Hi everyone!
I am starting my third week here in New Zealand. Sorry again for the radio silence, I have been putting lots of pressure on myself to produce researched articles. But this blog is to document my travels and how I'm feeling, so I am going to put a pause on the research articles until I feel like writing one.
It is springtime here, and I am living in the west coast town of New Plymouth. Mt. Taranaki is the backdrop of the town and is breathtaking on a clear day. I have enjoyed hiking the past few weekends and hanging out at the public library. The library is attached to a local museum, so I am learning a lot about the surrounding area.
My job is amazing and so much fun. I am assisting Hearing Dogs New Zealand, an organization that trains hearing dogs for Deaf people. These dogs are so smart and cute as can be. There are four here currently: Joy, Scout, Darby, and Velo! Each has their own personality and quirks. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with them!
I am helping our head trainer teach these dogs to alert their person to sounds around the home, i.e. alarm clocks, telephone ringing, cooker timer, door bell, smoke alarm, etc. The smoke alarm is arguably most important. Lots of people who are hard of hearing have trouble sleeping at night because they wouldn't be woken by the alarm if a fire were to occur. With a hearing dog, many of our recipients say that they can sleep more peacefully.
All of the training that I am observing and assisting with is reward-based, so even when we are working, the atmosphere is positive! The people I am working with are so kind and funny. Clare, the General Manager, has a small poodle named Ruby that visits the office a few days a week. Ruby is also a registered hearing dog, and has been working for 8 years! Clare has been letting me do sound work with Ruby so I can understand what a trainer does. I might be able to bring Ruby into town for some public access work as well!
One of our retired trainers, Terri, is deaf. He was telling me that being deaf can be very socially isolating, especially when someone lives alone. He thinks a hearing dog can revamp life for recipients and give them a companion, which makes complete sense to me.
The last thing I'll share for today: I am really excited to show my family this area. I am getting to know it pretty well and it's BEAUTIFUL!
Other post topics I may write this week: knowledge of the area I am in, my observations of public access work, the chaos that is doggy daycare...
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