Hearing Dogs are an important helper to its deaf master.

deaf people.

Specially trained hearing assistance dogs can easily provide invaluable services to the deaf and hearing-impaired people in their lives in much the same way as guide dogs for blind people assist their sight-impaired masters.

A person who is deaf or hearing impaired can easily be the overwhelmed by the feeling of vulnerability and isolation. A hearing dog offers a wonderful alternative to technical equipment with the added benefit of giving the deaf recipient an increased feeling of confidence, independence, companionship and security.

This working dog will alert his master to all sorts of important sounds such as: doorbell, a whistling tea kettle, a baby crying, the telephone ringing, a knock at the door, an alarm clock, fire alarms, a kettle whistle, someone calling after you, a smoke alarm, burglar alarm, or even the rustling of a prowler.

These types of service dogs provide an important sense of security, independence, and of course companionship to their human partners. In public, they proudly wear their working vests and enjoy the same public access rights as Guide Dogs for the Blind. Additionally, hearing assistance dogs have the same access rights as Guide Dogs for the blind - access to anywhere the general public is permitted to go.

The kind of training that goes into making a good pet can also create a terrific assistance dog as well. Any dog that works for any hearing impaired, blind or physically disabled person must be well-mannered, perfectly obedient in public, quiet and unobtrusive in all ways.

Breed, mixed or purebred, are not as important as is temperament and willingness to work. Whenever the dog is working, the hearing assistance dog must demonstrate intelligence, control and initiative.

Dogs that may potentially become hearing assistance dogs are tested for several things such as: proper temperament, willingness to work, and sound reactivity. Next, hearing dogs are trained in basic obedience and are socialized extensively in many different settings before they begin sound alerting training.

Hearing service dogs are trained by forming positive associations with all sorts of sounds, using food, praise, toys (whatever motivates the individual dog in training the best) as a reward. Training is broken down into easily achievable steps - rewarding the hearing assistance dog in training whenever it gets each step right. Individual steps are then built one upon the other until the dog learns the entire process completely, and can perform it over and over, without mistake.

Next, the hearing service dog in training is taught to seek out his deaf companion and touch them with a paw. When asked "What is it?" the hearing dog will lead the hearing disabled owner to the source of the sound.

Hearing dogs are known by several different names - "signal dogs," "hearing ear dogs," "sound alert dogs," or "hearing assistance dogs." Think of these wonderful service animals as "living, breathing, hearing aids". They work 24 hours a day, every day of the year only for praise and the love of their hearing impaired master.

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