Hearing Dogs for Deaf People

Isolation, stress and loneliness…
Deafness does not just affect a person’s hearing. It is an invisible disability that isolates people from others. It can strip people of their confidence and destroy their sense of independence.
A hearing dog can give a deaf person a newfound sense of independence and confidence with their loyal companion and true friend at their side.

1. We train clever dogs to help deaf people
That’s what we do in a nutshell – we train dogs to alert deaf people to sounds they would otherwise miss – simple sounds that many people take for granted like the doorbell, alarm clock and even danger signals like the fire alarm. Being aware of these – thanks to a hearing dog – makes a real difference to deaf people’s lives.

2. Hearing dogs help deaf people reconnect with life
Deafness can be a very isolating disability. A hearing dog can give a deaf person a newfound sense of independence and confidence now they have a loyal companion and a true friend by their side.
As if this wasn’t enough –

3. Our dogs have even saved lives
Hearing dogs have saved countless lives in their important role; fire alarms sounding at the dead of night, alerting them to the shouts of a loved one who is in peril, even saving their recipients from potential car thieves!

Dogs are known for their loyalty and love – and we see these valuable traits in a hearing dog every day.

4. We’ve helped thousands of deaf people so far, and we aim to help many more

We have matched thousands of our adorable dogs with deaf recipients since our humble beginnings in 1982. At the moment, we have over 900 working hearing dog partnerships across the UK.

We make sure that, once a deaf person has been matched with a hearing dog,they are guaranteed a hearing dog for life. So when their first hearing dog retires at about the age of 11, they will be soon partnered with a new dog – and a lot of them keep their former hearing dogs as pets!

The cost to train and support each hearing dog throughout their lifetime is £40,000 – so we rely heavily on our amazing supporters to help us change lives. It really is all down to people like you, who give up time, effort and money to help us create many life-changing partnerships. But there are still so many deaf people whom we can help.

5. We put a lot of time and thought into matching a hearing dog with a deaf person
A hearing dog and their deaf recipient need to be carefully matched to ensure the partnership will work well.

So many little things need to be taken into consideration – for example, we wouldn’t match a bouncy, bubbly Labrador with a 70-year-old lady with mobility problems. But that Labrador would make a great companion for a fit 35-year-old who loves going out jogging every morning.

We take these important lifestyle factors very seriously to ensure we make the right match.

6. Our staff and volunteers are really passionate
We are so passionate about training these amazing animals, and it’s a real team effort. And everyone in the Hearing Dogs family has an important part to play.
You can help us change even more lives – and it’s really easy