Re: Hearing dogs

[Guest guest]

My hearing dog was trained to jump on my bed in the night and do circles if

an emergency came up in the night. About a year ago, during the wee hours

of the morning, a very strong New Mexico wind storm came up. We use a

“swamp cooler” for cooling the home which consists of tubes of water with a

fan that generates the cool air by blowing against those tubes. She would

not stop her signal until I got up and then she led me to get out of the

bed. I knew something was wrong so I immediately went down the hall which

would lead me out of the house without turning on any light. When I went

under the swamp cooler, I was suddenly soaked by very cold water after which

I stepped on the cold, wet carpeting. Of course, I immediately turned off

the swamp cooler but Stella – even as an old dog – remembered her cue to me

to let me know that there was an “emergency.” She was trained to do an

entirely different signal under an emergency situation and did just that.

Her normal signal is to nudge my left hand. I thought she was rusty with

her signals as I don’t need her to “work” when the CI is on but somehow she

knows when it is and when it isn’t. I’m still trying to figure out how she

knows that.

Alice

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/14/2005 11:51:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

rclark0276@... writes:

A question for those who have hearing dogs. How are they trained to

handle say, emergencies at home? Such as smoke alarms etc? I think someone

here said her dog would just come and lay down at your feet?

Tanner POUNCES on me....

Lee

[Guest guest]

I believe this is an issue you need to discuss with

the specialist. From what I understand, hearing dogs

are trained to fit the owner's specific needs. For

instance, my hearing dog [now deceased] was trained to

work with a cerebral palsy consumer. My dog were tried

differently to fit that consumer's limitation, so to

say. Unfortunately, that consumer experienced allergy

complication with my dog. Which is how I got my dog.

They did explain to me RE: the approach they used to

train my dog. I told them it was not a problem.

It is to my understanding some visually/hearing

impaired consumers get their guide dog. I assume to

mean that the center that train guide dog do train the

dog to meet their owner's need and restrictions.

Hope this helps.

FL KATE

--- <rclark0276@...> wrote:

> A question for those who have hearing dogs. How

> are they trained to

> handle say, emergencies at home? Such as smoke

> alarms etc? I think someone

> here said her dog would just come and lay down at

> your feet?

>

> Being also blind, that wont do much good unless

> the dog touches me in

> some way. When I get a new guide dog, I am thinking

> about adding this task

> to her duty roster.

>

> Would like to hear comments or stories in this

> regard.

>

> *---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

> Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which

> one can die.

> & Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

> Newport, Oregon

> N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

> rclark0276@...

>

__________________________________

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[Guest guest]

My hearing dog BH died ten years ago, and training methods may have changed

since then. At the time he was trained, they did not want to train them for

db people, but I had some sight ant that rule has changed. I know many db

people do have hearing dogs now.

In an emergency if an alarm goes off, BH would come to me and bump me with

his head or paw my leg. When he knew I was aware he was there, he would lie

down at my feet. That told me it was the alarm. If I wasn't cooking steak or

doing something that set off the smoke alarn, that was the signal to take

action.

In other emergencies, such as a humungious hail storm, he would jump right

up on the bed. (Actually he was trying to hide in that case). Hearing dogs

don't just come to a deaf person, they are trained to touch the deaf person in

some way to get their attention.

When I got BJ, he was trained both in my home and at American Humanes house

which was near the kennels. Since that was near my home I did not have to

travel to have my dog trained.

Implanted December 1988, Activated January 1989

Legally blind most of my life

Totally deaf for part of my life

Nan Rosen

_www.rosetwig.com_ (http://www.rosetwig.com/)

[Guest guest]

When BJ was trained as my hearing dog, I was told it was too much to ask

that a dog be trained for both duties. BJ did learn on his own smarts to do

some guide dog functions such as keeping me from walking out into traffic.

Dogs vary and so do their owners. I think the trainers should and can train

selected dogs to be both guide dogs and hearing dogs. But not all dogs will

be cabable of doing this.

Implanted December 1988, Activated January 1989

Legally blind most of my life

Totally deaf for part of my life

Nan Rosen

_www.rosetwig.com_ (http://www.rosetwig.com/)

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

When I went to Leader Dogs in 1998 I asked my trainer about the possibility

of having Tigger trained to perform the duties of a hearing dog. I was told

that they do not provide this type of training (nor do any guide dog schools

except for one in the U.K.) and that I would have to find another school who

could do this training.

Is there a school in your area who trains hearing dogs? If so, perhaps you

could ask a trainer if they could come to your home to train Gimlet.

