Molly: From moo-cow blanket to burgundy coat

By now, you will have received your first Molly printed update. As you saw, she’s growing up to be a confident pup, loving life with her volunteer socialiser, Alison.

She had a great Christmas with Alison, who says: “Her best present was a cow blanket. When she comes back from a wet walk (and we’ve had lots of those) she loves to be dried with the hair dryer and wrapped up! She had a trim a few weeks ago so that has helped with drying her more quickly as she was very hairy!”

You can see her below in her cow blanket. It’s difficult to tell where the cow ends and the dog begins! But we’re sure you’ll agree she looks extremely snuggly and warm.

Her training is coming along really well. She has already learned to recognise the doorbell. This is really useful for deaf people, so that they don’t have to keep constantly looking out for visitors – or, indeed, just not be aware that anyone is at the door.

Next, Alison is going to start training her to recognise the alarm clock. Our smaller dogs lie on a deaf person to wake them up. It’s a lovely way to start the day, nose-to-nose with an affectionate pup! Our larger breeds such as Labradors just wake deaf people up with a touch from a big paw. Some of them are so big that the deaf person wouldn’t be able to move if they lay on them!

Alison has also been taking Molly out and about. “Molly is getting used to the local cafe to practice settling”, she says. ‘Settling’ is when a pup calmly rests at a person’s feet without bothering anyone, which is important so that it can accompany a deaf person in public places such as cafes and restaurants.

She’s also been helping Molly with her impulse control. This is where our dogs learn to focus on what is important – their deaf recipients – rather than other distractions around them. You can see a fine example of impulse control here, and below, you can see our lovely Molly trying her best not to eat a favourite gravy bone. You can almost sense the effort of will here…

And finally, the shot that you’ve been waiting for – Molly in her “I’m learning to be a hearing dog” burgundy coat!

When our pups start wearing their coats, they get plenty of fuss and attention, which they love. But, importantly, when they graduate as hearing dogs, and wear their full Hearing Dogs coat, it’s a signal to people that the person with them is deaf. Instead of feeling isolated and ignored, deaf people often find that they have lovely friendly chats with other dog walkers, or just people in the street who want to know more. It can be – and often is – life-changing.

It only seems like yesterday she was a cute, cuddly pup, exploring the garden and falling over her ears. With your help however, she’s come so far already.  Thank you for helping Molly get this far.