Sound support dogs
If you, or anyone you know, has deteriorating hearing or moderate hearing loss, and need to be alerted to sounds in your home, a sound support dog might be able to help you.
What is a sound support dog?
Our sound support dogs are highly trained to alert deaf people to sounds in the home, but when they are out and about, they don’t wear a Hearing Dogs jacket and don’t accompany their deaf partner to places a pet dog wouldn’t be able to go.
Sometimes a dog gets to the end of their training and is excellent at alerting people to sounds in a home environment, but doesn’t necessarily thrive in certain other environments, such as busy town centres or on public transport. This could be because they get a bit too distracted by the hustle and bustle, or they just feel more comfortable in quieter situations.
We match sound support dogs to people with deteriorating hearing or moderate hearing loss who need to be reliably alerted to sounds within the home, but do not need a dog to accompany them everywhere they go.
How could a sound support dog help?
Linda, who has sound support dog, Aspen says:"From the first day of Aspen arriving, I felt more secure and safe just knowing he is there to help me.
"He gave me back my confidence, and he gives me a reason to smile every day. It is so lovely to be woken up by Aspen pawing at me gently when the alarm goes off.
"He also alerts me to the cooker timer – so no more burnt food – the doorbell, my phone, the fridge – which makes a whistling sound if the door is left open – and the smoke alarm.
"When the smoke alarm goes off Aspen will nudge me or, if I’m asleep, jump gently onto the bed to wake me up, and when I say: ‘What is it?’ he will then drop flat to the floor to signal danger. Knowing Aspen will waken me in the night if there’s a fire is the most comforting of all."