Lye changed my life and I couldn’t live without her (From Worcester News)

Lye changed my life and I couldn’t live without her

8:44am Friday 6th June 2008

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UNTIL Nicola Willis got her hearing dog she had no idea the microwave dinged' when it had finished.

Now Miss Willis, who has been deaf since birth, could not live without her five-year-old King Charles spaniel called Lye who is a registered hearing dog.

Lye was bought as a pet when she was eight weeks old to give Miss Willis some company after she was forced to stop work due to her crippling arthritis.

One day 39-year-old Miss Willis was walking along the canal tow-path and was pushed over by a group of youths on bikes.

They had apparently been shouting at her to get out of the way, but because she could not hear, she walked on, oblivious to their calls.

The incident knocked Miss Willis' confidence, so her social worker suggested they contact Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

The charity assessed Lye and decided she could be trained to act as Miss Willis' ears.

"Without her I would probably become a recluse," said Miss Willis.

"It is a very lonely world being deaf, and it is very scary sometimes. Having Lye makes it easier.

"I could not imagine life without her."

The training is based around positive association with sounds hearing people take for granted, for example an alarm clock, cooker timer, doorbell, telephone or a baby's cry.

On hearing any of these sounds Lye will find her owner and touch her with a paw. Miss Willis will then ask "What is it?" and Lye will lead her to the noise.

But what about warning sounds such as smoke alarms, fire alarms and burglar alarms?

In these cases, Lye will touch her owner with her paw and then lie down.

By lying down, Miss Willis, of New Bank Street, Barbourne, Worcester, knows it is a special alert signal indicating danger.

The average hearing dog is a small, mixed-breed dog who may well have come from a rescue centre.

Key criteria are alertness and enthusiasm, but the charity can train most breeds, cross breeds and mongrels.

Hearing dogs also need to be sociable and relaxed in all public situations.

The puppy will spend its first few weeks with a volunteer puppy socialiser, who ensures the dog gets used to situations including traffic, crowds of people, loud noises and trips to the vets.

The dogs then move on to an intensive four-month course where it is taught to respond to specific sounds and each dog is trained for its deaf owner's needs. For example, Miss Willis' two teenage daughters have trained Lye to recognise the words go and get mum.' When she hears those words, Lye will find her owner, scratch at her ankle and lead her to her daughters.

The final stage of training involves teaching the hearing dog and their deaf owner together, which takes three months.

One of the charity's instructors works in the hearing dog's home and in their local shops and on normal walks.

All of the training is done through positive association with sound - alarm clocks, doorbells, cooker timers, phones - which are the signals heralding the imminent arrival of a doggy treat.

The hearing dog cannot wait to leap into action and tell his or her deaf owner about the sounds, because he knows a treat will be the result. However, training never stops, and Miss Willis has to constantly work with her dog to ensure Lye does not forget what she has learned.

Lye was named dog of the month in May by Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and has since been nominated for hearing dog of the year. Miss Willis and Lye will find out on Monday whether or not she has won.

FACT FILEOne in seven of the adult population in the UK has a significant hearing loss.

About 650,000 of those are severely or profoundly deaf and could potentially benefit from a hearing dog.

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is the only organisation in the UK training dogs to help deaf people.

The charity was set up in 1982 and has trained and placed more than 1,450 hearing dogs since then.

The waiting list for a hearing dog is currently between 18 months and two years.

The charity has undertaken a two-year pilot study looking at placing special hearing dogs with deaf children in hearing families There are about 880 working hearing dog partnerships in the UK at the moment.

To find out more about Hearing Dogs for Deaf People visit www.hearingdogs.org.uk or call 01844 348 100 (voice & minicom).

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