Hearing Dogs for the Deaf

I'd like to share an amazing charity with you - Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.  I only came across them recently and I think they're wonderful.  


I'd heard of guide dogs for the blind but I didn't realise that dogs can be trained to provide similar services for the deaf and disabled.  There are a lot of incredible stories about how these dogs had literally saved lives.  One that particularly stuck in my mind was about a woman with a crippling condition of which deafness was one of the symptoms, (I can't remember the name of the condition).  She was struck by a stroke one day and just before she passed out she managed to press the alarm button in her home to alert the emergency services.  Her hearing dog nudged her into the recovery position!  When the emergency services arrived, her dog led them directly to her.  If her dog hadn't put her in the recovery position, she would have died.


These dogs provide independence, companionship & security for some very vulnerable people.  Just to add to the wonderfulness of it all, the dogs are rescue dogs.  Yea, the dogs are rescued from neglectful or abusive positions and trained to be hearing dogs.  So everyone wins.


I know that money's tight for everyone at the moment but if you do have a little to spare, they're definitely a charity worth donating to.