Well Done Rory !

Today Rory became a fully qualified Hearing Dog for Deaf People. :)

We spent the day with the qualification officer from Hearing Dogs head office and she put Rory through all his work.

First up was his sound work in the house. We did the doorbell, telephone, smoke alarm, oven timer and the "call". We did each of these sounds in various rooms and with me standing, sitting and lying down. He did brilliantly and it's really obvious that he really enjoys working and does it with a lot of enthusiasm lol

Next we went to the park where we used the whistle to "recall" - again, he immediately responded, even though he had been busy playing with his ball. We also did the "wait" where he had to sit and wait while I walked away. We gave him some time to run around before we came home and put his "uniform" on.

We walked into town and went into a couple of shops. He was being assessed on how calmly and steadily he walked, and how he behaved in the shops. He's very good and if I stop to look at something he will sit and wait patiently :)

Our last thing was that Dee checked him over, his eyes, ears, mouth and the condition of his coat. Then we went over his medical record, making sure his worming, flea treatments, booster were all up to date, and also that he was a healthy weight.

With all that done Dee informed me that she was very happy to pass Rory as a newly qualified Hearing Dog. He seemed chuffed too and his tail was wagging furiously as we congratulated him lol

At the moment his lead has a sleeve on it that says Hearing Dog in Training, so we will get a new sleeve for the lead. We will also get an ID card with both our photos on it, and a card from Environmental Health stating that as a Hearing Dog Rory is entitled access into food establishments.

It was a good day, a little tiring for both of us but I'm really really pleased with him.

I had texts from his trainer and also the placement officer today to wish us well so it was nice to know people were thinking about us. :)

Unless there are any problems the next visit from Hearing Dogs will be in 6 months time. After that it will be a yearly visit. If I need any kind of help in the meantime, or a visit then I just have to call or email.