Christine, Rose... and Violet!

Rose is still living with Christine, her volunteer socialiser. Says Christine: “Rose has continued to do well with her training. She has mastered the cooker timer and nose-nudge and we are working on her reaction to the doorbell.”

These are all important skills our hearing dogs are taught. They learn specific sounds, and then alert their deaf recipients to the sound with a ‘nose-nudge’ – a soft, but insistent, nudge on the thigh with their nose which means “I can hear something you should know about”. The deaf person then asks ‘What is it?’ by raising their palms upwards, and then the dog leads them to the sound. The cooker timer is important to avoid burnt dinners (or worse). The doorbell is important so that the deaf person knows someone is visiting, without having constantly to be looking out of the window.

All together, this is what we call ‘soundwork’, and it’s what really distinguishes our dogs. Christine is teaching Rose basic soundwork before she comes to our training centre for her intensive training.

Below you can see a perfect ‘wait’. This is what we call impulse control, when a pup learns to be patient and wait while the trainer walks away. It’s important that our pups be very obedient, so that they can accompany deaf people anywhere, for example cafes, supermarkets and other public areas.

Rose will be leaving Christine at the end of February. She says: “We will be very sad to see her go but feel confident she will be an excellent Hearing Dog and super companion for her recipient.”

You can see how much character she has below. Anyone would miss such a fun pup! And she’s had such a lovely time living with Christine.

However, as Rose’s time with Christine nears its end, another pup beckons! Christine was joined at the beginning of December by another hearing dog pup called Violet. Here they are together on Christmas Day.

Christine explains: “Rose has been incredibly patient with the new pup, putting up with lots of ear-pulling, sharing her favourite toys and even sharing a smokey bone.”

Christine concludes: “They got on well from day one which I think is an indication of Rose’s lovely nature.”

We agree!