The Hearing Alert Dog is also called Hearing Ear Dog or Hearing Aid Dog in some countries. This type of dog is usually very food and affection-motivated to do work for their user. The Hearing Ear Dog is trained to respond to verbal commands and hand signals and can be part of two or three-member teams depending on the user’s ability to control and care for the dog.
As you may suspect a hearing impairment can be life-threatening in case of fire, natural disasters, construction accidents, and ordinary street traffic. The Hearing Alert Dogs are wonderful animals who are capable of alerting their user of danger, moving vehicles, running people, fire alarms, and visitors at the door. This type of dog can use nudging, pawing, moving in circles, jumping on the door, pulling on your clothes, and maintaining eye contact. People with hearing impairments often feel depressed, isolated and suffer from self-esteem/confidence.
Having a Hearing Aid Dog at home and accompanying them helps boost their confidence, social interactions, and they feel supported by a loving and loyal companion. The users of Hearing Alert Dogs have reported increased independence and overall quality of life as seen in the article “Hearing dogs for people with severe and profound hearing loss: a wait-list design randomised controlled trial investigating their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness” from September 2021. The Hearing Aid Dog can be described as a bridge between the hearing impaired and the various sounds we might take for granted like doorbells, alarm clock ringing, your telephone ringing, smoke detectors turning on, someone calling our name, police/ambulance sirens, and car horns.
This type of work can be done by most dogs who are very treat-motivated and it is important to understand the value system your dog has for particular types of treats as this will help you in the training process immensely.
We are working on adding a training course for dog owners who want to use Hearing Alert Dog. COMING SOON!