Mary was matched with Service Dog for Hearing Ivy in December 2021. She recently shared with us:
“And now we are starting year three…
“We’re done exercising this morning, and Ivy is sitting by my side as I write this. We practiced alerting to the fire alarm; she was perfect. You should have seen the look on Ivy’s face when we finished. Usually, she’s so serious, but she was one happy dog, smiling with eyes lit up to match.
“Ivy always takes things one level higher. Where we work at Indiana School for the Deaf supporting students to transition to college/work after high school, knocking to enter a room is not part of Deaf culture. So even though Ivy was trained to alert to a door knock, she has also learned to let me know when people enter the room by going to the door to tell me that someone is there.
“And the mailbox hinge! I know she will alert me when the doorbell rings, but when the mail carrier comes by, I see Ivy’s ears perk up at the footsteps. When she hears the hinge of the mailbox opening, she goes to the door and comes find me to let me know the mail has been delivered.
“Thanks for this gift that keeps on giving.”
