By Robin Dickson,
Pres./CEO
DOGS FOR THE DEAF,
INC.
Dogs for the Deaf has been making miracles happen every day
for over 35 years. Dogs are rescued from
shelters and receive medical care and special training so they can go on to
help people with various disabilities.
During their four-six months in training, all the dogs learn
obedience skills and each dog enters one of three different training programs
in order to learn how to be a Hearing Dog, an Autism Assistance Dog, or a
Program Assistance Dog. The training is
all done with positive reinforcement, using toys and treats to motivate the
dogs to learn. The dogs enjoy the new
“games” they learn, not realizing that these “games” will be extremely
important, even life-saving, once they are living with and helping their new
partners.
Once each dog is completely trained, it is matched with one
of the applicants on our waiting list.
It is very important to place each dog in the home and with the client
where its skills will be best utilized.
The trainer then takes the dog to the person’s home, wherever the person
lives in the U.S., and spends a week training the person how to maintain the
dog’s training.
Hearing Dogs are
trained to alert their trainer to a variety of household sounds—door bell, door
knock, oven buzzer, alarm clock, smoke alarm, telephone, someone calling the person’s
name, etc. These normal household sounds
are taken for granted by people who can hear.
We don’t realize how important they are to living safely and securely in
our world. Once our Hearing Dogs are
trained and placed with their partners who have hearing loss, the dogs alert
the people to all of the sounds that occur around them. Suddenly, with the dog there, the person is
aware things happening around them and the needs of people around them. Our Hearing Dogs have alerted parents to
their crying children who are in trouble, to the smoke alarm (saving lives and
homes), to family members needing help, to the alarm clock so they can get to
work on time, and so much more. One
client was thrilled when her dog started alerting her when the ice cream truck
went by outside the house. It wasn’t
that she needed or wanted ice cream; it was about being aware of the things
around her—just like all the rest of us are—she was part of the real world. Another of our clients said that the best
thing about her Hearing Dog is that he allowed her to relax. Because of her deafness, she had always been
tense and “on guard.” Once, she had her
Hearing Dog, she was able to relax because she knew Harley would alert her to
any sounds or happenings around her.
These dogs provide self-confidence, security, and safety—truly
miraculous.
Autism Assistance
Dogs are trained to help children with autism. They help calm the children and lessen
meltdowns and tantrums. They help the
children with eye contact and bonding, and they are trained to serve as an
anchor to prevent the children from bolting and running. The tendency of children with autism to bolt
and run causes a great deal of stress for parents and many injuries and even
deaths for these children. With the dogs
anchoring the children, they are not able to bolt and run away into unsafe
situations. These dogs provide countless
miraculous benefits to the children and their families.
Program Assistance
Dogs are trained to help professionals (teachers, counselors, therapists,
physicians, court room advocates, etc.) with their students, clients, and
patients. The dogs are individually
trained to increase the effectiveness of the professionals’ work. Nelson is a
Program Assistance Dog we placed with a teacher of a special needs class at a
middle school. Nelson is trained to help
the students focus on their work and motivate them to behave
appropriately. Nelson is enhancing the
students’ learning and also increasing their social skills. The school Principal told us that Nelson has
changed the relationship between the students in the special needs class and
the students in the regular classes. He
said that the students in the regular classes are no longer making fun of the
special needs students. With Nelson in
their classroom, they have become the “cool” kids, and the rest of the students
want to interact with them. This is
truly miraculous and helping students learn both in the classroom and in
society.
Besides the dogs we save and the clients we serve, there is
another miracle at Dogs for the Deaf—the faithful and generous donors who
support our work. You see, there is no
charge to the people who receive these dogs.
Yes, you heard it right; we give them the dogs free of charge (except
for a $50 application fee). Our work is
totally funded by people who want to help us create these
miracles. Donations come from all across the U.S. and dogs are placed with
applicants nationwide.
If you would like to learn more about the miracles that
happen at Dogs for the Deaf, check out our website www.dogsforthedeaf.org or call us at
541-826-9220. Maybe you or someone you
know could benefit from a specially trained dog; maybe you would like to help
us save a dog’s live and help someone with a disability. Contact us and become a DFD Miracle Worker.
