Here we are in May and I’m not sure where the first half of this year has gone! We have already kicked many of our goals we set out to achieve this year and you can just feel the momentum in our Training Centre moving at an incredible pace. 

As I’m writing this, our second Diabetic Alert Dog, ‘Faye’, is being delivered to her new recipient. After the success of our first Diabetic Alert Dog ‘Sal’, we are excited to see how the program continues to unfold and help the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes. Keep an eye on our social media for updates on Faye’s delivery and journey.

Last month we celebrated National Hearing Dog Day for the second year, and seeing our community of recipients and supporters come together to spread the word of Hearing Dogs was moving. With 680 Hearing Assistance Dogs delivered in 41 years, there’s no shortage of milestones to celebrate here at ALHD. I’m proud of our hard-working team that has made this happen.

Our annual Open Day went off with flying colours, with hundreds coming through the gates and the rainclouds holding off (mostly) for our many guests. We hosted Hearing Dog and Medical Alert Dog demonstrations, talks, cheque presentations, and gave out four well-deserved Bill Holmes awards.

For those that remember pup ‘Frodo’ that my family cared for in puppyhood, he has now come into training and is making great progress in his sound training already! Though we miss him greatly, seeing him in training and strutting around the Training Centre with his new friends makes me proud to have experienced being a foster carer. The brief heartache of handing him back over to ALHD will be resolved when I know he’s changing the life of a person who is deaf or hard of hearing.