International Hearing Dog’s (IHDI) mission is, “to train dogs to assist persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, with and without multiple disabilities, at no cost to the recipient.”
IHDI has trained more than 1,100 professionally certified hearing dogs since 1979. All of the dogs selected for this special training come from local animal shelters. The dogs are generally mixed breeds, six months to a year in age, in good health, with aim-to-please, energetic personalities.
Each dog receives a thorough medical examination before training begins, including blood work, vaccinations and spay or neuter if necessary, to ensure a long healthy life.
The dogs learn to respond to many sounds in the home, such as the door bell or knock, telephone, alarm clock, smoke alarm, or a baby's cries, during daily training sessions. General obedience and socialization rounds out their 4-8 months of custom training.
IHDI also trains dogs to assist deaf/blind individuals (in the home only) by guiding slowly to the source of the sound. Each dog is selected with the needs and lifestyle of its new master in mind.
After placement and successful completion of a 90-day trial period, the dog is certified as a hearing dog and receives its orange collar, leash and official I.D. card.
Hearing dogs have legal access to all public places when accompanied by their owner.
From the Executive Director
Although IHDI was incorporated in 1979, much thought and study went into the program years before. My mother, Martha Foss, was a co-founder of IHDI and also one of the four women who participated in a four-year pilot study from 1975-1979, to create a method of training dogs to assist persons with hearing loss. Prior to this time, no dogs had been trained to assist the deaf, although many canines work naturally for their owners. Following the lead of dog trainer, Agnes McGrath, Mom and two others; Emlynn Wood and Sandi Sterker spearheaded the first Hearing Dog training program and codified a method by which dogs could be trained and then placed in the home of a hearing impaired individual to alert them to the sounds around them.
Over the last 30 years, IHDI has grown in many ways. Not only are we the first Hearing Dog program in the U.S., but we chose a unique path when we decided to adopt all Hearing Dog candidates from animal shelters. Instead of using breeders, we found that through careful screening before adoption, we could find all the dogs we need in shelters. Many rescued dogs have the perfect qualities for Hearing Dog training: happy, eager, loving, with people-pleasing personalities, and endless energy. More importantly, the dogs selected get a second chance at life and a new beginning.
I often feel like a counselor, helping our applicants and recipients. I learn about their need for a dog, then match and custom train a dog for their situation. Each person’s home and routine is different. Therefore, we deliver the dog directly to the new owner’s home and work with them and their new dog, to help the new team establish the all-important bond that will make them successful for years to come. I am very lucky to have been a part of IHDI for so many years. As a child, I accompanied my mother here weekly, and am celebrating my 20th year as an IHDI employee. This is a very rewarding position and I am honored to be IHDI Executive Director!
Thank you to all our lifetime friends that I have been fortunate to know and serve, to all those friends who have helped us build what we know as the best Hearing Dog program in the country, and to all the new friends I make daily. Here’s to another 30 wonderful years of helping the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and to all their special “ear” helpers.
Best Wishes,
Va lerie Foss-Brugger
Executive Director & President
