organizations that provide service dogs to people with hearing loss
Service Dogs (also called Hearing Dogs) are trained to assist persons
with hearing loss in their everyday lives. Their duties generally
include notifying the hard of hearing or deaf person that the baby is crying,
the fire alarm is ringing, etc.
Hearing Dog Information
The story about Dandy demonstrates the kinds
of things that hearing dogs can do.
December
2001 - Have you ever wondered about the law concerning hearing dogs and
other service animals? Does an animal have to be "licensed" as
a service animal to have service animal privileges? Can disruptive
service animals be removed from public places? These and more questions
are answered in the following article from the US
Department of Justice.
December 2001 - I just
learned of the service dog email list and thought some of you might be
interested. It's run by Mimi Clifford, who also runs the Beyond Hearing
email list, so you can be sure it's a quality list. To subscribe, send
an email to: majordomo@acpub.duke.edu. Leave the subject blank, and in
the body of the message, put "subscribe service-dogs" (without
the quotes). Follow the directions in the return email.
January
2002 - Interested in vacationing with your hearing dog? Here
are some accounts from folks who've had that experience. I think you'll
find them interesting and entertaining.
February 2002 - Want to learn
more about hearing dogs? Here are some great resources
to further your education.
February 2003 - There's an interesting
case developing regarding the right
of a nurse to take her hearing dog to work in a hospital.
May 2003
- If you're one of the fortunate people who has an assistance dog, you
may be a bit apprehensive about your first plane trip with your dog. Here's
some great information on how to minimize the hassle!
February
2004 - Ever heard of a "dual assistance" dog? One that
provides the services of both a hearing dog and a guide dog for the
blind? Here's an article about Scotland's first
"dual assistance" dog.
August 2004 - Hawaii
has loosened its restrictions on allowing assistance dogs into the state
- no quarantine required, provided certain restrictions are met. They
still seem pretty oppressive to me. Doesn't this violate the
ADA???
January 2005 - So where exactly do they
train hearing dogs? Prison, you say?
September 2005 - The Department of
Transportation is considering a change in rules regarding assistance
dogs on airplanes. The proposal would require, in the case of a full
plane, a disabled person to buy a seat for her hearing dog, wait for a
later flight, or have the dog travel in the cargo hold!
February 2006 - A pooch in a purse can't be
classified as a service animal.
February 2006 - Leader
dogs may soon need a ticket to fly
April 2006 - Information
and videos on service animals
May 2006 - Hearing Dog Makes a Difference
September 2006 - K9s hound the hearing impaired
September 2006 - One dog at a time
November 2006 - Deaf woman says hearing dog was banned
June 2007 - Facts About Traveling with Service Animals
August 2007 - Dog helps guide schoolteacher with poor
hearing
September 2007 - Dog serves as woman's ears
October 2007 - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About
Hearing Dogs
October 2007 - Hearing Dog Listens for Deaf Companion
December 2007 - Japan Has Only 13 Certified Hearing
Dogs!
December 2007 - Store boots disabled vet and his service
dog
December 2007 - Training of a Service Dog
January 2008 - CCI Seeks Qualified Hearing Dog
Applicants
February 2008 - Hearing Dogs Change Lives
March 2008 - Dogs Getting Flight Training In Charlotte
May 2008 - Petition to Oppose San Francisco SPCA's
Termination of Hearing Dog Program
May 2008 - SFSPCA program for hearing dogs shut down
May 2008 - Dog guide brings hearing-impaired man into
society
May 2008 - Spring 2008 "Canine Listener" Is Out
June 2008 - SF/SPCA Teams with CCI to Provide Service
Dogs
June 2008 - First Public Service Dog Census Launches
July 2008 - Hearing Dogs Helping Deafened Vets
November 2008 - Hearing Dog Program Launches in San
Francisco
January 2009 - Taking Your Hearing Dog on a Cruise
Ship
February 2009 - Seven-year-old is youngest person to have
hearing dog
February 2009 - Combat veteran receives hearing dog
February 2009 - Discussion of
the Ban on Non-Canine Service Animals
March 2009 - Tiny service dog puts West Bend East student
in mainstream
May 2009 - Dogs Come to the Aid of the Deaf
July 2009 - Special Dogs Aid People who are Deaf and Blind
October 2009 - Assistance Dogs Help People with Hearing
Loss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2002
A reader recently emailed me a bunch of good information on hearing
dogs and service dogs in general, so I'm passing that along.
