Saturday 18th September 2010 11am-3.30pm Karen Lawe is running a Deaf Dog Awareness Day to help deaf dogs by showing people that a deaf dog is not an untrainable dog. To live with and train a deaf dog does not involve a great deal more than living with and training a dog with hearing.

The day is not full of genetics, history or long words. This is an awareness day for anyone who is curious about deaf dogs and hopefully in the future there will be many more suitable foster carers with deaf dog knowledge, able to train up a deaf foster so the new owners will only have to learn the signs, not teach them.

Deaf dogs usually spend a long time in rescue, they are overlooked as difficult or prone to health issues ~ this is rarely the case.

This day is suitable for anyone who is curious about whether they could live with and train a deaf dog. Come along and find out more.

Deaf Dog Awareness Day will be held at the headquarters of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Saturday 18th September 11am-3.30pm with three short breaks during this time.

Fee will be £7 for those who are foster carers/kennel workers for rescue and some other rescue representatives and £10 for all others, to be paid in advance. Sorry no refunds available.

You will need to bring your own lunch.

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
The Grange
Wycombe Road
Saunderton
Princes Risborough
Buckinghamshire
HP27 9NS

The car park entrance is in Haw Lane. The nearest train station is Saunderton where trains stop once an hour and is about a mile from Hearing Dogs HQ ~ very few buses on a Saturday.

If you are bringing own dogs they will have to be left in cars securely ~ should the weather be too hot no own dogs will be allowed. There is limited shady parking and the parking is not in ear/eyeshot.

The day will cover the following:

11am. INTRODUCTION ~ Here I will introduce myself, a little about my dog related history in general and how I became fascinated by deaf dogs.

11.10. SPEAK UP - I will be asking some or all (depending on size of group) attendees to say who they are, why they are there, how they imagine the difficulties to be living with/training a deaf dog, if they have not fostered or taken on a dog because it was deaf and if, due the shortage of deaf dog experienced foster carers, they have taken on deaf dog anyway with little or no support.

11.30. THE SAD HISTORY OF THE DEAF DOG – don’t worry I wont be going back centuries, well maybe one. How, luckily for the deaf dog, in general his fate has much improved in this country.

11.40 ALL ABOUT SIGNING -the importance of body language, expression and dog watching, demonstration of some of the signs, planning your dictionary.

12.15. BREAK

12.40 SIGNS ARE NOT ENOUGH - building the trust and understanding with the dog, other equipment and techniques you can use in training a deaf dog.

1pm DEAF FROM BIRTH OR BECOMING DEAF - exploring the differences and how the dog may feel. How do we know a dog is deaf? Testing for deafness, socialising a deaf pup, changing from voice to signing.

1.20 BREAK

1.35 DEAF DOGS, PRONE TO OTHER HEALTH ISSUES?

1.50 PROBLEM BEHAVIOURS IN DEAF DOGS - in this section I will speak of dogs I have worked with, what their issues were and how we kindly overcame them.

2.20 BREAK

2.30 GUESTS - two people tell of their deaf dog experience, where the dog was when they took it on and how the dog progressed. They will also take questions relating to their experiences.

3pm HANDOUTS, RECAP & QUESTIONS / SUGGESTIONS.

3.30 GO HOME

Tickets
Email Karen fundogtraining@hotmail.com or Tel: 07947 364 913