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If you see a little beige floof wearing a yellow jacket — it is really a superhero in disguise.
Invercargill woman Chloe Smyth is the second person in Southland to have an official hearing dog as her new 24/7 companion.
Ardie, a floppy-eared little character with a big personality, knew when his yellow jacket was on, it was work-time, Miss Smyth said.
He was trained to alert her to six everyday sounds like doorbells, alarm clocks, fire alarms or the phone ringing.
Miss Smyth has limited hearing and wears hearing aids and lip-reads to assist her communication, but her little companion has expanded her world.
“If the doorbell rings, he’ll start barking, go to the door and then come back and get me.”
Or if someone was calling her name, Ardie would alert her and bring her to the person calling her.
Charity organisation Hearing Dogs in New Plymouth bred the cavalier-Spaniel-poodle cross and trained it through sponsorship received from the Lions Club.
When Miss Smyth lodged her application for a service dog three years ago, Ardie was still 18 months off being born.
Focused on-site training took place on weekdays while foster homes hosted him on weekends to experience normal day-to-day living environments.
She was surprised how quickly they had bonded despite the advised transition period — three days to get to know you, three weeks to know where their new homes were and three months to adjust to life’s new rhythm.
Since Ardie came to live with her, she had become more aware of shop signage that said guide dogs were welcome on the premises.
But she believed signage needed to be more inclusive by saying “all service animals”, not just guide dogs because there were so many other types of service animals now, she said.
She believed the limited signage had led to misunderstandings with staff and the public about what animals were legally allowed indoors.
His breed was also outside the expected Labrador service dog.
But Ardie was an official service animal, who was legally entitled to enter any public place, but some people had refused them entry because they did not understand this, she said.
“Hearing dogs are not that well-known around here at the moment.”
Hearing dogs were easy to identify because of their bright yellow jacket, but like all service dogs, should not be distracted from their main tasks while working, she said.
“I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and randomly petting him without asking and I’ve had to say to them, ‘please don’t pet him’.”
– By Toni McDonald
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