The first bit is a new document on service animals from the US
Department of Justice. Point your browser to
www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
My "source" says that the best web and newsletter resource
for people using assistance dogs is the International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners. Mimi Clifford (who runs the hearing dog
listserv) is a very active member. The website is www.iaadp.org.
Membership is $12 a year for those partnered with a dog and $15 for
interested others. This gets you an excellent quarterly newsletter and a
host of resources and services, which may include covering veterinary
costs under some circumstances, to those with dogs.
A really good service animal policy, one that many other
organizations (and not just universities) are copying from is at www.wisc.edu/adac/wiscinfo12020114.html.
Finally, check out a very good page from the Assistance Dog Club of
Puget Sound (www.dogsaver.org/adc/index.htm).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2003
Summer's almost here, and many of us are planning trips that involve
air travel - like trips to ALDA, SayWhatClub, SHHH, or TDI conventions,
for example. I'm a little more apprehensive about air travel than I was
a couple of years ago, and I bet you are, too. I bet those of you who
are thinking about your first flight with an assistance dog are REALLY
concerned. There's a great guide from the International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP) that will help put your mind to rest.
Here's their introduction:
"IAADP has developed this section to enable disabled persons who
want to travel with a guide, hearing or service dog to become more
familiar with the U.S. Government's rules and policies governing the
transportation of service animals in the plane cabin. In addition to
providing a link to relevant government documents, we feature an
interesting article, The Real Scoop, for those taking their first flight
and those who want the latest available information governing a team's
interactions with security screeners, gate agents and flight
attendants."
Topics addressed include:
* Exercising Your Right to Priority Seating
* Where Does an Assistance Dog "sit"?
* Advance Preparations for the Trip
* Security Screening Checkpoint Guidance
* The Gate Agent's Assessment - Pet or Service Animal?
* Boarding Safety & Etiquette
* Considerations While in the Air
* Ending the Trip on a Good Note
* Facts to Remember
And the URL: http://www.iaadp.org/RealScoop.html
Happy Flying!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April
2006
The
California Hotel and Lodging Association has some great information on
service animals, the ADA, guests with disabilities. One of the best
resources is a free streaming video entitled "We Welcome Service
Animals". There's also a streaming video on police officers
responding to a service animal complaint. My only issue with these
videos is that they're NOT captioned. But they would be very useful
resources for the hearing person who refuses to admit your service dog!
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2006
Tammy
Catalano, of Mt. Pleasant, doesn't go anywhere without her black Labrador,
Windy. Restaurants, shopping malls, grocery stores and Westmoreland County
Community College, where Catalano works as a secretary in the athletic
department, all welcome Windy, her hearing assistance dog. Catalano, who
is hearing impaired, obtained Windy through Paws With A Cause, a nonprofit
group that trains assistance dogs for people with special needs. Paws
provides assistance dogs to its clients free of charge.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2006
Murray, a little bundle of fluff, goes almost
everywhere with Gladys Peterson. The 16-pound mutt, a mixture of Lhasa
apso, Shih Tzu and Pekingese, serves as Peterson's ears, because she has
been deaf since birth. But the two of them, along with a friend, were
thrown out of a north-side restaurant recently because the manager
apparently never heard of a hearing ear dog and does not know the law.
Indiana law says a person who is blind, deaf or disabled is entitled to
be accompanied by a trained dog in any public accommodation, which is
defined as any place that offers services, facilities or goods to the
general public. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2007
When Rusty Ellis signed up for a service dog, he
expected his hearing helper to be a fierce Rottweiler or perhaps a
well-muscled German shepherd. What he didn't expect was a 13-pound
prancing poodle. "I told my family anything but a poodle," Ellis said. "A
tough guy would never take a poodle out." But that's what he got. Radar, a
poodle mix, is Ellis's new hearing dog. The fuzzy companion, although only
calf-high, is also his protector. The Riverside resident's sidekick will
accompany him at all times. Radar is trained to alert Ellis to sounds such
as a knock at the door, the oven timer or someone calling his name, by
jumping on Ellis and then running to the sound. "It's nice knowing life is
going to get easier," said Ellis, 46, whose severe hearing loss has
progressively gotten worse.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2007
When the doorbell rings at Claudia Hollis' house,
be patient. Listen for the paws and the whine coming to the door and then
running back. Chip needs to let her know you're there. Hollis is
hearing-impaired and has been since birth. Sometimes she hears voices in a
conversation, but can't make out the words. High-pitched sounds like a
phone ringing or a doorbell are troublesome, especially without her
hearing aid. But with her new hearing dog Chip - the first in the
Yuba-Sutter area - she'll know when someone's at the door. Chip, a
2-year-old black chow and pug mix, was a week from being euthanized at a
Southern California pound when the Sam Simon Foundation found him. He fit
the desired mold of a smaller dog with a good temperament who would be
confident with people, said Kim Meinhardt, a hearing-dog instructor with
the foundation. Working well in crowds is critical because, as a service
dog, Chip goes almost everywhere Hollis goes.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2007
You've probably seen many articles and stores written
by Cheryl Heppner. She covers most of the hearing loss conventions with
prolific and insightful reporting, serves on a multitude of committees,
advocates for us, and runs NVRC, one of the truly outstanding hearing loss
service agencies in the US, She is a wonderful gift to people with hearing
loss.
