Here we show just how special all of our hearing dogs are: "Thelma’s devotion to duty in making me aware of sounds is just great, and my confidence and quality of life is growing day by day. She has many friends in our local supermarket, and now people stop me to talk to me about her and what she can do. We have even now been on holiday: this would have been unthinkable in the past, and is all down to Thelma giving me back confidence to enjoy life again."
Chris Goard and hearing dog Thelma
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.
Choose another Hearing Dog of the Month
October 2009
Name: Flo Breed: Labrador x golden retriever
Flo is a very special dog with two jobs. She has been trained to act as both a guide dog and a hearing dog for Kate Fenwick, who is both deaf and blind.
Kate has a congenital condition called Flynn-Aird Syndrome which has caused her to progressively lose both her sight and her hearing from the age of eight. Over 25 years she has benefited from five guide dogs, but her hearing has deteriorated so much that she found she was struggling to hear even with the most powerful hearing aids. It was at this point that she decided to apply for her first dual-purpose dog - a dog specially trained to guide when out and about and to alert to sounds in the home.
Flo is a Labrador cross golden retriever, and was bred by The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. After a period of training with Guide Dogs, she then came to Hearing Dogs to learn how to alert to various household sounds. In June 2008 she went to live with Kate, and has had a huge impact on her life since then. "Flo has given me a lot more confidence when I'm out and about," she says. "Although she is acting as a guide dog most of the time when I'm in town, when I stop for a coffee I take her harness off and put her Hearing Dog coat on. If the fire alarm goes off she will alert me and the staff can see that I need assistance, so they will guide me out of the building. When I'm on the bus, I'm no longer the blind lady who doesn't answer when people talk to me. Now people can see that I'm deaf as well and are responding to my needs. All this means that I am much more relaxed when I go out independently."
In addition to making people aware of Kate's dual sensory loss, Flo's hearing dog training has given her a very important role in the community, as Kate explains: "We have had a spate of burglaries in our area recently. On the evening of the first one, Flo alerted me in the middle of the night, but I thought she just wanted to go out. However, i found out the next day that there had been a burglary two streets away and the police had caught the person hiding in my shed. A few days after that, Flo alerted me twice in the night - once at midnight and then at 4.45am. Again the police told me that a house close to me was broken into at midnight, and the police had attended at 4.45am! So Flo was spot on. Now the police have asked me to dial 999 if Flo alerts me in the night, and have told me that having Flo has made me much safer than the other residents in the street."
Having Flo has really helped Kate feel more relaxed. "When Flo's been out in the garden, she alerts me to let me know that she's in again so I don't shut her out by mistake. She tells me when the post has arrived or when the ice cream van is in the road! She is very good at sensing when I need something, and she paws my bed at night to say goodnight to me. If I'm in a large gathering and feeling a bit lost, I don't worry, just knowing Flo is there reassures me.
"Flo has made an enormous difference to my life. I feel so much more confident both in the house and outdoors. She helps me not only by guiding me and alerting me to sounds, but also by changing the way people at large respond to me."