Canine Ears Hearing for the Deaf

Rebecca Piepho is deaf.

A bout with spinal meningitis left her deaf at the age of three, according to her parents, Richard and Eva Piepho of La Verne, but hasn't slowed the active 15-year old down much. A student at South Hills High School in Covina, Rebecca has a ready smile and can speak and sign her way to an understanding with those of the hearing world.

There are some things that Rebecca can't do, however, such as knowing when a doorbell is ringing, when an alarm clock is buzzing, or even when a smoke detector is blaring its alert.

Rebecca depended on her 5-year-old pet dog to alert her to these sounds until recently, while walking near her home, a large stray dog attacked and killed her pet.

Mr. and Mrs. Piepho sought another dog for their daughter, not only to give her needed companionship, but also to provide her with a specially trained hearing dog to help her in day-to-day living.

A certified hearing dog for the deaf is trained to alert its owner to sounds by placing a paw on the person, then running back and forth between the person and the sound. Certified dogs, having the same privileges as guide dogs for the blind, are only available from only a few training centers in California.

After checking into two programs, one in Southern California and one in Northern California, the Piepho's discovered that there were several stumbling blocks to obtaining a dog for their daughter - such as very long waiting lists and a preference for students 18 years or older.

The dilemma was solved when the Piepho's attorney, Esther O'Mara contacted another of her clients, veteran dog trainer Steve Welch of Apple Valley. Welch agreed to train a miniature Schnauzer, donated by Apple Valley dog breeder Virginia Armijo of Lea-Don's Kennel, to be ears for Rebecca.

The Schnauzer, named Coke because that is Rebecca's favorite soft drink, is now entering the second month of a three month training program. When Coke completes the three months, and two months of follow-up training and testing, he will be certified.

While watching Armijo present Rebecca with the 10-month old puppy's ownership papers, O'Mara said, "It does a person good to see that".

"There are so many bad things in the world, that when you see people reach out and help one another, you know it's worth living after all" said O'Mara.

O'Mara and Mrs. Piepho hope to form a non-profit corporation, which would provide hearing dogs, as well as a variety of other services to the deaf.

"There are so many services needed by the deaf that no organization is providing," said Mrs. Piepho. "We understand these needs because of our daughter, and think that we can help other deaf people."

The hearing dog's will be trained by Steve Welch's Canine Training Center in Apple Valley.

Welch's proposed training program will resemble the Riverside program in many aspects, with refinements culled from his over 20 years experience training dogs.

The three year old Riverside program, called the Mary Ann Falen Companion Animal Program for the Deaf, is currently under the direction of program coordinator Karen Detterich.

The program is limited to Southern California because Deterrich personally teaches recipients to train their own dogs. Detterich prefers participants to be 17 years of age or older, but each applicant is evaluated on a individual basis, she said.

Dogs are immediately placed with the recipient, because there seems to be better bonding between dog end owner when the dogs are with the new owner while training, according to Detterich.

In addition, a dog trained by a speaking person may not respond well when placed in a home with a deaf person whose voice and training behavior will be quite different.

How does a deaf person train a dog to respond to sounds he cannot hear?

According to Detterich, the deaf person must learn to "read" the dog. If the dog hears something, it will usually perk up his ears and look towards the sound. The deaf person must encourage the dog to respond. Friends and family can help by ringing doorbells or acting as prowlers during training sessions at home. Tape recordings of a baby crying, alarm clocks and other noises are also used.

Participants attend Classes once a week. In the morning or evening for an hour and a half for 16 weeks. Once training is completed, Detterich tests the dog in the home before certification. The dog is re-tested every year for rectification. Aside from a $25 application fee, refundable if the participant does not complete the course, there is no charge for the dog or the training, according to Detterich.

Dogs can be the deaf person's own dog or Detterich will select one from the animal shelter. The dogs become the property of the deaf person. "The first place I loot is the shelter," said Detterich. "There are a lot of good dogs here." Shetland sheepdogs, poodles, Doberman, shepherds and other working or sporting breed dogs or mixes seem to work the best, according to Detterich.

Although the participant may request the size and breed, Detterich does the final selection, because the dog must be suitable for the special training. Classes are limited to 15 people, because, "With the communication gap, there can be a teaching problem with more than 15 students," said Detterich.

The Riverside program is supported by donations and is not state or federally subsidized. Detterich can be reached at TTY 688-4382 or telephone 688-4340. The address is 5791 Fremont Street, Riverside, Calif. 90509

The San Francisco SPCA hearing dog program takes a different approach to training its dogs. The four-year-old program is under the direction of Ralph Dennard. To qualify, participants should be 18 years of age or older and have a profound hearing problem or hearing loss. Exceptions to the age requirement are made if an individual case warrants it.

The program spans the state of California, with orientations and classes offered as announced for various locations in Southern California. All dogs in the San Francisco program come from the animal shelter and are trained by employees in San Francisco before placing with the deaf person. Follow-up training is done in the recipient's home.

The main reason for our program is to find homes for the animals in our shelter," said Dennard "The abandoned or lost animals are screened for suitability, of course." The dogs also remain the property of the SPCA, rather the property of the recipient as in the Riverside program. And all animals are spayed or neutered before placement.

After the training is completed, the dog is certified and it receives a special orange collar to identify it as a hearing dog. "The law which previously covered access for guide dogs for the blind had been amended to include hearing dogs and service dogs (for handicapped)." said Dennard ''These dogs have the same privileges as the guide dogs."

The hearing dogs, which are placed at no cost to the recipient, according to Dennard, are trained with money obtained from donations. The program receives no state or federal money. Each program is different. Selection of a hearing dog should be made carefully, since the quality of life for the deaf owner may depend on the dog.