Because of their unique and important job, Hearing Dogs are legally allowed into any public place with their handler. This includes food outlets, restaurants, shops, theatres, on public transport – virtually everywhere their handler goes.

Hearing Dogs are specially trained to behave appropriately in a range of situations, including eating and toileting on command. The next time someone comes into your shop or business with a Hearing Dog, please make them welcome.

How to spot a Hearing Dog

Hearing Dogs come in all shapes and sizes. There are no one specific breed or type of dog. Look out for the yellow jacket with our logo on it.

Legislation

Hearing Dogs have rights of public access under the Dog Control Act 1996 and are protected from discrimination through other important legislation such as the Human Rights Act 1993.

This legislation collectively entitles Hearing Dogs to go into any public place and on any public vehicle including: restaurants, doctors, dentists, shops, beaches, cinemas, hotel, buses, ferries, domestic and international flights, ships, taxis, trains, etc.

Denying access to a person with a Hearing Dog is considered a serious offence.

Amos has a more serious personality, is intelligent and loves to be around people.  By the time he retired in November last year Amos was not only well travelled having enjoyed his many intercity bus trips he had also taught himself many extras.  A couple of examples; he taught himself how to phone my mum and he also worked out how to use my pay wave card!

10 years later after Amos retired and after some thought I applied for another hearing dog.  I thought I would need to wait however this wasn’t the case.

I was allocated Brie and things moved fast.  At the end of January my mum and I came through to the Hearing Dog Centre in New Plymouth to collect and bond with Brie.  Brie’s a small tri-coloured Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and my first girl dog, Brie has a more reserved personality than the two boys which takes a little getting used to.  Brie has started her working life in Napier and has started to settle in well.

My advice to those thinking of getting a Hearing Dog is the following; reflect on what you need from a Hearing Dog, make sure you have a support network, make sure places that you regularly go, like church every week, that you get them onboard about a Hearing Dog before you get the dog. This makes adjusting back into the community a lot easier.  And finally when you venture out in public people will stare - let them!

To all the breeders, socialiser’s, and sponsors a big thank you! from Kylie xx

“I didn’t know about hearing dogs until my doctor told me I would qualify for one.” Both she and her husband, Russell, loved the idea of getting a little dog and Mitzi, donated to Hearing Dogs NZ by a breeder after she was born with a broken tail, was a perfect match.

Mitzi’s initial role was to let Margaret know when the phone rang. “Before that, my staff would have to divert calls to their mobiles if they went out of the office.” Within a decade, her hearing had completely gone and now Mitzi alerts her to the buzz of incoming emails or texts and also responds to the counter bell, letting Margaret know when clients arrive.

The pair keeps fit by walking home from work every fine day, Mitzi sporting her yellow ‘Hearing Dog’ jacket. “She is a visible sign that I can’t hear. Even people you know sometimes forget.”

At home, Mitzi responds to sounds such as the doorbell, oven timer, alarm clock and washing machine when it beeps at end of cycle. “She comes and paws at me and I say ‘what is it?’ and she takes me to the sound.”

When the smoke alarm goes off, the little dog’s response is different. “She paws me, then lies down which means I should get down and out.” Mitzi takes this duty seriously. “I have to go outside or she gets very agitated, even if I’ve just burnt the toast.” Getting back inside to turn off the alarm can be problematic as Mitzi will physically block her way, forcing Margaret to ask passers-by to disarm it if the neighbours are out.

Her ever-vigilant guardian angel gives Margaret reassurance when Russell is away. “I feel safe because I know she will let me know if there is anything going on in the house. Even if there’s a storm, she stays right beside me as I can’t hear the rain or wind.”

Mitzi comes running if she blows a little plastic whistle, and also responds to her name. “If Russell says ‘Where’s Margaret’, she will find me and take me to him.” She will also fetch her if other people call her name, which can lead to encounters with strangers. “I’ve discovered that Margaret is quite a common name.”

Margaret’s father, a farmer who was actively involved in his church and community, insisted that hearing loss was not a handicap. “He said you learn to use your other skills and that you have to get on and live your life, and not let anything stop you from getting involved in the community.”

She has instilled that in her own daughter, Jackie, who has defied her deafness to become a tap dancing teacher and ballroom dancer. Mother and daughter often attend musical shows together, Margaret booking seats near the front so she can lip-read the songs. “Some people are quite rude and say ‘what are you doing here?’”

Margaret often thinks about her father. “He would have loved my dog,” she muses. “Though he would have preferred her to be bigger.” She recalls the time when she ruined the career of one of his huntaway pups by dressing it in dolls’ clothes and pushing it around in the pram, and looks down affectionately at her own little working dog. “I can’t find enough words to express my gratitude for having my hearing dog all this time. Mitzi has given me back my life and I love her to bits.”

