Can you help train little life changers?
Dog lovers in Sunderland are being given the chance to change someone’s life by volunteering to train hearing dog puppies.
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is a national charity that trains dogs to alert deaf people to important and even life-saving sounds.
The charity has seen an influx of hearing dog puppies born during the summer that need to be placed in homes for 14-16 months from this autumn, so that they experience all the sights and sounds they will regularly come across as working hearing dogs.
There is a shortage of volunteers in Sunderland which means that the charity is not able to train as many life-changing dogs as it could until homes for the puppies have been found.
Victoria Leedham, volunteering manager at Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, said: “We now have lots of cute little life changers that are looking for homes in Sunderland from the age of eight weeks.
“So we’re urging anyone who might have the time and commitment needed to give a pup a home for anywhere between 14 and 16 months to get in touch to find out more.”
The role of a puppy socialiser volunteer is to ensure that the puppy they are matched with gets a good level of training and experience before it enters the next stage of its life.
They take the puppy into as many different environments as possible, such as shops, on public transport, cafés and busy towns.
The role would suit anyone who is able to drive or has access to a car driven by someone else, has a secure private garden, enough time to train a puppy daily, and not away from home for more than two to three hours at a time.
For further information visit www.hearingdogs.org. uk/puppies or contact Hearing Dogs for Deaf People at volunteer@hearingdogs. org.uk or on 01844 348122.