Hear Again
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- Jan 21, 2005
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My Zoe is a 68 lb. black Lab. I rescued her when she was about 4 years old. A man brought her in as a stray to the vet I was working for. She is the best dog. When I first got my HA's about 4 years ago...I investigted training her to be a hearing ear dog with an organization here in Florida. While they said she was a perfect candidate, they could not accept her because of her age. Ironically, she is pretty much deaf herself now.
Because I do train dogs for a living, I have helped a few deaf and HOH people with acquiring a hearing dog. I also have a friend that works for CCI here in Florida. That is an amazing place with an amazing program. Another friend of mine just returned from working with Paws With a Cause. Did you aquire your dog from an organization or some other means?
dogirl
Awww, Zoe sounds so cute!
When you say that you have helped a few deaf and HoH people obtain hearing dogs, do you mean that you've trained them (the dogs) yourself? If so, is the training difficult? I've often thought about having my guide dog Tigger trained for hearing duties, but she's already 11 years old. However, I think that's something I will do when I train with my next guide.
I received both of my guide dogs (my previous guide dog was named Sugar -- and she really was a sweetheart ) from a school in Michigan called Leader Dogs for the Blind. They have a wonderful program which asseses the needs and abilities of each student individually and designs a training program around those needs. For example, despite my deafblindness, I was able to successfully complete the training and have been very pleased with both of my dogs. Unfortunately, not all guide dog schools are willing to work with deafblind students (particularly those with profound hearing loss/deafness), so it's nice to know that Leader is willing to work with those of us who have hearing loss ranging from mild to profound.