Three new hearing dogs to be trained
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With nine million people in the UK experiencing some degree of hearing loss at some point in their lives – that’s one person in every seven - the Kennel Club Charitable Trust has given a £30,000 grant to the registered charity, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
The grant was awarded to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People to help towards the training of three new hearing dogs. The charity trains special hearing dogs to alert deaf people to everyday household sounds and danger signals in the home, work place and in public buildings, to promote independence.
The training of a hearing dog takes around 18 months, consisting of initial puppy socialisation with volunteers before moving on to sound work training at one of two specialist centres. During this period a suitable recipient for each dog is identified.
The recipient and hearing dog then spend a period of time training together before qualifying as an official partnership. There are currently over 750 working partnerships in place between hearing dogs and deaf people nationwide.
Michele Jennings, CEO of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People said: “As the only charity in the UK to specialise in this kind of training for hearing dogs, we would like to be able to extend the number of partnerships across the UK and this funding is a great step towards helping more people.
“Hearing dogs are provided to deaf people at no charge and each dog is trained to the specific needs of the deaf individual they have been matched to, creating a life-changing partnership. This funding from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust will help us to train three new hearing dogs and create lifelong partnerships.”
The Kennel Club Charitable Trust awards grants to welfare organisations which make a difference to dogs’ lives and also provides financial support to scientific research and support charities such as Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
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