Cooper is learning to be a soundwork superhero!

Welcome back to Cooper's Puppy Pen!

In Cooper's last official training update, we mentioned that he made a brilliant start to his soundwork training. With the help of Clare, his volunteer puppy trainer, Cooper is continuing to learn how he will alert his future deaf partner to everyday sounds. In this episode, we are going to share with you some exclusive videos of Cooper's soundwork training, so that you can witness his special skills for yourself.

Let’s start with the alarm clock. The alarm clock is a sound that many deaf people cannot hear and often sleep through, which can lead to missed appointments, work, and school. This challenging start to the day can cause high levels of anxiety. This is where Cooper will come to the rescue! When Cooper hears the alarm clock, he has been taught to gently place his front legs on Clare to wake her up.

As demonstrated in this video, when Cooper alerts Clare to the alarm clock, he receives lots of praise and a tasty treat. Being woken up by a happy and loving dog like Cooper sounds like a wonderful way to start the day!

Another sound that Cooper has been practising is the doorbell. In the next video, you will see Cooper giving Clare a gentle but insistent nudge with his nose. The nose nudge will be Cooper’s way of telling his future deaf partner that there is a sound they need to know about.

As you can see, Cooper leads Clare to the door to tell her that someone is ringing the doorbell. Cooper waits patiently while Clare opens the door, and then afterwards he gets lots more praise and attention for being such a clever pup.

Many deaf people can miss visitors or deliveries at their front door, as they cannot hear their doorbell. This can cause feelings of frustration and loneliness, making them feel cut off from the world around them. With super Cooper well on his way to becoming a life-changing hearing dog, he will help his future deaf partner to feel confident to go about their daily life without worrying they will miss an important sound.

Talking of important sounds… we are now going to show you Cooper alerting to the smoke alarm. The smoke alarm requires a slightly different reaction to the previous sounds mentioned.

Cooper still nudges Clare with his nose to let her know he has heard a sound, but instead of leading her to the sound, he lies down on the floor. This is known as the danger alert and the reason for this reaction is because we don’t want Cooper leading his future deaf partner into a potentially unsafe situation. Cooper’s future partner can then decide the best way for them to get to safety.

The danger alert is also used for the fire alarm. Cooper practises this alert while wearing his smart “I’m learning to be a hearing dog” jacket, as he is likely to be in a public building when he hears a fire alarm.

Once again, Cooper does the danger alert perfectly and shows he is comfortable alerting to sounds in his jacket too. He really is a soundwork superstar and we are very proud of him.

Cooper’s ability to alert to life-saving sounds, such as the fire alarm, makes him an extremely intelligent and highly skilled dog. His soundwork will be his special superpower and it is what makes hearing dogs so incredible. 

We are so grateful for your kind support in sponsoring Cooper. He is having lots of fun in his training and he would not have reached this stage without your amazing support.

So, from everyone at Hearing Dogs, thank you so much for sponsoring Cooper.