Hearing Team | Medicine Hat, AB
Through your generous donations to Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, together we’re making a difference in the lives of our fellow Canadians.
Meet Gloria and her Dog Guide Irie, the second team that you’ve helped sponsor through donations to the Pet Valu 2015 Calendar. Gloria is profoundly deaf and lives independently in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Having a Hearing Ear dog makes a huge difference in Gloria’s world. She and her family (she has three children and six grandchildren) can sleep soundly at night knowing that in the event of an emergency, Irie will be there to wake Gloria up. Irie is Gloria’s third Hearing Ear dog, and she does everything from letting Gloria know when someone is at the door, the phone rings, a fax comes in, the microwave or stove timer rings, washer or dryer is done, to alerting her when people call her name.
“She gives me the confidence to live alone and to face the world.” says Gloria.
The bond between a Dog Guide and their partner is a deep one, and Gloria is already besotted with her happy and beautiful girl, explaining “Irie is a sweetheart. She’s very young, just 13 months old, but has a good understanding of her job and happily alerts me to things I need to know. As time goes on, she will alert to even more sounds.”
Together as a Team .
It all starts at Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide training centre in Oakville, Ontario. Each team starts their journey together at the training centre where they stay for a couple of weeks so that they can learn about the dogs and the dogs can learn about them. “When I first met Irie, I thought she was wonderful. Before we left the school, we already had a good connection to each other and it grows daily. We make a great team!” says Gloria of her Hearing Ear dog.
Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide trainers go to great lengths to ensure each team is set up for success. All in all, the process of training and placing a Dog Guide costs approximately $25,000, and yet they are provided to qualified applicants at no cost. Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides does not receive any government funding, and relies on the support and donations from generous Canadians like you.
Changing Lives .
Your donation will help make a difference. “Please consider donating to Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides.” says Gloria. “They do a fantastic job of raising and training dogs for so many people and these dogs make so much more of a difference in our lives than you could possibly imagine.”
Dog Guides change lives; let’s help change as many as possible.
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