If guide dogs for the blind are their eyes, then signal dogs for the hearing impaired can be said to be their ears. A healthy person does not even realize how treacherous this type of disability is: you can easily recognize a blind person by their white cane, a physically disabled person by their wheelchair or crutches, but hearing impairment is not visible at first glance. Leaving aside the fact that being labeled as hearing impaired carries a certain stigma for a person with hearing impairment, they are still not visible, for example, on the road, are not seen by tram or ambulance drivers, are not noticed by passersby, cyclists, etc. A person with a severe hearing impairment does not know that someone is honking, ringing, knocking or calling them. Most of the time, the public does not even realize that the person is not responding because they have this handicap. Often not because they do not want help, but simply because the deaf are generally not talked about much, they are not distinguishable at first glance from “healthy” people and, last but not least, because in today’s busy world there is no time and space to pay more attention to their surroundings. There are still many things that we perceive with our hearing. A healthy person hears that the washing machine has stopped, that the kettle has finished boiling or that the toilet is running. If there is a small child in the family of a hearing-impaired person, the deaf parent cannot respond so well to the child’s needs, does not hear the child’s crying in the middle of the night and does not know that something unusual is happening in the child’s room. Let us therefore try to imagine that orientation in a world of silence can have its pitfalls and that these people need help. A signal dog can also be such a help.

A specially trained signal dog for the deaf can “tell” its owner that someone is calling, ringing the bell, an SMS or fax message has arrived, the washing machine has stopped working, the water in the bathroom is overflowing, a child is crying, someone is knocking on the door or window, the kettle has finished boiling, the microwave has turned off, a car or tram is moving or honking, etc. A signal dog can also bring its owner what it drops, because a deaf person often does not notice that something has dropped.

A signal dog is prepared for a specific applicant, exactly according to his needs, possibilities, abilities, requirements, ability to give commands – pronunciation and articulation of commands, his activities and way of life. If the affected person is deaf and mute, then the dog obeys its owner only with the help of a clicker, a vibrating collar and sign commands.