Lending an Ear to Hearing Impaired : Trained Dogs Alert Owners to Sounds

In a tiny yellow house near Chapman College, Samantha Graham’s telephone rings but she doesn’t budge to answer.

Born severely deaf, Graham doesn’t notice the call until her golden cocker spaniel, Lexie, bursts into the room. Leaping frenetically, Lexie leads her to the bedroom night stand where the phone sits. The phone is equipped with a teletype, which allows Graham to communicate with callers.

Lexie is a hearing ear dog, a guide dog trained to alert the deaf to sounds that others take for granted: the call of their name, the doorbell, a baby’s cry. The dogs bring companionship to the silent world of the hearing impaired while providing new mobility and freedom.

Graham, a 24-year-old senior at Chapman College, has always been independent, her family says. But living alone with her handicap makes her somewhat vulnerable.

“Missing an important phone call isn’t what bothers us,” said Gary Graham, Samantha’s father. “But a fire alarm concerns us.”

Since Lexie’s arrival seven months ago, the Grahams’ fears have subsided.

“I’m not home alone anymore,” Samantha Graham said. “It’s scary to live home alone when you can’t hear. She lets me know when there’s an important sound.”

Samantha Graham received Lexie free through Dogs for the Deaf, a program based in southern Oregon that saves dogs from the pound and trains them as guide dogs for the hearing impaired. Dogs for the Deaf is one of many programs across the country that provide animals to qualified applicants free or for a nominal fee. Donations cover the cost of raising and training the dogs for up to six months--an amount that ranges from $4,000 to $10,000 per animal.

Applicants are carefully screened, interviewed extensively and then accepted into the program based on need and the compatibility of lifestyle.

Graham, a special-education major, waited 18 months for Lexie. The two are now a familiar sight on campus, where Lexie patiently waits under Graham’s desk during class or comes along when she photographs sports events for the school yearbook.

For years, matters such as getting up on time in the morning were a challenge for Graham. She woke up with the sun and scheduled classes and appointments late in the day so she wouldn’t miss them by oversleeping.

“But you can’t get do that forever,” Graham said, “and you can’t get a job that way.”

Now, Lexie is her alarm. When the clock alarm goes off in the morning, Lexie hops on the bed and bounds back and forth until Graham is awake.

“If I don’t get up, she gets me on the lips with her cold, wet nose,” Graham said, laughing and wiping her mouth.

Lexie has also given Graham new confidence, her father said. The pair recently made an unchaperoned train trip to San Juan Capistrano, a journey Samantha Graham wouldn’t have attempted before.

“The two of them are inseparable now,” Gary Graham said. “She’s always been an outgoing person but she’s much more social now. She’s not afraid to go out or to be in the house alone. She’s hardly home anymore.”

The only problem with having a hearing ear dog is public ignorance of the animals, Samantha Graham said.

“I’ve been stopped by restaurant and store managers who say, ‘You’re not blind--take your dog outside,’ ” she said. Lexie wears a collar and leash that identify her as a “Hearing Dog” and Graham keeps handy a copy of the official handbook of rights for hearing ear dogs. Every state but Hawaii has legal provisions for dogs for the deaf.

For more information on guide dogs for the hearing impaired, contact Canine Companions for Independence, Rancho Santa Fe, (619) 756-1012; The Hearing Dog Program of the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, (415) 554-3000; Companion Animal Program for the Deaf of the Riverside Humane Society, (714) 688-4380; or Dogs for the Deaf, (503) 826-9220.