By Mike Branch -
As an infant, Courtney experienced numerous ear infections and lost most of her hearing at a very early age.
Today, babies are tested for hearing in the first few months of life, but when Courtney was a baby, that wasn’t the case. Her hearing loss wasn’t fully discovered until she started school. As she grew older, it became more difficult for her to participate in class and engage with others.
Fast forward to today. Courtney is a Registered Nurse living near Madison, WI. She works with patients, doctors, and others in a professional setting. Outside of work, she loves to be outside and active in her community. Her hearing impairment doesn’t prevent her from doing her job or other activities, but people don’t always understand her hearing impairment and how it affects things.
Public places like restaurants, the gym, retail stores, and other places that may have higher levels of ambient noise can make it especially difficult for Courtney to hear properly. People sometimes get frustrated when Courtney doesn’t hear them right away.
Courtney uses a Bluetooth-compatible hearing aid that allows her to talk on the phone and use the audio functions of her phone more clearly. For everything else, she has Lark.
Lark is a Can Do Canines Hearing Assist Dog specially trained to alert Courtney to sounds she can’t hear. Prior to having Lark, Courtney would explain to people her hearing impairment, and they would make adjustments like facing her when they talked to her or not trying to talk to her from across the room.
But not all sounds are in the form of words or speech.
Courtney lives alone and can’t always hear someone knocking on the door or a smoke alarm that goes off in the night. Lark alerts her to these and other sounds by giving her a gentle nudge. Lark also alerts Courtney when someone says her name and leads her to the source of the sound.
Initially, Courtney spent a week at Can Do Canines getting familiar with Lark and learning how to use various commands. She was a little nervous because Lark, a black Lab, had been so well trained, and Courtney didn’t have any previous experience training dogs before. She says, “It’s definitely been a process, but it’s gotten better as I have become more confident about her training.” The most challenging part is learning to read Lark’s cues and recognizing that Lark is still a dog and she sometimes needs a break.
Lark was a very good dog right from the beginning. Courtney and Lark bonded quickly, and Courtney soon learned that she needn’t worry. “Lark loves to work, and she is a sweet and very happy dog. Her tail is always wagging,” Courtney says. Lark especially loves belly rubs and rolling around in the snow.
Having Lark by her side gives Courtney greater peace of mind. Daily activities like going to Target or just being out in public are easier knowing that Lark is there to alert her when someone calls her name or comes up from behind her or other sounds occur that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Courtney appreciates all the work that Can Do Canines and its volunteers do. She wants everyone to know that she is very grateful for the help that Lark gives her and that everyone at Can Do Canines has been “very helpful and super generous.”
Thank you to all those who made this partnership possible:
Whelping Home — Sheryll Fonseth-Lais
Raisers — The Flor Family, Villafanan Family
Special Thanks — Jackson Correctional Institution
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