says ‘good morning’ but reminds me of what the Charity does for deaf people and what Cinders does for me. It moves me beyond words can describe; in fact to the extent I have tears in my eyes. Thank you Cinders, and thank you Hearing Dogs.”

Choose another Hearing Dog of the Month