Charity
in desperate need of young dogs
Earls
Court 2, London 22-23 November 2003
www.discover-dogs.org.uk
The
charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People trains dogs to alert
deaf people to everyday household sounds.
At present the Charity places 130 trained hearing dogs a year
with deaf people, but this figure is becoming increasingly
difficult to achieve due to a desperate shortage of puppies
and young dogs with the right temperament coming into the
training scheme. Chris Allen, puppy socializing manager, explains
the problem. "In order to try and cut the waiting list
of deaf applicants we need to train more dogs, but finding
the right dogs in rescue centres is proving incredibly difficult.
For this reason we are appealing to the public and to breeders
to think of us if they have a puppy or young dog that they
think may be suitable for training."
Donors of puppies and dogs to the Charity are kept informed
of their dog’s progress all the way through the training
process, and they have the satisfaction of knowing that their
puppy is one day going to make a huge difference to the life
of a deaf person. One such grateful recipient is Pat Preston
from Windsor in Berkshire, who emphasizes how important her
hearing dog Harry is to her. "Without doubt, Harry my
lovely hearing dog has changed and enriched my life more than
I can say. He has helped me so much, not only by working for
me, but by enabling me to face the future with confidence
about my deafness."
Ideally Hearing Dogs is looking for small to medium-sized
dogs aged between six weeks and three years, and the Charity
trains most breeds as well as crossbreeds and mongrels.
"Without more dogs coming into the training scheme we
will be unable to help the deaf people waiting for our hearing
dogs." says Chris. "Please help us to continue training
dogs for people like Pat. Your unwanted pet or litter of puppies
could change someone’s life."
If you can help by donating a puppy or young dog, please contact
Hearing Dogs on 01844 348105.
