Bucks charity seeks loving homes for hearing dog mums

These special dogs play a key role in creating future hearing dog partnerships for people with hearing loss. Their dogs alert them to vital sounds, such as smoke alarms, that they might otherwise miss. They also provide their partners with unconditional love, companionship and emotional support.

Fostering a hearing dog mum involves looking after one of the charity’s brood dogs on a full-time basis, helping her raise her puppies and playing a crucial role in their socialisation and early development before they go to live with one of the charity’s volunteers at the age of eight weeks.

Hearing Dogs provides all food, bedding, whelping and puppy equipment, medical expenses, treatments, grooming and insurance for the brood dog and her puppies. The charity asks fosterers to provide a safe and comfortable home where the brood dog and her puppies can thrive, as well as a secure garden for exercise and play.

Fosterers should also be prepared to dedicate some time and energy to supporting the mum’s ongoing development, including helping her maintain her training.

Very young puppies in the nest should not be left alone for long periods. They need constant supervision and care to ensure their wellbeing and development, as they are highly dependent at this stage. As they grow and become more independent, they can gradually be left for a little longer.

No prior experience is needed, and all foster carers will receive full training and support from the charity’s expert team. A dedicated Puppy Supervisor will guide you through the process, including assistance during the birth, no matter what time of day or night.

Alison Holden, one of the charity’s brood holders from Widmer End, High Wycombe, has been fostering Paige, a black Labrador, since 2019. She said: “Paige’s first litter was born in May 2022. It was a magical experience with so many special memories.

“We loved the nervous excitement of waiting to find out if she was pregnant. Then the magic of seeing the puppies being born, hearing their first cries and watching mum nurture them.

“It was very special to witness their first tentative steps and become brave enough to explore the garden, then all charge over to me when I whistled, desperate to be the first one to be picked up and cuddled!

“For the first three weeks, their mum Paige did everything. Then we learnt how to wean the pups onto solid food and encourage them to start toileting outside! The charity gave us a week-by-week explanation of how the pups develop and how we could support them. We also had regular visits from the charity’s brilliant and supportive breeding scheme team.

Victoria Leedham, Head of Volunteering for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, explained: “Fostering a hearing dog mum is a unique and incredibly rewarding experience. Our foster carers help introduce the puppies to the world around them in a safe and loving environment, teaching them to embrace new experiences and not fear them. This early socialisation is critical to their future success as hearing dogs.”

If you, or someone you know, could offer a nurturing home to a hearing dog mum and her puppies, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People would love to hear from you. It is a chance to be part of an extraordinary journey—helping raise puppies who will eventually go on to transform the lives of people with hearing loss.

To find out more about fostering or to apply, please visit www.hearingdogs.org.uk/volunteer/brood-foster/ or contact the Volunteering Team at [email protected] or call 01844 348129.