Dog hears for teacher

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:27:00 GMT

By Amanda Finnin; Copy Editor

Harmon spends his days at PALCS, keeping all of the teachers company and alerting English Teacher Shannon Harrigan to visitors, the phone ringing, and any alarms.

Posted: 11/2/07 Pretty much everybody loves animals, and almost everybody loves dogs. In fact, most Americans have a dog in their house, or did at one point. Harrigan, who teaches American Literature and a Senior Seminar, is no different. Well, kind of. Harrigan has suffered profound hearing loss, and is nearly deaf. Fortunately, Harrigan now owns a hearing dog, a two-year-old golden retriever lab mix named Harmon. She has had him for three months so far, and already loves him and finds great use for him. “Harmon went through rigorous obedience training, and then did a few months of sound work,” said Harrigan of her dog’s training time. “Still, dogs do not generalize the sound work to your home, so you have to retrain him in this capacity. It takes many months.” Not only does Harmon have special training when it comes to noises and alerting people of these noises, but he has the normal canine instincts, which also come in as priceless tools. This is especially true for women like Harrigan, who are single mothers of small children. “Dogs have heightened senses and a greater awareness of environmental changes,” she said. “He is also very expressive. I often know if something is up from his behavior…He is also territorial. He seems to know when passersby are neighbors or friendly, or encroaching on our territory and will alert us accordingly. Thus, when some man was standing outside my window, he went into protective mode.” When Harmon is fully trained, he will be able to alert her of door knocks, alarm clocks, fire alarms, phones, kitchen timers, and requests such as “go get mommy”. Harrigan will quickly tell you how much of a difference this dog has already made in her life. With months of training and years of life left, it’s impossible to tell how much of an imprint Harmon will continue to make on Harrigan and her children. “Profound hearing loss is an invisible disability,” she said of her condition. “You wouldn't know by looking at me that I have a disability…People often think I am ignoring them when I can't hear them. Now, when I go to a shop or restaurant, people see the dog with his vest and know that the owner has a hearing loss. I'm not ignoring them. It's also a great bridge to people because hearing loss is very isolating. It's hard to connect to people. Harmon really helps in this arena. There are a lot of dog lovers out there.” She added that legally, the only place she cannot take Harmon is to the zoo – quite understandable.

The Talon

Dog hears for teacher