She recently found the time to write what I consider
to be the definitive article on hearing dogs. It considers virtually every
imaginable topic and answers virtually every imaginable question. Please
point your browser to:
http://www.nvrc.org/content.aspx?page=21164§ion=7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2007
A loving collie who sits obediently by her owner
Gary Turner is the Paris man's best friend. But Shelley is more than just
a companion. She is the ears for Turner, who has been deaf since
childhood. The man and his hearing dog attended a Lions Club meeting last
week at Paris Junior College so that Turner could share with fellow Lions
Club members about the availability of trained hearing dogs. "I just want
anybody who is deaf to know there is help out there," Turner said. "Life
is not easy for a deaf person, but you can do anything you want to do if
you want to do it badly enough. Turner is a college graduate working on a
masters degree in criminal justice. He also holds paralegal certification.
He moved to Paris about a year ago with his parents, Roy and Dorsie
Turner. "I hope to get a job in juvenile probation or do some paralegal
work," Turner said. Turner has suffered recent health problems and is in
between jobs, but has worked most of his life, many times living by
himself. At the age of three, Turner taught himself to lip read by
watching television, his mother, Dorsie Turner said. "We didn't realize
he couldn't hear until he was about 5 years old," the mother said. "He has
always been very independent and having a hearing dog makes that
possible." Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2007
Guide dogs for the visually impaired are
relatively common, but only 13 dogs in all of Japan are certified to aid
the hearing-impaired. Two of these 13 dogs were trained by Kuniyoshi
Shinden, who heads the Volunteer Dog Training Center, a nonprofit
organization in Itanocho, Tokushima Prefecture. His affinity for canines
began when his family acquired a dog when he was in middle school in the
mid-1960s. He read a book about dog training while in high school, at a
time when he was thinking about what to do with his future. The words
"certified dog trainer" piqued his curiosity, and before long he got a
part-time job at a police dog training center in the prefecture.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2007
Retired Army Staff Sgt. J. Alex Gonzalez wanted to
do a little Christmas shopping Tuesday afternoon. The 36-year-old disabled
military police veteran loaded up his service dog, Mason, and headed to
North East Mall. But Gonzalez's Yuletide spirit turned to surprise and
anger when he and Mason were asked to leave Dillard's department store
because of the store's no-animal policy. Dillard's officials have since
apologized to Gonzalez and say the incident appears to be a
miscommunication. Service dogs and their owners are always welcome, they
said. The company is reviewing the matter and could not comment further on
the incident, said Dillard's spokesman Jordan Johnson from the company
headquarters in Little Rock. Experts say the incident reflects common
misconceptions about service dogs and the lack of education about the
Americans with Disabilities Act. Gonzalez says he doesn't want to shop at
Dillard's anymore. "This is discrimination and it's wrong," he said in an
interview at his north Fort Worth home Wednesday. "I wanted to make this
into a positive situation."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2008
With each successive day Diana Gerard's hearing
has deteriorated more and more. The Grafton resident first started
noticing her hearing loss in high school. In college she struggled to
understand her professor's lectures. "I've been steadily going deaf,"
Gerard said. "And the doctors don't really know why." Nowadays, Gerard
has trouble hearing sounds such as a knock at her door or the telephone
ringing. Gerard added that occasionally friends would come to visit her,
but she didn't know they were at her door because she couldn't hear them.