I know of two blind people whose guide dogs were trained as hearing dogs.

Their dogs were trained by their owners at home. One person said they

trained their dog to alert to the microwave, telephone and smoke detector by

repetition -- alternating between the sound and a reward.

If this isn't an option, you may want to invest in an alerting device such

as an Alertmaster 6000. I have one of these units. (Mine is already 10 years

old and still works perfectly.) This device alerts me to the phone,

doorbell, smoke detector by means of a vibrating pager I wear on my waist.

The pager has Braille letters (P for phone, D for doorbell, etc.) you press

one by one. When the vibration stops after you've pressed a button, that

tells you what the sound source is.

You can read more about the Alertmaster 6000 at:

http://tinyurl.com/d2owt

Tactile pager for Alertmaster 6000:

http://tinyurl.com/dmqw7

Hope this helps!

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Deafblind/Postlingual

BTE hearing aid user 20 years

Severe-profound hearing loss 10 years

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/15/2005 3:28:37 PM Mountain Standard Time,

J@... writes:

You obviously need a dog that can answer the phone and either take a

message, or if it's important, put it through. If you can get one that does

that, training it to make a Mocha should be childs play.

NZ

THAT is asking too much of the dog. I have human relatives who can't manage

that. Grin...

Implanted December 1988, Activated January 1989

Legally blind most of my life

Totally deaf for part of my life

Nan Rosen

_www.rosetwig.com_ (http://www.rosetwig.com/)

[Guest guest]

I can answer this one. I trained my dog myself because she just wouldn't

adapt to being in a kennel. Originally she was trained to take me to the

front door when she heard the alarm. A couple of years ago I retrained her

with the trainer to take me to the 'sound'. It seemed that taking someone

to the door and no one was there caused a lot of confusion with the deaf

person. Hopefully by taking the person to the 'sound' the person will

realize that there is a need to get out of the house. When Hobbes wants my

attention she paws me or puts her front paws on my lap if I am sitting

down. Pawing me isn't a problem unless I am wearing shorts (OUCH). A

friend trained her dog to bark when she needed to be alerted. I have

another friend that helped train a dog to do the alert by putting his/her

paw on the persons foot. So your alert can be whatever you are comfortable

to work with.

susan & hobbes

michigan

At 11:50 PM 6/14/2005 -0700, you wrote:

> A question for those who have hearing dogs. How are they trained to

>handle say, emergencies at home? Such as smoke alarms etc? I think someone

>here said her dog would just come and lay down at your feet?

>

> Being also blind, that wont do much good unless the dog touches me in

>some way. When I get a new guide dog, I am thinking about adding this task

>to her duty roster.

>

> Would like to hear comments or stories in this regard.

[Guest guest]

Hearing dogd/guide dogs. Some dogs just can't be either. They started to

train a dog to be my hearing dog, but she was not smart enough to remember all

her duties. She was just fine with the alarm clock, maybe because she loved

jumping on the bed. THAT she could understand. She could understand taking

me to the door when someone knocked. She could not understand that she

should not take me to the smoke alarm. That dog was retired to a good home and

became a pet.

We went in to choose another dog and they opened a gate at the top of the

stairs and released about ten hearing dogs in training. BJ ran straight to me

and put his head in my lap. I guess he picked me and I had him for ten

years, so he made a good choice.

Implanted December 1988, Activated January 1989

Legally blind most of my life

Totally deaf for part of my life

Nan Rosen

_www.rosetwig.com_ (http://www.rosetwig.com/)

[Guest guest]

,

Some Hearing dog programs are combining with dog guide programs to train

dogs to serve DeafBlind. One such hearing dog program spoke at our DeafBlind

workshop. These dogs need to be trained between the ages of 2 and 4.

[Guest guest]

,

Gimlet is not going to learn new duties, sicne she's thinking about

retirement soon. But when I get a new dog, I am going to see about adding

more skills. Thing is, this is not just in home I am interested in. I'll

be pondering this and see what I would like a new dog to learn. GDB has

become more flexible in what they provide in training. Gimlet will never

ever tell me the smoke alarms are going off, she stresses from the noise.

So I will test new dog for this and other annoying sounds while in training.

I dont want dog to tell me phone is ringing in the middle of the night.

But at the same time, if it should be a life saving alert, well, I wonder

how Dog will learn the difference. LOL

By the way I do have the Alertmaster. Dont have it set up yet. Got two

doors, one Alertmaster doorbell, Hmmmm. Gee the pager. If I keep this up,

I am going to walking around the place loaded down with gear! LOL

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

--

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...

