For Quota Club members who are blessed with adequate hearing, the sounds of thunder and rain during our July dinner meeting may have been something we took for granted or simply tried to ignore.

The evening’s guest presenters, who shared the story of Paragon Service Dogs and how its staff, volunteers and hearing dogs help transform the lives of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, drove home the reminder that some individuals need a hearing partner to make their lives safer and more complete.

Brianne Corbett, Paragon Service Dogs’ Director of Program Operations, and Brooke Stensby, Client Coordinator, and Fortune, a sweet, young hearing dog trainee, shared details and a demonstration of their life-changing program, which serves clients throughout 50 states.

This extraordinary organization, located in Longmont, CO, strives to empower individual clients with hearing challenges through the targeted training of specially selected puppies, careful pairing of the dogs and handlers, and consistent support of the dog and handler team for the lifetime of the match.

Expert handlers work with the dogs in a challenging and lengthy training process. Community volunteers and prison inmate handlers, through Paragon’s PAWS’Abilities program in partnership with the Wyoming Department of Corrections, take the selected puppies through socialization and foundational training, while providing their daily care during the first 10- to 12-month training period.

During an intensive six- to nine-month period, the dogs develop the specialized skills of professional service dogs. In this phase, they focus on appropriate behaviors for public places, learning specific sound alerts–such as doorbells, smoke alarms or crying babies–and task-specific behaviors.

Before clients are matched with a dog, they must complete comprehensive preparation to equip them for their role as handlers. Then, dog-and-client teams participate in an immersive training program. During this phase, focus is on developing the bond between handlers and their dogs, as well as refining skills.

After graduation from the training, handler/dog teams receive lifetime support from Paragon Service Dogs, which provides its services at no cost to clients.

Hearing dog clients make a serious commitment. Potential clients complete an application, receive a reference from their hearing care provider, participate in an interview, pass a handling assessment, complete a virtual classroom course and attend a two-week onsite training program at Paragon. Following a match, Paragon conducts regular check-ins with handler/dog teams.

An Assistance Dogs International (ADI) Accredited member, Paragon Service Dogs is funded through grants, foundations and the generosity of individual and business donors. The organization invests about $20,000 into the care and training of each client and matched dog. At any given time, about 15 puppies are in training, and Paragon is in the process of matching eight to 12 clients with dogs.

To learn more about Paragon Service Dogs or to explore opportunities to volunteer, visit ParagonServiceDogs.org or contact volunteer@paragonservicedogs.org.