"People would say that they came over but they couldn't get me to come
to the door," she said. But those days are at an end because of the new
addition to Gerard's household. Now Jim alerts Gerard to any knocks at her
door as well as when her phone rings. Jim is a hearing dog supplied to
Gerard by Dogs for the Deaf, a non-profit group out of Central Point,
Oregon.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2008
Dozens of U.S. Airways employees from all over the
map met up in Charlotte Tuesday to get some very specialized training.
From pilots to flight attendants to mechanics, all are learning the proper
way to transport assistance dogs through the airport and on a plane. "It
is something we encounter quite frequently on our flights, so it's nice to
have our employees trained to handle these types of situations and
volunteer their time doing it," said U.S. Airways spokesperson Kelli
Case. The group of U.S. Airways employees is called the "Do Crew." All
have volunteered to be part of a program that will save time and money
when it comes to helping disabled people. When an assistance dog goes
through training to be a blind person's eyes or a deaf person's ears, they
still have to get from wherever they were trained to their new owner.
That could represent thousands of dollars in transportation costs.
Instead, this program, called "Puppies In Flight," makes it free with
extra benefits.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2008
On Monday, April 21st, without prior notice, the San Francisco SPCA
terminated its 30-year-old Hearing Dog Program. The director, the lead
trainer, and a staff animal caretaker were immediately fired and given
1-hour notice to collect their belongings. They were then escorted off the
premises.
Founded in 1978, the Hearing Dog Program (HDP) has trained hundreds of
rescued shelter dogs to be the ears of over 800 men and women who are
either deaf or hearing impaired. The dogs are taught to alert their
guardians to ringing phones and doorbells, alarms and other sounds. The
program has been funded partly by the SF SPCA and partly through large
donations and bequests from charitable organizations, individuals, and
grateful recipients. It is a nationally recognized model program.
You can sign the petition opposing this termination at
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-SFSPCA-hearing-dog-program
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2008
When Eureka Valley realtor Michael Steingraber
lost his hearing seven years ago after a meningitis infection, it was a
dog that pulled him out of a deep depression and allowed him to live his
life again. Steingraber adopted Koko, one of 800 hearing dogs trained over
the past three decades by the San Francisco Society for Prevention of
Cruelty of Animals. Since then, a grateful Steingraber has bequeathed part
of his estate to the nonprofit SPCA and acted, with Koko, as an ambassador
for its hearing dog program. On April 20, Steingraber and Koko stood
before hundreds of onlookers and gave a demonstration of the program,
which teaches dogs to respond to sounds such as a ringing phone or alarm
and alert their hearing-impaired owners. The demonstration was part of the
SPCA's three-day 140th anniversary celebration. But the day after his
demonstration, the SPCA abruptly closed the program, laid off three staff
members, and moved the 13 dogs in training to its regular adoption
program. The hearing dog program would have celebrated its own 30th
anniversary in June.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2008
Hewey, a three-year-old black Labrador Retriever,
acts as Don's ears. Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides - a national
charity that provides service dogs to Canadians with physical and medical
impairments - paired them up a little more than two years ago. Don, 78,
has always had problems with his hearing but in the last few years it put
him in some dangerous situations and became a concern for family members.
Don's wife Joanne said she became concerned when their Collingwood home's
carbon monoxide detector sounded twice and she realized that her husband
couldn't hear it. "I just happened to be at home, otherwise I would have
come home to a dead husband," said Joanne.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2008
Dogs for the Deaf publishes a quarterly newsletter
with lots of great information and stories about hearing dogs and their
human partners. The Spring 2008 issue is out and you can read and download
it
here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2008
Army Sergeant Paul Conner was on patrol in Iraq 18
months ago when he opened a door connected to an improvised explosive
device. The explosion that erupted from the insurgent ambush blew out
Conner's eardrums and hurled him into a nearby wall, critically wounding
him. Luckily, Conner survived the explosion. But he lost most of his
hearing in both ears and still suffers from his wounds sustained from the
IED. Conner had to retire from the Army, after 24 years of service, and
lives in Killeen, Texas, where adjusting to the new life his injuries have
forced him into has been difficult. . . . . But after the Department of
Veterans Affairs connected Conner to the Texas Hearing & Service Dogs
organization -- which trains and provides canines to assist deaf or
physically challenged people, free of charge -- Conner is redoubling his
efforts to regain his self-sufficiency.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2009
Evie Crook's life has been transformed by the
arrival of Gem the golden Labrador at her home. She was diagnosed with
high frequency deafness when she was two and half which left her with a 80
per cent hearing loss. She uses hearing aid which give her 50 per cent
hearing and can lip read. Gem, from the Hearing Dogs charity, has been
trained to find Evie, who has a sister Maddy, 11, and tell her when one of
the family wants her attention. She also takes messages to and from Evie
in a purse which she carries in her mouth and alerts her to a cooker timer
which is used to measure all kinds of activities including her homework.
