Lend me an Ear

Compared to dogs, all humans are hearing-challenged!
But it takes more than sharp ears to be a hearing Dog. Mixed companion-breed dogs from shelters and rescues have proven themselves to be more talented for this career than any existing dog breed. When a curious, people-loving busybody of a mutt with a natural interest in sounds is trained and paired with the right human partner, wonderful things happen.

Martha explains:

The complex temperament of the perfect Hearing Dog
Testing methods to select shelter dogs for Hearing Dog potential
Dog-friendly training methods for teaching a dog to alert to sounds

Martha Hoffman is the Training Director for the Hearing Dog Program. She has trained several Hearing Dogs and tested over 20,000 shelter dogs over the last 25 years. She lives in California with her retired HD Gotcha ot Vitosha, her new HD-to-be Garou of Left Coast, French Bulldogs Toad Alley Bronco Billy and Rio De Brio, and always has several Hearing Dogs in training at her home or with local foster-trainers.

Acknowledgments -- Introduction --

Part 1. Hearing Dog Basics

-- Chapter 1. What is a Hearing Dog?

-- Chapter 2. The Naturals: Reactivity and Its Impact on Temperament

-- Chapter 3. How Reactivity Affects Hearing Dog Potential

Part 2. Behind the Hearing Dog Temperament

-- Chapter 4. Classifying Dogs by Function

-- Chapter 5. Successful Hearing Dog

-- Chapter 6. Shelter Dog Behavior

Part 3. Testing Potential Hearing Dogs

-- Chapter 7. Temperament Testing Concepts Ill

-- Chapter 8. Temperament Tests for Hearing Dog Suitability

-- Chapter 9. Training Basics

-- Chapter 10. Training Sound Alerting -- Bibliography -- Appendix.