[Guest guest]

You obviously need a dog that can answer the phone and either take a

message, or if it's important, put it through. If you can get one that does

that, training it to make a Mocha should be childs play.

NZ

> Re: Hearing dogs

>

>

> ,

> Gimlet is not going to learn new duties, sicne she's

> thinking about

> retirement soon.

> I dont want dog to tell me phone is ringing in the middle

> of the night.

> But at the same time, if it should be a life saving alert,

> well, I wonder

> how Dog will learn the difference. LOL

>

> *---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

> The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

> --

> & Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

> Newport, Oregon

> N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

> rclark0276@...

>

[Guest guest]

Kathy... What I was really looking for was what most hearing dogs do.

Never had one. But it makes sense to check this out and I plan to.

.... I think physical contact is best in my case. Ine type of

response, whether I ahve the CI on or not. And I probaly would want to be

" led " toi the door rather than just have dog run to the door, I may not

always be able to see that. Maybe dog can grab me by the hand. LOL This

oculd be a fun project to research.

... Hiding from hail is a good idea! Problem is, I like to be out

there under something of course, and watch and listen. LOL There are many

scenarios that could happen and it would be interesting to try and prepare

for most. I dont see why a guide dog cant learn some of the hearing duties.

But I agree, some just may not be suited to it.

... Since Gimlet is now 9, I am going to be good to her and let her

off the hook. I am sure that GDB would accomodate me in this to some

degree. I will find out.

Sheila... I think the deafblind should expect this level of training.

I'm certainly going to look into it. We have at least one hearing dog

school in Oregon.

! A dog that can make mochas is my dream dawg! LOL One

outrageuos idea for the phone thing would be to use a cell phone with a

custom ringer. But who can offord to

have more than one cell phone? Its an idea tho.

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad

judgment.

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...

[Guest guest]

,

I just sent an e-mail to the Public Deafblind Mailing List asking them if

there were any U.S. guide dog schools who have trained guide dogs for alert

duties. Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) in Yorktown Heights, NY works with

the deafblind and may have done this type of training before. Leader Dogs

for the Blind is another possibility -- especially since 7 years have passed

since I trained with Tigger.

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Deafblind/Postlingual

BTE hearing aid user 20 years

Severe-profound hearing loss 10 years

[Guest guest]

On this particular issue, may I suggest for learning, a visit to the website

of Dogs for the Deaf, in Central Point, Oregon.

http://www.dogsforthedeaf.org/

Also, a fine resource on the subject from the UK: Hearing Dogs for Deaf

People

http://www.hearing-dogs.co.uk/assistance-dogs.html

Bob

...........

Hearing dogs

> A question for those who have hearing dogs. How are they trained to

> handle say, emergencies at home? Such as smoke alarms etc? I think

> someone

> here said her dog would just come and lay down at your feet?

>

> Being also blind, that wont do much good unless the dog touches me in

> some way. When I get a new guide dog, I am thinking about adding this

> task

> to her duty roster.

>

> Would like to hear comments or stories in this regard.

>

> *---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

> Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

> & Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

> Newport, Oregon

> N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

> rclark0276@...

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Alice,

Reading your post reminds me of how amazing these animals really are and why

the general public has such a strong interest in service dogs.

As for how Stella can tell that you're wearing your CI or not...I wonder if

there's anything in your body language or facial expression that clues her

in on this? I started losing my hearing in 1995, but even before that time

my guide dog Sugar seemed to know when I could and couldn't hear. If someone

called my name more than once she alerted me by nudging me or giving me her

paw. If someone was at the door, Sugar alerted me by barking loudly. A few

years before her retirement (1996) I taught her signed commands so that she

could focus on me visually and be more in tune to me during the times I

couldn't hear. When I can't hear, I have a quizzical look on my face. (So

I've been told by family and friends!) Sugar picked up on this over time and

knew when I was confused or struggling to hear. One time when I was trying

to cross the street, I felt tension in the harness handle and it was then

that I knew Sugar was looking at me making sure I was okay. When I gave

Sugar the forward command she guided me across the street ever so carefully

making sure to look left and right. I could tell that she was more cautious

than usual -- most likely because of my apprehension and confusion.

Even when I'm trying to make the best of a bad day, Tigger knows I'm " not

myself " and gives me extra hugs and kisses. If I'm upset or tense, she knows

that as well.

Given how much time we spend with these dogs and the close relationship that

develops between an owner and a hearing/service/guide dog (or pet), it's

no wonder they pick up on more than we think they do!

