It’s time for an update about Sandy, YHD’s first hearing dog in training! We are excited to share that he has finished the first quarter of his 14 month training, transitioning to an intermediate level of training. This is a huge accomplishment for this young dog and a big step forward in becoming the ears for his owner, Kathy. With the incredible success and strides Sandy has made the past few months, it is easy to see he was the perfect choice, out of a litter of six, for a future hearing dog.
Even though Kathy is continuing to recover from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident last year, she and Sandy have been working hard together daily. Comfortable now with “sit,” “stay” and “settle,” they have been working towards mastering the “front” and “heel” commands over the last several weeks. Each morning, they head outside and walk around their yard to practice this new skill. Learning and teaching can be exhausting for both the owner and dog, however, so training periods were often kept short, about 10 minutes each time. During much needed rest times, Sandy was able to get some good stretching in before more walks and training, carefully placing his long legs together in a delicate “x” shape. Short practice sessions and rest periods in-between led to a slow learning process at the beginning, but through continued, consistent practice, Sandy is now able to follow the “heel” and “front” commands. While he is happy to do them without treats, he is willing to receive a treat or two as well.
As Kathy is hard-of-hearing, she does not always hear when someone calls her name. Part of Sandy’s training will be to alert his owner when he hears her name called. This month, he began learning the first stages of this training, beginning with going over to Kathy, touching her hand, and receiving a treat after hearing her name called. As with all of us when learning new skills, mistakes are sometimes made, and Sandy will often head over to the person who called Kathy’s name. This dedicated pair will continue to work on this skill, and similar to all their previous learning, will reach this training goal together eventually.
Now that Sandy has entered his intermediate phase of training, another step in the process is to visit pet-friendly public places and practice his skills amidst disruptive environments. As with previous training, they will start slow, beginning with mastering skills during minor distractions and increase to major distractions. Sandy has been exposed to some distractions during walks, seeing rabbits, chickens, and some tempting eggs, so it will not be a completely unfamiliar situation. However, there are a lot of smells and things to see in public places, so it will certainly take some time and practice for Sandy to master this skill set.
While Sandy is making amazing strides in his training, he is still a young dog, learning all about the world around him, both the good and bad. He recently found a snake plant at his home which looked delicious at the time he took a small bite. Hours later, though, he learned that it may not have been the right choice. Natural consequences are sometimes the worst, but perhaps stay with us longer as a reminder to not repeat the same mistake. Fortunately, Sandy’s upset stomach only lasted a short time and he was able to eat a meal of chicken and rice, which was possibly more delicious than the plant. Unfortunately for Kathy, she also had to participate in the consequence and cook the meal for Sandy.
In line with trying new foods, a few harmless ginger snacks were left a little too close to the edge of the table, and Sandy couldn’t resist snatching a few. Really, who could leave such a delicious snack alone! Luckily, he didn’t have any consequences this time, other than likely a stern “no.”It is incredible to watch the transformation of Sandy into a hearing dog, knowing each step on this journey brings independence, safety, and comfort so much closer. With many others waiting to receive their own hearing dog, we need your help and support. Please consider supporting the work of YHD through volunteering, donating, starting a fundraiser on Facebook, or spreading the word about YHD. Any type of support helps, whether it is big or small, and is important in transforming lives within the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Together, we can change lives through the power of hearing dogs!
- Tags: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, Hearing dogs, Service Dogs, Your Hearing Dog
