Recipients & Applicants

In 1990, the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed. The summary of the law is as follows:

“The ADA guarantees a blind, deaf, or physically disabled person the legal right to be accompanied by a service animal in all areas open to the general public. Service animal means any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including but not limited to guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.” (From Assistance Dogs International, “Legal Rights of Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs and Service Dogs”; 8th edition, January 2003.)

State laws regarding Hearing Dog accessibility in public, the home, and places of employment; owners fees and licenses and training are state specific. Please email IHDI at info@hearingdog.org or call 303.287.3277 if you would like more information on your particular state.

For more information, please check on the Disability Rights Online News at http://www.ada.gov/disabilitynews.htm.

A couple days before the heavy blizzard started, the snowflakes come down hard, heavy and wet. Truman could not rest at all. He continued to tug, poke, lick (not happy greeting lick types, but warning, persistent licks), and push my hand up with his nose many times. Truman also got up with two front paws on me to interrupt whatever I was doing. He gave me the "stare" which tells me he means business. I responded every time with no luck.

There was no indication of any warning in the house or in the air that we could see, smell, or recognize. I kept following Truman around the house, racking my mind to figure what he tried to relay to me. I know him well enough to determine that something was SERIOUSLY wrong. I only could not pinpoint what.

Carbon monoxide first came to mind and I climbed up to check the alarms to see if they had been set off, they had not. I remained puzzled. The first two days, Truman wouldn’t let me relax long enough to do much around the house, let alone watch TV. I felt bad; his frustration with his attempted communication bothered him. I hugged him often and told him that I was trying very hard to understand. I got nervous so I continued to open the door a little bit, just in case. I followed my instincts along with Truman's.

The Minnesota blizzard continued to slam our area so hard that we couldn’t see more than a foot ahead in a complete white out scenario. Truman increasingly became more agitated. I pleaded with him to show me where or what. Truman shook his fur and marched proudly (he always does that when he prepares himself to lead the way) and I followed him.

The smell of the gas vapors hit me like a wall. It reeked so strongly that I was immediately lightheaded. I yanked the door open to let the fresh air in, despite freezing temperatures.

Once my head cleared, I ran upstairs to get the owner of the house from whom we rent the lower level and explain the situation.

The owner came down and we nearly got knocked down by the powerful smell that came from the lower part of the house. We turned off all the electricity in order to prevent an explosion. The owner immediately called the gas company to come due to the urgent situation. Thankfully, the gas company van managed to show up in the horrific blizzard and the man used a machine to locate the leak.

The gas man had trouble finding a leak. Truman would not let go and I became agitated with how “humans” give up. The gas man left and I insisted on calling him back. I put my foot down in what Truman told me. The gas man was skeptic, thinking maybe it was temporary or minor and needed to air out. When the doors closed again, the smell built right back, quicker than before.

When I became dizzy in one of the rooms, the gas man walked in and he saw that there was a problem. He finally took it seriously when I got wobbly as I sat down, coughing. Finally, we pinpointed the reason for the leak. The blizzard snow piled up so quickly that it blocked the two pipes that expel the vapors.

We completely forgot to check. When storms like this happen it is a rule of the thumb to clear them in Minnesota if the snow piles too high. Truman sensed the slightest smell as it piled slowly up and blocked the pipes over the span of two days. Fortunately, I opened the door often to let fresh air just in case.

With the snow blocking the pipes, the vapors instead came back and flooded the house with gas vapors and carbon monoxide. In the midst of locating the leak, I nearly passed out from them. We had all the doors opened and the was house freezing, but it cleared all of our heads.

We shoveled out the pipes and the leak was no longer a problem. They expelled outside, just the way they are designed to do. After we got rid of everything in the house, we closed the doors and waited to be sure the problems were solved. They were. Ironically, the next day, the news warned everyone to be sure to clear the snow from the pipes.

It is scary to realize that we could have died if it hadn’t been for Truman. I have hugged Truman so many times, thanking him.

Too often, people would retire dogs after 8 years only to replace them with a younger dog. I am glad I am not one of those people. I have an intense bond with Truman, because he has done so much for me and vice versa. He simply refuses to retire so I tell him that he is semi-retired which he is content with.

Shocking part is that several carbon monoxide alarms of several brands, all new, FAILED to do their jobs.The gas company man credits Truman with saving everyone's lives with his persistent attention to the problem when it appeared to be a false alarm.

Please acknowledge everyone in your agency that you all, past and present employees, have done a remarkable job in training the dogs like Truman. I know that God or someone up there has put Truman in my life to watch over me. Simple as that.

I do not know how to repay Truman, but hopefully, my love, attention, affection, treats, and rides in vehicles will cover it. He is not going anywhere for the rest of his natural life. I will be with him to the last day of his life and it will be such an honor when the time comes. Hopefully, not for many more years. With his limitations, along with his minor cataracts in his eyes, he continues to prove me time after time that a service dog goes beyond his duties.

Please know that I truly appreciate your time, your patience, your dedication, and determination to rescue dogs, giving them their lives back to help people like us. Everything the IHDI team does for a dog, the dog gives back in leaps and bounds we could never imagine. I hope people who have service dogs truly appreciate the dogs that have been trained to help and to make their lives easier. Truman has.

I love Truman more than I could ever express in words. I am proud to tell everyone who would listen to me that he comes from your program. Someone asks me whether I would get another dog from your program years later down the road after Truman. I tell them often without any hesitation, "Definitely. It is never a question whether I should or should not."

-April Crompton, Recipient

Semi-Retired Hearing Dog Saves Lives

Hearing Dog, Truman