Rogan’s biggest job is alerting people to fact that Vanessa has a hearing loss, which is not obvious as she speaks clearly. “There’s a quip of deaf people that ‘just because I can speak doesn’t mean I can hear’,” she says. “When I’m somewhere like the supermarket and somebody says ‘excuse me’ to get past, they see the dog and understand why I’m not responding. He is the visible sign of my hearing loss.” 

People respond positively to Rogan’s presence and her situation. One day when the train timetables had been disrupted after a large earthquake, a man beside her on the platform was busily tapping on his phone. “I thought he was texting but he was typing an explanation of the train changes for me because he realised I may not have heard the announcements over the loud speaker system.”

Vanessa is a Toastmasters’ stalwart, finding it better than any speech therapy. Rogan, who has his own membership tag, enjoys the convivial functions as well. He used to insist on accompanying Vanessa to the front every time she spoke but now dozes on the floor, sometimes disrupting proceedings by snoring loudly. The hearing dog who responds to a microwave beep from the far end of her house is oblivious to applause but on his feet when he senses it’s time for supper.

Rogan Josh socialises with his breed at Cavalier King Charles get-togethers and has his own Facebook page. “He’s got more followers than me,” says Vanessa. His best friend is a fellow cavalier titled Lord Winston, who belongs to a local hairdresser. If she can’t take Rogan to a job, the regal pair hang out together at the salon, reclining on a red velvet couch and lapping up attention from the humans who come in to be groomed.

“Hearing dogs just have to listen. They have a fairly leisurely life,” says Vanessa, who gives her companion plenty of opportunity to be a dog, his spaniel instinct coming to the fore as he sniffs out rabbits along the nearby river bank. Vanessa always keeps him on a long leash so he can’t take off, and also when he swims as the current is quite strong.

“He is my best friend. We enjoy each other’s company and are similar in many ways.” The thing they both most love to do together is travel. Rogan Josh is far more excited by the sight of a suitcase than any food or toy. He has travelled the length and breadth of the country on planes, trains, cars and ferries, often accompanying Vanessa to Toastmasters’ conventions. He was even given a special dispensation from the Department of Conservation to visit Milford Sound, which is Vanessa’s favourite place. “On that, we disagree,” she says. It was pouring with rain, and the little dog was impressed neither by the scenic boat trip nor the sandflies.

When Lizzy was wearing her yellow jacket, she could accompany him everywhere except the hospital emergency department and operating theatres. She was very friendly and made friends everywhere.

“People will say ‘gorgeous’, and I always say ‘thank you, and my dog is pretty good as well’,” Sears said with a laugh.

Lizzy, 2, also goes with him to country music sessions where he plays and sings with two bands. He can play from memory despite his hearing loss, and follows the bass player. “I’m in my 70s, been playing since I was 8 years old,” he said. “I know most of the songs, and I only need to know the next chord. I apologise beforehand because sometimes my voice goes out of tune for a few seconds, but nobody cares.”

At home, Lizzy and Sears practice her sound work training every day, but she sometimes gets a bit mischievous, he said.

News article written by Catherine Groenestein for Stuff, July 2023.

Feel safe at home - Knowing Meg will alert me to any   sounds. She will automatically alert me to things out of the normal as well.

Feel comfortable out in public - I get anxious and     being in public is challenging for me. Having a Hearing Dog, means people will automatically focus on the dog not me.

A connection like no other - I have suffered from depression for many years. I have found that having a dog to walk every day and to cuddle (on the floor), that intense focus on my wellbeing, being in sync with my moods from her, makes my days better. What better way to wake up in the morning than with kisses and cuddles from your dog as she alerts you to the timer/alarm going off.

Awareness of disability - Having a Hearing Dog makes people aware that I am hearing impaired, therefore communications go better as they look at me when they talk”.

Terry Darby, who trained Sophie, said the standard white poodle was a "chick magnet".

"When I was out training her I always had women commenting on how lovely she was. No men ever stopped me and told me how beautiful my fluffy white poodle was," Mr Darby said.

Mr Hughes, a retired welder who started losing his hearing when he was 30, first told the Hearing Dogs trainer he wanted a boxer dog.

"I told them I didn't want one of those fluffy little white things.

"Well, at least she isn't little," Mr Hughes laughed.

Sophie, who trained for seven months to be a hearing dog, alerts Mr Hughes if the doorbell rings, when the washing machine has finished and she even nudges his face when his alarm goes off in the morning.

"There is no sleeping in with Sophie here," said Mr Hughes, who belongs to the Volkswagen club and also has a green VW Kombi van.

"I take Sophie out in the kombie van too. She's got her own single bed and her own duvet in the back of it.

"She's a helper dog, but boy is she great company," he said.

Written by Taryn Utiger