This month we were treated to a talk about hearing dogs for the deaf by Veronica Colley along with her dog Logan.
Veronica laid a blanket in the corner which Logan then laid on and slept. Veronica then told us first about herself and her hearing difficulties and how the dogs helped.
She had learnt to lipread, this was very helpful in having a conversation,
But if she was at home alone and the doorbell rang, she would not hear it, but Logan would, and would come to her get her attention and head for the door, checking she was following him to the door. She also uses a kitchen timer for reminders of various things she needs to do at certain times, again Logan will come and get her attention and head off to the timer, again checking she has followed him.
She gave a member of the audience a Fire Alarm to be activated when she indicated, whilst telling us of how it would work. When the alarm was set off Logan awoke from his snooze on the rug, came up to Veronica, nudged her with his nose indicating an urgent exit.
When the dogs reach the age of 9 years a new dog is introduced first to check the two dogs get on OK, if so the two work together and the new dog slowly takes over the roll of “Hearing Dog” and the original one becomes a pet.
This was a very informative talk along with some practical demonstrations.
