One Crookwell Lion has reached out to help the vision and hearing impaired.

Tracey Anderson is the chairperson for the Lions Hearing Dogs and is spreading the word on pound puppies that are given a new lease on life.

Regrettably, not all pound dogs are fit for the role as a hearing dog, but most are retrained and fit into their new lifestyles with ease.

Lions Hearing Dogs is an organisation that provides hearing dogs and training in their use to hearing impaired people throughout Australia.

Dogs and follow-up support are provided free of charge.

“The organisation has supplied nearly 5000 dogs Australia-wide since 1982,” Ms Anderson said.

“The majority of the funding comes from Australian Lions clubs which, together with other donations and sponsorship, makes it possible to produce highly trained and effective hearing dogs.”

Lions hearing dogs have transformed the lives of hundreds of Australians.

Hearing dogs alert their owners to sounds in the home by touching the owner with a paw: sounds such as a door knock, a baby crying, or the telephone ringing.

Most importantly, hearing dogs can alert their owners to life-saving sounds such as smoke alarms.

The dogs not only offer safety, security and independence for the hearing impaired at home, they also give many the confidence to participate more fully in their community.

Hearing dogs are not just working dogs; they offer years of faithful and friendly companionship. They are very special, indeed.

The dogs are selected from animal shelters and rescue organisations Australia-wide.

The dogs need to be happy with a friendly nature and, of course, have good hearing. They must be between six months and three years old, and training takes 6-8 months.

The dogs are taught to identify up to nine different sounds. Each dog’s training costs $30,000.

If you wish to donate to a ‘pound puppies’ training, get in touch with Tracey and the Lions Club.