MY CLEVER COMPANION
Sally Harris was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and rapidly lost her hearing as a result of associated complications. Feelings of loneliness and anxiety ensued, she lost confidence and became depressed and tinnitus interfered with her sleep. Forced to change jobs, life felt incredibly tough but now, partnered with Labrador cross Babs through Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, everything is rosy.
“Babs alerts me to the alarm clock by putting her front paws on the bed and nudging me with her nose. The other sounds she works to are the front doorbell, the cooker timer and the smoke alarm or fire sirens.
“After alerting me she takes me to the sound – unless it is the smoke alarm when she lies down, indicating it’s an emergency. She is rewarded with a biscuit.
“I have very good hearing aids and an ability to lipread quite well. Sometimes, though, communicating with people gets very tiring and I need ‘time off’ so I stay in and remove my hearing aids. This used to be a lonely solution but now I have Babs I never feel alone – and I feel safe. The isolation of deafness can lead to depression and having Babs means that I don’t feel isolated any more, especially as we meet lots of friendly people and dogs on our walks.
“When I am having a high pain day due to my OI she keeps me company by settling next to me. She can read my moods and we work well as a team looking after each other.”
WWW.HEARINGDOGS.ORG.UK 01844 348100