“You change lives.” That statement comes from Geralyn, thinking of the volunteers and supporters who ensure Can Do Canines can place assistance dogs with those who need them.
Geralyn is significantly hard of hearing. She says, “My hearing loss has increased over time, I used to be able to overcome the deficit in my hearing, but it is too great now to be able to do that.” She explains that she doesn’t hear the sounds that many people take for granted, like the doorbell, the phone, and a timer. “It is very stressful to be startled all the time and to be unable to hear things around you.”
Another aspect of her hearing loss is not understanding what people are saying. “I need people to look at me when speaking so I have a chance to comprehend enough sounds to make sense of speech. It's very isolating being significantly hard of hearing. I am more deaf than hearing, yet I live in the hearing world,” Geralyn emphasizes.
Wanting to change her world, she listened to a friend who mentioned Can Do Canines to her years ago. Then, in 2009, Geralyn and Hearing Assist Dog Bennie became Can Do Canines’ 284th team. Geralyn found relief and joy with Bennie, and says she was grateful for “that sense of peace within myself that I will not miss something and people will be yelling at me because I missed something.”
Geralyn and Bennie were a wonderful team for 13 years. “He was a part of me,” she says. “When he passed, returned to God, I lost a part of myself. I spent two years without a service dog and never thought I would bond with another service dog like I did with Ben.”
However, Geralyn felt herself regressing socially. “I was out in public less and lived a more solitude life full of stress.” So she applied for a successor dog, and Can Do Canines—having formed over 600 more teams since Geralyn and Bennie began together—matched her with a black Lab named Quinn. “Much to my surprise, Quinn and I have a different yet unique and amazing relationship,” Geralyn shares. Describing Quinn as “patient, loving, gentle, and fun,” she says, “She has three distinct levels of joy/happiness; the first is wagging her tail, the second is wagging her hind end, and when she is super happy, she will jump off the ground with her hind legs like a bucking bronco. It is so cute.”
Working also brings Quinn joy. Geralyn states, “She opens the refrigerator door for me, pulls my laundry basket, lets me know when someone is at the door, when my timer goes off, when I drop something. I was always hypervigilant to see what I could not hear, it was so exhausting. Now Quinn makes sure I hear what I need to so I can relax.” She goes on to say, “If I hear noises at night, which may be phantom sounds, I do not have to be frightened and look all around the house because now I know if someone comes to our home, Quinn will always let me know.”
In fact, Geralyn notes, “My favorite experience with Quinn is watching her watch me; she always has to stay in view of me and is always watching me, ready to help when needed.”
With Quinn, Geralyn reports having more joy. “I feel like I have a life again. Quinn is so happy all the time and loves to do things or just cuddle. There is nothing better than waking up to a happy, fun four-legged friend.”
To all those who were on the receiving end of Quinn’s cuddles in the past, Geralyn says, “All the love and care that was put into raising and training Quinn is a gift I receive every day as she loves me and assists me in daily life. She is amazing; my life is so much more with Quinn.”
Thank you to all those who made this partnership possible:
Whelping Home — Karin and Elroy Balgaard
Raisers — Julie O’Connor, Sarah Sjostrand, Swanstrom Family
Special Thanks — Federal Correctional Institution-Waseca, Jackson Correctional Institution
Name-A-Puppy Donor — Kathleen Rogers
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