Burleydam WI meets hearing dog

It is not often that animals feature at our W I meetings but we were pleased to welcome June and her dog Paddy and also Jackie who told us about the work of the charity ‘Hearing dogs for the Deaf’

Paddy, a lovely chestnut coloured lurcher cross, lay quietly on his mat, while Jackie told us, with words and pictures, how the dogs, mostly crossbreeds or mongrels are chosen or donated.

They are all shapes and sizes to suit different clients’ preferences. Then they go through a training period lasting four months, when they are taught to react to noises such as the telephone, the doorbell, a smoke alarm etc and to alert their owner to them.

When a dog has been chosen by a deaf person they then go to the charity headquarters at Princes Risborough where dog and owner live together, and with professional help, are trained together, before returning to their home.

June, who was widowed two years previously, then told us how her life had been transformed since Paddy had come to live with her. Being profoundly deaf, she said that she would stay up all night because she was so nervous of going to sleep and not being aware if intruders broke in.

She told us a funny story of when she went to London to see her daughter and the difficulty of taking Paddy on the escalators on the Underground. She asked for help from the security guard, who stopped the elevator so they could walk down, but eventually he carried Paddy down in his arms to the amusement of the other passengers.

Hearing for the Deaf has 60 branches and will recycle your old mobiles and inkjet cartridges for their funds.

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