Brooklyn and his handler, Eric Guss, recently graduated our service dog program. Eric is deaf. We trained Brooklyn as a hearing alert dog.
It was one of those love-at-first-sight moments when Eric met Brooklyn. He knew there was no other dog for him. He was dedicated to Brooklyn from the start and the feeling was mutual.
Our hearing alert dogs provide information to their deaf or hard-of-hearing handlers about environmental sounds.
We approach all of our service dog teams as unique. Not everyone needs the same thing from their dog, so not every hearing alert dog will do the same things or alert in the same ways.
Eric is so in tune with his dog, that he can tell when there is a loud sound because of Brooklyn’s subtle ear movements.
One of our trainers said,
“Once at Home Depot Eric told me something was going on an isle over. It was a forklift backing up, I asked how he knew and he said he could tell from Brooklyn’s ears”
One of the things that keeps their connection strong are the little relationship-building rituals the two of them have. Brooklyn gives Eric a kiss every time he gets in the car and before he gets out. It’s quite possibly the cutest thing there is.
Brooklyn’s bark is also just the right pitch so that Eric can hear it. It was one of the things that let Eric know that Brooklyn was perfect for him.
