Hearing Dogs for Deaf People

The Grange
Wycombe Road
Saunderton
Princes Risborough
Bucks
HP27 9NS

Tel: 01844 348 100
Web: www.hearingdogs.org.uk

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People trains carefully selected dogs to alert severely or profoundly deaf people to the everyday sounds that hearing people take for granted such as alarm clocks, doorbells, telephones, smoke alarms, etc. The dogs are trained to communicate by touch and then either lead to the sound source or lie down to indicate danger. Potential owners are carefully assessed as to the degree of their deafness and desire to look after a dog. Benefits to those with hearing dogs include the following:

• Feelings of greater confidence, self esteem and well-being.
• A reduction in stress.
• Encouragement to go out more often, meet new people and take regular exercise.
• New interest and responsibility adding a new purpose to life.
• More ready acceptance into the community.
• Increased frequency of visitors and phone calls.
• Constant, devoted companionship.

All registered hearing dogs have been issued with certificates by the Department of Environmental Health thus granting recipients access to shops and restaurants with their dogs. The organisation is a charity and produces promotional material including a catalogue of fund-raising items. Favour is the organisation's own magazine. It includes articles related to hearing loss, dogs, background information on the organisation and fundraising news.