Nigel is on the Clock for Beth

“I basically woke up one day and couldn’t hear,” says Beth, who experienced sudden hearing loss in her 30's. “I actually worked at a doctor’s office at that point and had somebody check my ears. Unfortunately, it was an OB/GYN office, and nobody there knew how to diagnose and treat it. If it had been caught quickly, she might have regained her hearing, “but I didn’t know that and no one I worked with knew that apparently.” 

In the approximately 20 years since then, Beth has also developed a hereditary, progressive hearing loss. “Without my hearing aids, there’s very little I can hear. I read lips really well. It’s something that I just developed out of necessity.” Yet, it became obvious a couple of years ago that there was still a lot of necessary noise she was missing in life, and she asked herself, “How am I going to navigate the rest of my life without being able to hear?”

Thankfully, she discovered Can Do Canines and applied for a dog. Though she has had dogs throughout her life, she says of expecting an assistance dog, “Until you experience it, you’re not really sure how to envision it.”

Soon her sights were set on a wiggly yellow Lab named Nigel. Nigel was trained to alert Beth to a door knock, a fire alarm, dropped objects, the phone, timers, and Beth’s name being called. Beth quickly realized various benefits, saying, “It’s really nice not to have to drag the oven timer with me everywhere I go throughout the house and outside.” 

An energy auditor by profession, Beth occasionally has to travel for work and stay in hotel rooms. She explains, “I have an alarm clock at home that has a radio on it and that is something I can hear,” (she can no longer hear high-pitched beeps), “but I have to turn it up to like rock concert levels, so [when traveling], I’m always afraid of it going off and disturbing the people in the rooms next to me.” Now she simply has to have her phone and Nigel, who can hear the phone alarm and wake Beth. “I personally prefer waking up in the morning to nudges from Nigel.” Someone shares her sentiment, as Beth explains of retiring her rock-music alarm, “My significant other really appreciates it because it scares the living daylights out of him in the morning.”

Considering other advantages, Beth plainly shares, “It’s really nice to not have to worry about dying in a house fire.” She explains, “I had a smoke alarm with a remote wireless bed shaker for hearing impaired. And then my bed shaker overheated, and I pulled it out and it was so hot you could hardly touch it. And I’m thinking, ‘Well, this defeats the purpose!’”

Much of Nigel’s purpose is bringing peace of mind to Beth. She mentions now having “reassurance that I’m going to catch more of what I need to. I may not hear everything that is said to me, but at least now, if I drop my keys in the parking lot,” [he’s there to help].

She credits Can Do Canines volunteers who give so much to the program, saying, “That’s a big commitment. You know, these dogs have an important job and they have to be well cared for.” Additionally, she is stunned by the low financial barrier to receiving a Can Do Canine. “It’s just amazing to me that these dogs are supplied for a $50 application fee, with everything that goes into it. That’s a huge thing.” 

What’s even more huge? The sense of security Nigel has awakened in Beth’s life.

 

Thank you to all those who made this partnership possible:

Whelping Home — Diana Adamson & Paul Oberhaus
Raisers — Erin O’Brien
Special Thanks — Jackson Correctional Institution, University of Minnesota FETCH Program (Shannon Shea, Jessica Zhang)