Becky Crook, 40, a teaching assistant, of Sheffield, said: " Gem came into
our home in October, she is Evie's ears and Evie has changed so much. It's
like we have a child who is beginning to blossom and to appreciate things
round her. "Gem trots around everywhere after Evie, it's almost as if
she's checking where she is going and I know Evie finds it reassuring."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2009
The Texas Hearing and Service Dogs organization is
working to help combat veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan by giving
them dogs trained to help with hearing and other mobility issues. "We
wanted to fast track them because they have such an immediate need to
regain some of their independence after doing so much for us," said Sheri
Soltes, THSD founder. Platoon Leader Sgt. Paul Conner was the first
veteran to receive a dog from the group. Conner was in a humvee with four
other soldiers when they hit an IED in the middle of the road. He lost
his hearing in the blast.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2009
Catherine Palm's year-old dog may be a constant
companion, but she's not a pet. Mattie, a papillion, is a hearing-ear
service dog with a big job to do. "Mattie works by giving me information
to help me stay safe," Palm said. "Pets don't work." Like Palm's
11-year-old pet yellow lab, Kirby, Mattie needs feeding, walking, brushing
and the usual veterinarian services. But the dog also needs to remain on
alert to protect Palm's well-being. Catherine Palm and her twin brother,
Ian, were both born with Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome, a disorder
that is hallmarked by profound deafness and a heart condition. Jolts of
adrenaline can be dangerous for Catherine Palm, who can't hear a doorbell
ring or a person entering the room. Mattie gives overt cues, using her
paws to touch Catherine Palm's leg. When the teen signs "where," Mattie
leads her to the sound. Catherine Palm is also learning to recognize more
subtle signals from Mattie's fringed, butterfly ears.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2009
Sit. Stay. Come. Down. Rose Hamilton has a lot to
learn. She's been practicing such commands since last week with the help
of a trainer. Today, she'll be on her own with her new pal, Ziggy, a
2-year-old Lhasa apso mix. Hamilton has been waiting for him for six
years. Ziggy is more than cute companion. He's a hearing dog, trained to
alert his owner to household sounds, such as the smoke alarm, telephone
and doorbell. It's estimated that more than 1.5 million deaf or hard of
hearing people in the United States and Canada could benefit from a
hearing dog. "I wanted a dog that would be my hearing, and go with me
where I go," said 75-year-old Hamilton.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2009
When the warning sirens sounded across Israel for
the security drill earlier this month, Tamara Meirovich, 45, could not
hear it, because she is deaf. Though other deaf people might have noticed
flashing lights outside or frenzy in the street, Meirovich, who suffers
from Usher's Syndrome, could not see the commotion, because she is also
blind. Without her Labrador retriever, Hope, whom Meirovich and a friend
have trained to respond to sounds and sign language commands, Meirovich
would be largely cut off from the world around her. With the help of
donors from the Netherlands and a small team of local partners, though,
she has developed the first program in Israel - and one of only a few
programs in the world - to train dogs for people who, like her, are both
deaf and blind. After two years of training in a rented house in Na'aleh,
north of Modi'in Illit, puppies raised by the Ali Hope Foundation learn to
"paw," to touch their owners at certain sounds or events, such as a siren,
fire alarm, doorbell ring or baby's cry. The dog then leads the owner to
the source of the sound.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2009
Ray Dobson and the dog he now calls Goblin both
had a problem. The little mixed-breed who was rescued from the streets of
Puerto Rico needed a home. Dobson, of Orleans, Mass., was losing his
hearing. "My wife saw me kind of dropping out," he says. "As people get
deafer they get more anti-social." Both problems were solved when man and
dog were brought together by the National Education for Assistance Dog
Service, which trains dogs from shelters to assist the hearing impaired.
Based in Princeton, Mass., NEADS has placed more than 1,300 hearing dogs
all over the country since 1976. Goblin does for Dobson what his digital
hearing aid can't.
Full Story
