Lauren and Scamp are on a new journey together

Scout is a hearing dog! She made it! Hurray!

She’s helping Lauren, who has had two hearing dogs previously. Without her furry friends, Lauren feels lost and lonely. With them, she can live her life to the full. Today, Scout is completely tailored for Lauren’s lifestyle, and she has even renamed her ‘Scamp’ because it’s easier for her to pronounce given her deafness.

Growing up with deafness

“I was born deaf,” Lauren tells us. “Nobody realised until I was two. One day the wind slammed my bedroom door shut: my parents jumped but I didn’t flinch. So, I was given a body-worn hearing aid that I carried in a box, then upgraded to hearing aids later in life. Today I have a cochlear implant.

“My parents brought me up to believe I could do anything a hearing person could, but there were challenges. I attended a mainstream school, and when teachers wrote on the blackboard I couldn’t hear them well, or even see their faces to try and lip-read. I was the only deaf person in the class, and was often overlooked, even though I was a good student.

“I wanted to become a nanny, but was advised that my deafness would be a problem, so I worked at a supermarket for 28 years. Regular customers knew that I was deaf, but occasionally a customer could be very rude if they didn’t realise.”

Oatey, Kane, Bobby…

Deaf people often tell us that they find ways to ‘cope’ with their deafness. Lauren’s support came in the form of her own pet, a little Springer Spaniel Collie Cross called Oatey.

“Oatey would prick up his ears and face the direction of a sound, for example when my baby was crying or a pan was boiling. He was also my companion when my husband worked long hours.

“It wasn’t until I lost Oatey that I realised how much he helped me emotionally. Without him, I felt bereft, because he was my special friend. Isolation became a big problem. If there was a family occasion, with everyone talking at once, I would lose the thread and just withdraw. With Oatey, no words were needed.”

When Lauren needed a new friend along came hearing dog Kane, a magnificent black Labrador.

“Kane did everything Oatey did, but was trained for so much more. He alerted me to life-saving sounds like the fi re alarm so I always felt safe. His ability to settle nicely in cafés giving me the confi dence to meet up with friends. He was my constant companion day and night, until I lost him to cancer in 2009.

“People don’t realise what it’s like to lose a hearing dog. They become part of you – the bond is so very strong.

“Then I got another hearing dog called Bobby, a lovely Cocker Spaniel. He was a real mummy’s boy who loved his cuddles! When we had to put him to sleep last year, I was absolutely devastated. I still get emotional talking about him.

“People often ask why I need a dog now that I’ve had a cochlear implant, but I’m still deaf. When I take my cochlear implant processor off (the part that fi ts around my ear), which I have to do at night to avoid damaging it, I can’t hear anything. So, I still very much needed another hearing dog after Bobby. I still needed my ‘ears’ to tell me when things were going on around me, especially at night, and help me to be less dependent on my husband and children during the day.

“I also still needed that companionship, just to know my friend was by my side.”

… and now Scamp!

And so, today, Lauren and Scamp are on a new journey together.

Lauren smiles. “She’s so pretty. I love her long eyelashes! Everyone who meets her loves her. “She has filled the massive void left by Bobby. I’ve already noticed how well she alerts me to the doorbell, which I was missing with no dog in the house.

“I’m so much looking forward to our future together. We have a camper van, so she’ll be a very well-travelled dog. She’s already taken to it perfectly, because she’s been so well trained for transport.

“Scamp has made my household complete once more. I am very grateful to her sponsors. Hearing dogs are just amazing: they really help deaf people to live full lives, free of the isolation deafness can bring.”

As one journey ends, another begins. It would be wonderful if you would consider sponsoring another puppy. However you decide, from Lauren, and from all of us at Hearing Dogs for Deaf People… thank you.