Episode 7:

Summer, the soundwork superstar!

Posted by Elizabeth Murphy

Welcome back to Summer’s Puppy Pen! Your clever sponsor pup has been doing lots of brilliant work in her soundwork training. Soundwork is a hearing dog’s unique ability to hear a sound and then alert a deaf person to it. In this episode, you'll get to watch exclusive training videos of Summer practising this special skill with Claire, her Volunteer Dog Trainer.

For a lot of deaf people, waking up in the morning can be a stressful experience. Not being able to hear the alarm clock can cause a deaf person to oversleep and be late for work or school. This is where Summer will come to the rescue!

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When the alarm goes off, Summer has been taught to jump on the bed, and when asked ‘What is it?’, Summer will lead her deaf partner to the alarm clock. Being woken up by a cuddly Cockapoo seems like a wonderful start to the day!

Another sound which Summer has been practising is the doorbell. Many deaf people cannot hear the doorbell, which can lead to them missing visitors or deliveries. This can contribute to a deaf person feeling isolated from the world around them.

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You’ll notice that Summer receives lots of praise and yummy treats for doing the soundwork sequence correctly. Like all her training, soundwork is based around rewards, which makes alerting to sounds feel like a fun game for Summer!

Next up, we have the smoke alarm. This sound requires a different reaction from Summer, known as the ‘danger signal’.