How dogs are walking the walkies and talking the talk

After losing her hearing following a bad reaction to a measles jab as a baby, Annette Aldridge spent much of her childhood lip-reading, unaware there was a problem.

It was only during a routine hearing check at school when she was 11 that her disability was identified and it was not until she was 17 that she began requiring hearing aids.

But Mrs Aldridge, who works as a dermatology clinical nurse at Barnet Hospital, in Wellhouse Lane, found hearing aids to be a problem, only picking up the sound of the tea trolley.

With only ten per cent hearing ability in both ears, she searched for a different solution to her deafness.

This came in the the form of Denzel, a three-year-old mongrel, who came to live with Mrs Aldridge in Hemel Hempstead 18 months ago from Hearing Dogs For Deaf People, a charity which trains dogs of all breeds to distinguish sounds and alert their hearing-impared owner.

He now accompanies her to work every day so she can carry out her job without letting her hearing problem affect her.

She said: "He lets me know if the phone's ringing, and if any of the staff need me they call him and he gets me. It means the other nurses don't have to leave patients. It also means I am not reliant on staff to look after me.

"He runs the department. He thinks everyone comes to see him."

But there are some downsides to training Denzel to be a working dog.

Mrs Aldridge added: "He is so aware of sounds in the hospital, when Casualty is on TV he taps me every time an alarm goes."

Nevertheless, she is grateful for what Denzel has given to her.

"I have been given my independence back. He is just fantastic. It's me and my shadow. We come as a package now."

Eighty-five-year-old Jean Hodges first realised she couldn't hear while with a friend in the public gallery of a court, about 40 years ago.

Her hearing got progressively worse and she is now profoundly deaf, with only 50 per cent hearing capability in one ear.

Mrs Hodges, of Friern Watch Avenue, North Finchley, never learned sign language and finds communicating with people increasingly frustrating.

She said: "I have been to lip-reading classes, which has been extremely helpful, but as I got older my concentration has been getting restricted; it needs intense concentration."

While on holiday with her husband in Eastbourne 15 years ago, she discovered Hearing Dogs For Deaf People.

However, as her husband disliked dogs, it was only after he died two years later that she considered getting one.

Heidi, a labrador, lived with her for six years but had to be put down owing to ill health. Then, a year ago, Mrs Hodges was given two-year-old poodle, Yorkshire terrier cross Lisa.

Mrs Hodges describes Lisa as her "lifeline", as, essentially, she provides her with the gift of hearing.

The dog is trained to recognise the telephone, doorbell, smoke alarm and cooker timer and, when any of them rings, she touches her owner on the leg with her paw and leads her to the source.

She said: "It is wonderful. Having Lisa has made me get out for walks. It gives me independence and makes me feel safe. I'm much happier to have her around. She gives me confidence and she is great company."

Hearing Dogs For Deaf People was launched in 1982 and has placed more than 1,400 hearing dogs with people across the UK. It is the only charity of its kind in the country, training dogs at no cost to the owner to be alert to specific sounds in the home, workplace or public buildings.

Jenny Moir, a spokesman for the charity, said: "These dogs really change lives.

Of course they help people who can't hear, but they also give back confidence and independence along with security and companionship.

"We try to take as many dogs as we can from rescue centres. We change their lives and then they change their owner's lives."

Hearing Dog Week runs until Thursday. For more information, log on to hearingdogs.org.uk