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l am a volunteer supporter of Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.
They are a fantastic team of people who train dogs to alert deaf people to everyday sounds which hearing people take for granted. The dogs give the independance back to those who have become isolated through their deafness as well as becoming the best friend anyone could ever wish for.
Many of the dogs themselves were unwanted and unloved and have been rescued by Hearing Dogs, some passed on to them through Rescue such as Dogs Trust (N.C.D.L) and the R.S.P.C.A, while others are donated by members of the public or dog breeders.
l became involved with Hearing Dogs a few years ago and this is my story. Please read on.....
l used to volunteer every Wednesday at a local independant animal rescue shelter and as l often bought animals home to give them extra care, l gained a local reputation in my comununity for taking in waifs and strays.
One day, back in 1997, l got a call asking me to take in a Jack Russell bitch as the owner had died and no-one in the family wanted the dog. An appointment had been booked at the vet for the following morning to have the dog put to sleep but the caller felt that she could be found a new home and requested that l collected her and took her to the kennels.
Of course l agreed and met the caller at the house at 9am the following morning to collect the dog. l then found out the dog was called Lady and was only 2 years old.
When Lady came out she gave me such a surprise as she was clearly heavily pregnant! A fact which had not been mentioned before!
What was l to do now? l couldn't take Lady to the kennels to have her litter in a cold strange place without the staff having the time to love and care for these babies. l took Lady back to my house and decided that she would have to stay with me until l could arrange a suitable foster carer for them.
Not knowing when she was due, or ever having a litter of puppies (l didn't breed back then), l got a surprise next morning when l went into the kitchen to find not one jack russell, but 7. Lady had given birth less than 24 hrs after she was due to be put to sleep and now had 6 beautiful puppies.
Finding a Foster carer to take the litter proved difficult so they stayed with me for a little while.
Eventually l contacted the Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, Oxford branch. They were surprised when l offered them Lady AND her litter as they never took puppies under 8 weeks old, they needed to check if it was possible for them to take them all.
After a tense few hours, a lovely member of staff called back and was very excited, it had been agreed that Lady and the puppies would be raised in the offices of Hearing Dogs until they were fully socialised with everything going on around them, then they would go to individual foster homes to begin training. l was thrilled.
Next day a van arrived from Oxford (l'm in Birmingham) to collect Lady and the litter, l had agreed to take Lady back when the litter was weaned as she was too old to be trained as a hearing dog. l would have a few weeks to try and find a home for her.
Hearing Dogs kept in touch, telling me how they were all doing and what they were called, they named them all after singers. Eventually they were placed with Foster carers and l was called about Lady, it seems the office cleaner had fallen in love with Lady and wanted to offer her a home so everything ended happily as l was pleased to agree.
12 months later and Mariah, one of the female pups, passed her final assesment and became a fully fledged Hearing Dog, she was placed with a lady in Yorkshire.
The training is hard work for the dogs and only the best go on, same as guide dogs, so unfortunately only Mariah passed. All the other puppies were rehomed to nice families though as there is always a long waiting list of people wanting a failed but obedient trained pet, so everything ended very happily!
Not bad for a dog with less than 12 hours to live & a litter that should never have been born!
