Kai at work and play

It's Kai time again!

Before we continue, do you think Kai's happy?

That's a definite 'Yes'!

So, why is he so happy? It's because he's been so stimulated and rewarded, both while training, and during his 'downtime'. Let's watch some training and see what he's up to.

Here's Puppy Training Instructor Lauren, teaching Kai about the cooker timer. These are small, portable devices that can be reset quickly and even hidden, so that our puppies think it's more of a 'game' to find them. When Kai finds it, he's given a fuss and a treat - so he's much more likely to do it again next time. What fun! 

Deaf people actually find cooker timers useful. If you can't hear it, you can easily forget it, so a friendly nose nudge from a furry friend is all that's needed to tell you 'Dinner's ready'!

More 'soundwork' and this time it's the doorbell. Lauren can activate it wirelessly from anywhere within the training flat, so this time she's chosen to be upstairs. She presses the button, the doorbell sounds - and Kai knows exactly what to do. It's off down the stairs, tail wagging, to see who's at the door.

Again, this kind of practical help is invaluable for deaf people. They tell us countless stories of how they've either missed important visitors or, if they're expecting someone, are afraid to leave the window, constantly looking out for them. Flashing doorbells go some way towards helping with this, but Kai is a dependable 'door bell' anywhere in the house.

Now for something really special: the danger alert.

Below, Lauren sets off a smoke alarm. Kai nudges her, but Lauren wants Kai to do something else this time. Kai then remembers: he has to lie down if he hears this alarm. This 'danger alert' tells a deaf person there's danger nearby, but Kai isn't going to lead them to it. It becomes second nature to all our dogs: we've heard stories of several hearing dogs being at our training centre, when a false alarm sounded, and they all instantly hit the deck! Brilliant - and potentially life-saving some day.

Is this training? Actually, yes, it is: we need our dogs to be happy wearing their smart burgundy 'I'm training to be a hearing dog' coat. As you can see, it's not a problem for Kai. (In fact, don't tell him this, but we think he looks very hansome in it...)

It's not all work, work, work though. Lauren ensures Kai has fun too! Even though work is 'fun', of course. There's nothing he likes more than a bit of splish-splosh. Well, who wouldn't?

(By the way, don't worry, that piercing scream was from some children playing in nearby - fortunately Kai hasn't been trained to react specifically to excited shrieks!)

And if it isn't splish-splosh, it's a bit of a kick-around. Or, in Kai's case, a bit of jump-up-down-excitedly-then-run-after-it-then-hold-it-in-your-mouth-around.

Kai's doing so well with your support. He's well on the way through his training journey and, as you can see, loving every second of it. So from all of us, once again, thank you so much for sponsoring Kai!