Taking a walk with Gracie is beginning to work better. By that I mean that the claim in the "Pamphlet Regarding The Training and Behavior of Your Hearing Dog" that "your dog will walk nicely by your side" is becoming a reality. I'm sure this is partly because I'm becoming more confident about correcting her, about being the boss.
As we walked up the street this morning, we met our neighbor and her two children on their way back from the park's summer program for kids. The kids wanted to pet Gracie, so I said, "Just a little. She's a hearing dog, a professional, and not a pet."
"I didn't know you needed a hearing dog," their mother said to me. Then she laughed, "What is a hearing dog?" I tried to explain. "But you can hear," she said. I agreed that I could but not well. I told her that hearing is complicated and asked her if she'd ever bought a stereo system with speakers that had woofers and tweeters...kind of out-of-date now, I guess. But she nodded politely. She is one of the nicest young mothers in the neighborhood.
"Well," I said, "there are low tones and middle tones and high tones involved in human hearing. Human speech uses all three of these tones. I'm pretty good with the middle and low tones but I can't hear the high ones at all. I can't hear a smoke alarm or the high notes on a violin. I can't hear birds sing. I can't hear whistles or sirens. I can't tell the difference between two and three or fifty and sixty when I just hear them, for example. On top of that, " I added, "I can't locate sounds in space very well. Like the eyes work together to achieve depth perception, the ears work together to help us locate sounds. My left ear works much less effectively than my right ear. This makes locating sounds hard."
"Anyway, Gracie can really help me with that. She can't tell me what people are saying, but she can show where sounds are coming from. She can also alert me when the smoke alarm goes off or when someone rings the doorbell or when my phone rings. Eventually, she'll tell me when the alarm clock goes off the morning, and it's time to get up. Best of all, just having her with me will let other people know that I don't hear well." Like I've said before, I talk too much, and I realized that I'd just done it again.
"Well, " she said, "she is a very cute dog." I agreed and thanked her for Gracie for the compliment. Then she gathered up her kids and walked on.
As we walked up the street this morning, we met our neighbor and her two children on their way back from the park's summer program for kids. The kids wanted to pet Gracie, so I said, "Just a little. She's a hearing dog, a professional, and not a pet."
"I didn't know you needed a hearing dog," their mother said to me. Then she laughed, "What is a hearing dog?" I tried to explain. "But you can hear," she said. I agreed that I could but not well. I told her that hearing is complicated and asked her if she'd ever bought a stereo system with speakers that had woofers and tweeters...kind of out-of-date now, I guess. But she nodded politely. She is one of the nicest young mothers in the neighborhood.
"Well," I said, "there are low tones and middle tones and high tones involved in human hearing. Human speech uses all three of these tones. I'm pretty good with the middle and low tones but I can't hear the high ones at all. I can't hear a smoke alarm or the high notes on a violin. I can't hear birds sing. I can't hear whistles or sirens. I can't tell the difference between two and three or fifty and sixty when I just hear them, for example. On top of that, " I added, "I can't locate sounds in space very well. Like the eyes work together to achieve depth perception, the ears work together to help us locate sounds. My left ear works much less effectively than my right ear. This makes locating sounds hard."
"Anyway, Gracie can really help me with that. She can't tell me what people are saying, but she can show where sounds are coming from. She can also alert me when the smoke alarm goes off or when someone rings the doorbell or when my phone rings. Eventually, she'll tell me when the alarm clock goes off the morning, and it's time to get up. Best of all, just having her with me will let other people know that I don't hear well." Like I've said before, I talk too much, and I realized that I'd just done it again.
"Well, " she said, "she is a very cute dog." I agreed and thanked her for Gracie for the compliment. Then she gathered up her kids and walked on.
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