Hearing dog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A hearing dog is a specific type of assistance dog specifically selected and trained to assist people who are deaf or hearing impaired by alerting their handler to important sounds, such as doorbells, smoke alarms, ringing telephones, or alarm clocks. They may also work outside the home, alerting to such sounds such as sirens, forklifts and a person calling the handler's name.
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[edit] Training
Dogs that may become hearing dogs are tested for proper temperament, sound reactivity, and willingness to work. After passing initial screenings, they are trained in basic obedience and exposed to things they will face in public such as elevators, shopping carts, and different types of people. Only after that period of socializing are they trained in sound alerting.
Hearing dogs may be trained professionally in as little as three months, though many are trained for closer to a year. Generally, training involves getting the dog to recognize a particular sound and then physically alert or lead their handler to the source. They may also be taught to physically alert to and/or lead away from a sound, such as in the case of a fire alarm. While many hearing dogs are professionally trained, there is a growing number[citation needed] of deaf or hearing-impaired individuals who undertake the challenge of training their own hearing dogs.
[edit] History
Back in 1979, the idea of service dogs for the hearing impaired was brought up at a conference for veterinarians called the British Small Animal Veterinary Association International Symposium. The man responsible for the idea was Professor Lee Bustad. He was a Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University and spoke at the conference. He suggested that there be training programs where dogs would learn to assist deaf people. Dr. Bruce Fogle, who overheard Bustad’s speech became interested in the project instantly. They called the idea the Hearing Dog Scheme. Fogle contacted Lady Wright, a worker for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), and she liked the idea because “deafness [was] the least understood major disability,” but did not see how the UK would finance a training program. Later Wright and Fogle worked together visiting training centers in the United States, planning out a presentation that convinced the UK to pay for the training through animal charities. The first training facility was offered to the program in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, but was only given for charity and later they would have to find their own location. The dogs were trained and boarded on site, with help from local animal corporations, such as the Smith Kline Animal Health Limited who gave the dogs free vaccines and medicines. The dogs were treated like guide dogs, given free examinations two times a year, because after all they would be guiding deaf people in to a new world with less isolation. The Hearing Dog Scheme was not public until February 1982 at a dog show in London, where the new administrator and trainer for the program, Tony Blunt, and the first dog destined to work as a hearing dog, Favour told national press of their plans to help the hearing impaired. Tony Blunt was a former police dog handler and now is the program’s general director still training hearing dogs for over thirty years. The first hearing dog, Favour, was not your standard service dog, he was a one year old rescue that proved to be an excellent choice by displaying great training and loyalty. On June 1, 1982 the UK Hearing Dog’s program was official under the RNID and the training began. The first training center was purchased in Lewknow, Oxfordshire in 1986, and in only four years up for 100 dogs were successfully trained and given to deaf individuals. Since then, the companies name has changed to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and it has trained over 400 dogs and helped establish multiple other organizations for hearing dogs.
[edit] Hearing Dog Awards
On October 6, 2009 in London’s historic and beautiful Vintners’ Hall the annual Hearing Dog of the Year ’09 Awards[1] commenced to honor working dogs across the country for the sixth year in a row. The dogs are nominated by their owners, telling amazing and life saving stories to the judges. Hearing dogs are important to deaf people because they enable them to live like everyone else, allow them to have constant support and loving, and most of all feel less disabled.
[edit] 3 Categories
Hearing dogs have enabled deaf individuals to accept who they are and realize that they too can experience the world around them without fear of not hearing something. These dogs allow them to be proud of who they are and what their culture represents. Because of the hard work, loyalty, and love hearing dogs have done for their owners they are recognized by the Hearing Dog Organization yearly and monthly with the hearing dog of the year and the month award. Owners submit courageous stories of their dogs working and the one that represents the ideal dog by giving pride and individualism to their owner wins. The prize is not for the owner, but for the public. Every winner’s story is published on their website, and usually in the news, so that people may learn to understand the need there is for acceptance for deaf people, and how something as simple as a pet, a friend, or a loved one, can make life worth living. There are three categories that hearing dogs can be nominated for: the rescue hearing dog, the heroic hearing dog, and the life-changing hearing dog. Rescue dogs are those which were strays or abandoned and were sent to centers where they where chosen as gifted dogs. In this section, the judges look to see what makes the god so special to their owners. They want to see how the dog has overcome how their life started out traumatically. Next in the heroic section, the dog must have had a situation where they have either saved the recipients life or someone else’. The judges want to see how they acted “above and beyond the call of duty.” Lastly, in the life-changing section, their must be an experience that is very personal for the deaf owner. For example, something where they think about how their life was before they had the dog and how having the pet has impacted their life. Judges look for stories that are “unbelievably moving and ultimately heartwarming.”
[edit] 2009 Winners
The 2009 winners of the Hearing Dog Awards are Ia2n Finney’s pet Cinders for Rescue, Kenny GIbson’s pet Troy for Life-Changing, and Marika Rebicsek’s Amos for Heroic [2]. Cinder’s relationship with his owner eimpressed the judges because the dog is not only making his living situation tolerable, but he is also his guardian outside of the house. As for Troy, the judges picked him because he gave his owner a reason to leave his house and meet other people. He has given his owner a normal life again, because he never use to leave the house before having the dog. Amos was picked for many reasons, he saved his owner’s life by alerting her of a boiling kettle, cared for his owner’s mother too, and he helped keep her spirits high when she learned that she had new health problems and lost a family member close to her.
[edit] Impact
The Hearing Dog Awards are important because it allows outsiders, people who are hearing, to understand the isolation that deaf people undergo, when they are not accepted by other and themselves. Having a hearing dog allows deaf people to feel like they can live again, the dogs give them pride and strength to accept who they are and that they can do anything that anyone else can. Hearing dogs are truly a deaf man’s best friend because they see who the person is and love them no matter how different they may think they are.
[edit] Information
More details can be found at http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/. This information was put together for an American Sign Language project on hearing dogs.
[edit] Accessibility
In the United States, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 allows hearing dogs, along with guide and service dogs, access to anywhere the general public is permitted. Some state laws also provide access protection or additional guidelines, such as fines or criminal penalties for interfering with or denying access to a hearing dog team.
Hearing dogs often wear a bright orange leash and collar to identify them. Some also wear a cape or jacket, which may or may not be orange.
In the United Kingdom, hearing dogs wear distinctive burgundy jackets bearing the logo of the charity which trains and funds them.
In Australia, hearing dogs are trained through the Lions Club International of Australia. They wear a bright orange leash, collar and harness to identify them, and carry with them an issued ID. They are permitted by law access with their handler anywhere that is open to members of the public.
