"She’s my little ray of sunshine"
Posted by Matt Sadler
Stella was partnered with hearing dog Freckles in March, and it's safe to say that our clever Cockapoo has made quite the difference in the last seven months.
Stella reveals her experiences with hearing loss and the impact Freckles has had on her life:
"I was in my 40s when an infection caused me to go deaf in one ear. Shortly afterwards, the hearing in my right ear started to deteriorate too. I wear hearing aids in both ears now, but most of the time I prefer to rely on lipreading.
"I live on my own, so my main concern at home before Freckles was always that the smoke alarm would go off and I wouldn’t hear it.
"My husband died when I was 58, and sometime afterwards I met someone else and we lived in my flat together. Even though he knew I was deaf, he would shout down to me from upstairs, then be cross when he came down because I hadn’t heard him. His lack of understanding about my deafness was one of the main reasons I ended the relationship, but not before it affected my confidence and self-esteem.
"I’ve always been quite open about my hearing loss and I’m very lucky to have close friends who understand that I can’t always hear them. One friend in particular will sum up what’s been said during an evening out and send it to me in a text afterwards.
"Outside of my immediate friendship group though my hearing loss affected my confidence. I’d feel anxious thinking I would annoy people if I had to ask them to repeat themselves, and eventually just opted out of social events. This probably stemmed from someone once making it very clear I was getting on his nerves. After I asked him to repeat himself for a third time, he waved me away with his hand and turned his back on me. It felt horrible and has stuck in my mind ever since.
"I knew from the moment I saw Freckles that she was the dog for me. She has such as lovely nature. I feel as though I’ve had her for years, not seven months. She just makes everything so much easier. She helps me from the moment I get up until I go to bed. She’s my little ray of sunshine.
"She’s made a huge difference to me at home. I’d only had her for a month when a power cut in the flats set all the smoke alarms off! I was in bed asleep, when she suddenly jumped on top of me, then dropped to the floor to indicate danger.
"Before Freckles, I missed the cooker timer so often, it became easier to just stay in the kitchen until it went off. Now she tells me when it’s going off, so I can relax and know I’m not going to burn down the kitchen!
"She even alerts me to sounds she hasn’t been trained for. One day she kept nudging me and when I asked her what it was, she took me to my phone which was buried underneath a coat – I had four missed calls!
"As far as loneliness goes, that’s where Freckles really helps me. Before I had her, although I knew I needed to go out and get exercise, I didn’t always want to go on my own. Now I don’t think twice because Freckles can go with me.
"Out and about, everyone stops and talks to me; they want to know all about her. If I need to be somewhere at a particular time, I have to allow extra time now to take into account everyone stopping me to say hello to Freckles!
"We’ve met loads of people at the park and all our regular haunts for coffee with friends know Freckles by name. She settles beautifully and just loves to be in the thick of whatever is going on.
"A huge thank you to everyone who has played a part in our partnership. I seriously feel that I couldn’t have been matched with a more perfect dog."
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