Another day at the Ulladulla Leisure Centre for a few hours of 'hydrotherapy'. In the pool were also Neil and his hearing-impaired wife, and at the poolside was their canine friend Maestro, one of the LIONS Hearing Dogs. And what amazing dogs they are! They can differentiate between the sounds of the phone or the door bell ringing, the hotwater kettle whistling, or the smoke alarm going off.
No, they don't actually answer the phone nor have they been trained to make a hot cup of tea ☺ . Instead, they alert their owners to sounds in the home by touching the owner with a paw — things like knocks on the door, a baby crying or the phone ringing. Most importantly, hearing dogs alert their owners to life-saving sounds like smoke alarms.
I got so carried away talking with Neil about their amazing dog Maestro that I stayed much longer in the warm water and finished up with what in Germany we so aptly called "Waschfrauenhände".
I've asked the LIONS Hearing Dogs Association if they will take my wife in for training. I am still waiting for their reply.