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Deafblind/Postlingual

BTE hearing aid user 20 years

Severe-profound hearing loss 10 years

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/16/2005 10:33:36 AM Mountain Standard Time,

rclark0276@... writes:

She had

trained her first guide to do the work when she began using a wheelchair.

She is also deafblind.

There may be hope for a new dog for me yet. I am not using a wheelchair,

but that is a future possibility.

Speaking of dogs, the rapport between dogs and humans can be amazing. We

all know of standard working dogs including police dogs and sheep herders. How

about the just pets that rescue their families from fires, etc. This comes

from their protective instincts.

Both guide dogs and hearing dogs can become so atuned to their owners that

they go way beyond their training to help.

I have even read of dogs trained to sense the onslaut of epiliptic seisures

before the person is aware of it. This lets the owner take medicines in time

to stop the seisure, stay in a safe place, or the dog is protective if it

happens.

Implanted December 1988, Activated January 1989

Legally blind most of my life

Totally deaf for part of my life

Nan Rosen

_www.rosetwig.com_ (http://www.rosetwig.com/)

[Guest guest]

Alice,

Some dogs just have that magical sense of things. Its amazing.

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

What would men be without women?

--Scarce, sir. mighty scarce.

-- Mark Twain

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...

[Guest guest]

,

Many guide dog schools are adding more to the programs to accomodate

multi disability clients. GDB has a programs where a guide dog is trained

to alspo work wiht a wheelchair user. And we will have this gal come speak

to us this weekend about that program, which she was involved with. She had

trained her first guide to do the work when she began using a wheelchair.

She is also deafblind.

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

Therapy is expensive. Popping bubble wrap is cheap. You choose.

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...

[Guest guest]

,

That is true and sometimes you cant find out uintil you train them.

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness and kindness,

can be trained to do most things.

-- Jilly

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...

[Guest guest]

Bob,

Thanks. I may see if I can talk to those people sometime, or even drive

down there. Might be fun.

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

No one is listening until you make a mistake.

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...

[Guest guest]

,

Wow, that's really interesting! Southeastern in Florida has also trained

guide dogs for people in wheelchairs. Tigger is hopefully a ways from

retirement, but when I do return for another dog, I'm not sure what school I

will go to. I've thought about Leader, GEB and GDB. I know someone who is

deafblind (totally blind/hard of hearing) who received wonderful services

from the Oregon campus. She was very pleased with the training and of

course, her new partner. I'd like to work with a trainer who has experience

working with students who have cochlear implants. I've found that localizing

and identifying environmental sounds with a CI is very different from doing

the same with hearing aids or normal hearing. I'm hoping my current hearing

aid (or perhaps a new hearing aid) will continue to allow me to hear

binaurally because if I need to train with a new dog before I can get a new

HA or go bilateral, that will make for some pretty interesting challenges!

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Deafblind/Postlingual

BTE hearing aid user 20 years

Severe-profound hearing loss 10 years

[Guest guest]

,

GDB has instructorrs who know sign as well as O & M training. The

wheekchair program is new, the gal who is speaking this weekend actually

initiated it when GDB saw what she'd down with her first guide who is now

happily retired.

The Oregon campus is just outside of Portland, we will come hang out.

LOL

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

" Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. "

-- Helen Keller

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...

[Guest guest]

,

Please forgive me if I am repeating myself. I find it interesting you are

from GDB, though I've known this for some time. When I applied for my first

dog guide back in the 80s, a GDB instructor came to interview me. He was

quite adamant that I was not a candidate at his school because I had

residual vision (10 degrees). He expressed concern that I would confused a

dog between the night and day vision. He also was quite rude. Shortly after

Seeing Eye accepted me. At their interview, I asked about my residual vision

jeopardizing the dog guide's work. The instructor told me that even if I

visually knew the dog guide was about to bang me into an object, I was going

to have to let it happen to make it a learning experience for the dog

guide, and I did just that, though it occurred so infrequently. When I

attended a professional blind education/rehab conference, I entered the

exhibit room. My eyes fell on the GDB booth, and there was that rude

instructor. I could tell he was quite interested in that I had a Seeing Eye

dog and he watched intently as my beautiful Seeing Eye dog and I proudly

walked past his booth. I sure hope that instructor has developed better

people skills.

[Guest guest]

,

I suspect that change came about with the ADA. I doubt that rude man

survived long at GDB. LOL He sure wouldnt these days.

*---* *---* *---* *---* *---*

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is

research.

--

& Gimlet (Guide Dawggie)

Newport, Oregon

N24C 3G 8/2000 Hookup

rclark0276@...