Hearing dogs are some of the most heroic animals, helping to support people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
But these clever pups need to undergo training first. And one cat helps them along the way. Siamese cat Frank, who lives in the town of High Wycombe in the UK, northwest of London, with his owner Julie Shute, spends time with dogs in training to see how they react to him. This helps Hearing Dogs for Deaf People assess whether the dogs would be able to live with someone who has cats.
"Frank is proving to be a great addition to our training team,” said Rachel Broadley, dog training instructor at the organization’s Buckinghamshire training hub, via BBC News. "It's not a job that would suit every cat, but as a confident boy who loves dogs, he is already best friends with trainee puppy Kasper."
The charity trains dogs to recognize sounds like smoke alarms, doorbells, and baby monitors, and Frank begins his work by meeting trainee dogs through a glass door.
He then rests on Shute’s lap with the dog in reach, to see how the canine will behave. Shute said, "When a dog comes up to Frank, I can tell by his body language if he's comfortable around them.
"Throughout the whole interaction, he's always free to jump out of the way or leave the room. But if he's comfortable, his muscles will relax, and the dog can then come closer to sniff him."
If a dog barks, backs away, or appears over-interested, they might not be the right fit to live with a cat parent – here’s what to know about dogs and cats living together for more information.
Frank gets a reward, of course. After each training session he gets to eat roast chicken pieces, his favorite snack.
Shute explained that Frank got involved with training by accident, when she volunteered herself and was given a cockapoo puppy, Gizmo.
"They ate, slept, and played together,” she explained. “My trainer at the time observed this and asked if it would be possible for other hearing dog puppies to visit Frank to see if they could be matched with a deaf partner who already had a pet cat.”
Frank went on to earn the title of ‘chief cat tester’ through his work.
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