Assistance Dogs For The Deaf
We know that dogs can carry out all kinds of professions: policemen, assisting the blind, therapy, detecting tumors and a myriad of other jobs that our four-legged friends can do without problems. Today we will talk to you about a very particular job, which you may have never heard of. These are assistance dogs for deaf people.
A few decades ago being deaf was a big problem. However, over the years, everything has changed. Deaf people today are fully integrated into society and can lead a completely normal life. Nowadays, our canine friends do an excellent job in this regard.
What does a dog trained to be around deaf people do?
This is a dog that has received special training to alert the deaf person to sounds that obviously he cannot hear.
In a person’s daily life, there are many sounds that he needs to hear in order to live normally. For example, imagine that you cannot hear the alarm in the morning. How could you go to work? Or that someone comes to your house and you can’t hear the doorbell.
What if you’re crossing the street and you don’t notice a car is driving straight on and you can’t even hear the horn? As you can see, it would not be easy to have a completely normal life without being able to feel absolutely anything. For this reason, dogs trained to accompany deaf people make these tasks easier for them.
The dog that has been trained to be with a deaf person can alert the person with a hearing disability of the following sounds:
- Doorbell
- Horn
- Domestic appliances
- Wake Up
- If someone calls the person by name
- Fire alarm
- Crying of a baby
When the animal hears one of these sounds, it tries to get its owner’s attention by touching his foot with his paw or by placing his paws on him. When the owner listens to him, the dog directs him towards the sound, so that he can take the measures relevant to the situation.
There are other sounds that are not on the list, but that dogs trained to accompany a deaf person can identify. This is because each person is a world apart and, at times, everyone may have special needs.
The assistance dog for the deaf in Italy
The work of these animals is not as well known as that of the dogs of the Italian Blind Union, because they started their business much later. However, they are increasingly entering the deaf community. In fact, it is estimated that even though 2.5% of the population suffers from some form of hearing impairment, the “guide dog” for the deaf is not yet fully integrated into this community.
However, in Italy there are already laws that allow these furry friends to access all public places, as well as for dogs for the blind. U-Dog is the association that is dedicated to this issue and that increasingly promotes the inclusion of these dogs in our society.
The international assistance dog for the deaf
Europe does not rank high in the number of assistance dogs for the deaf, although the UK is well known for this. Australia and the United States are also pioneers in this new form of helping people with hearing disabilities.
We hope that further progress will be made and that assistance dogs for deaf people become as common as those for blind people.
Once again, we emphasize the importance of our dog friends in our lives and how they are willing to sacrifice themselves for us, working or taking care of our well-being.
Remember that non-profit associations that promote the dissemination of forms of aid to disabled people accept donations. If you want to do one, you just have to enter the U-Dog page.
