From buses to bottles: the life of a training instructor

Senior Dog Training Instructor, Michelle, covers our South Manchester and Cheshire regions. Since 2015, she’s supported many volunteers and pups through the Hearing Dogs reward-based training programme. It’s a reward based role too, as Michelle sees the puppies grow up to transform lives.

“I knew I wanted to work with assistance dogs ever since my first job after university, where my boss had one. It took me 10 years after making that decision to reach Hearing Dogs!

“The job of Puppy Training Instructor came up just before I finished my degree in Canine Behaviour and Training. When I got the job, I couldn’t believe my luck. 

“I’m now a Senior Dog Training Instructor. I work with Volunteer Dog Trainers, who take our puppies and dogs through their training. I also run projects to support our volunteers. 

“On a typical day, I could be running group training classes or one-to-one visits. Or I might be writing a tailored training plan, or preparing a dog to be placed with their deaf partner. No two days are the same!  

“When a puppy meets their new volunteer, we let them both settle in and bond gradually. We try not to overwhelm new volunteers and make sure they feel supported. There’s a lot to learn but we take it step by step. We buddy-up new and experienced volunteers, so they have peer support throughout the training process.

“Every puppy is unique and you learn so much from each one. We hold training classes out and about to help them gain confidence in real-world environments.

“This is important not only to make sure our dogs feel happy wherever they go, but also so that their future deaf partners have a calm, relaxed hearing dog by their side. It amazes me how many sights, smells and sounds a puppy can experience ‘in the wild’.  

“We may visit a quiet residential area, a busy shopping centre, or a café to practise ‘settle’ as a group. Our volunteers really get into the spirit. They even dress up in different outfits so the puppies are introduced to ‘new people’, be it a pretend lollipop lady or even a pretend vet.

“This is to mimic the different people the puppies will meet when living with their future deaf partner. These fun group sessions, where there are distractions we can control, are a great way to build up the puppies’ skills and confidence. Everything’s broken down into bitesize chunks and is taken at each puppy’s own pace.

“We also run introductory public transport sessions with our pups when they’re around eight months old. In the area I cover, Stagecoach kindly loan us a bus for our pups to practise on. This allows the pups to take baby steps towards travelling on a real bus.

“We practise getting on and off and then add controlled distractions, such as ringing the bell. Doing these sessions as a group can help the less confident dogs to get on the bus, having seen their confident friends do it first. 

“As well as out-and-about sessions, I make home visits to support volunteers. This can include introducing sensory activities using home appliances, such as a vacuum cleaner, or building up a pup’s confidence around being groomed. 

“In training, it’s important to think about things from a dog’s point of view.  If you have ever pushed your dog away for jumping up at you, you may have unknowingly given them exactly what they are pestering you for — attention!

“Working out how a dog might interpret our interactions helps us to guide them and reward the right choices. This helps build the dog’s relationship with us and their confidence, which in turn will motivate them to make a positive choice to alert their partner to sounds.

“Engaging in fun activities such as hunting games and agility strengthens this, which again will help the dogs in their final role with their deaf partner. 

“When a puppy is ready, I support the Volunteer Dog Trainers to begin teaching them to alert to sounds We start by working on ‘the nudge’.

“Initially, we encourage the dog to nudge a sticky note. Then, we help them to increase the strength of that nudge by asking them to push something light over, such as a plastic bottle or a DVD case. Eventually, this will develop into the potentially life-saving skill of nudging to get their deaf partner’s attention when they hear an important sound.

“We reward our dogs in their training depending on what each individual dog enjoys. That could be a treat, a toy or a big fuss. What’s great about training hearing dogs is that our dogs get to be dogs all the time! To them, their ‘job’ is a fun game rather than a chore.  

“In the world of dog training, there are various areas you can go into. When someone said they thought puppy training would suit me best, I think they were right!

“What I love about my job is I get to work with a wide range of incredible people (and puppies!). It’s amazing when you’ve matched a hearing dog to their deaf partner and the volunteer feels really proud of the work they’ve put in. Seeing that journey is what I really enjoy.”