HEARING DOG PIN-UP NO. 9: BOLT

About Bolt

Bolt is a six-year-old blue roan and tan Cocker Spaniel. He was born in March 2018, and has two brothers. Bolt successfully qualified as a hearing dog and went to live with his deaf partner, Declan, in 2020.

Courtesy of Declan
“We’re in awe of him [Bolt] on an almost daily basis. Just when you think he can’t get any cleverer, he does!” says Bolt’s deaf partner, Declan.

About Bolt (from his volunteer dog trainer, Ian)

” At home with us Bolt was our own superhero; independent, single-minded, affectionate, cheeky and a real puppy at heart. He was great fun to be around and although very laid back, a real character.

In the morning when the alarm went off, he would come and say hello, then race downstairs, eager to go outside, catapulting himself into the garden to investigate any overnight visitors.

Bolt was very vocal and he’d talk to you. In particular, he would often make funny noises when he was having a good scratch. If you were too slow in getting out of the house for a walk, he would give you a definite ‘I’m fed up with waiting’ look. He loved his cuddles.”

About Bolt (from his partner, Declan)

Declan lost his hearing when he was 15 after being badly beaten by a group of boys at his school. His hearing was badly affected, deteriorating steadily over the next few years.

Courtesy of Declan

He didn’t ask for help, but just got by with the little hearing that he had. It was only in his early 30s when he met his partner Jo, who recognised how serious his hearing loss was. He was referred to the hospital and was fitted with his first hearing aids.

Declan explains: “At home, the biggest impact of my hearing loss was not hearing Jo trying to get my attention, even if it was just asking if I wanted a coffee. I’m a carpenter by trade, so I was often in my workshop, but even if I was just in another room, it meant I couldn’t hear when someone needed me. If we were expecting a visitor or delivery, Jo had to stay in because I just wouldn’t hear it.”

Declan applied for a hearing dog in 2017, after Jo was diagnosed with breast cancer. As Jo explains: “I found myself in hospital repeatedly and I was so worried about Declan being in the house on his own, unable to hear the smoke alarm etc. Aside from anything else, I worried that if the worst happened, Declan would be isolated, unable to even answer the phone.” Bolt bounced into Declan’s life in January 2020.

“He has completely changed the way I live”, explained Declan.

“He proved this one night when Jo was working away in Sheffield. In the middle of the night Bolt kept nudging me. It took me a while to wake up but he was desperately trying to alert me to something. Eventually he resorted to pulling the quilt off me! When I asked him, ‘What is it?’, he dropped to the floor. It turned out to be the burglar alarm going off; luckily it was just a battery gone and no danger, but he alerted me none the less.”

Courtesy of Declan

“I don’t encourage Bolt to go in my workshop at home because it can be very loud. He usually lies on the drive in between the workshop and the house, and if someone wants me, he soon lets me know. I didn’t realise how much I’d been missing until I got him.

Before I had Bolt, I wouldn’t go to the supermarket alone. I had several nasty experiences where I didn’t hear people ask me to move and they’d just bump into me with their trolley or push me out of the way.”

“Now people see that Bolt is a hearing dog so they know there’s a reason I’m not responding to them. If anyone talks to me while I’m out, Bolt looks at me and if I haven’t heard them, he nudges me.”

“He’s also freed Jo up to go out and do things with friends. Before we had Bolt, she wouldn’t go to the theatre because she said she felt sad that it was something I couldn’t do. Now she doesn’t feel as though she’s leaving me on my own because I have Bolt.

The joy that he brings is off the scale. He’s such good company and is so loving. Jo, Bolt and I are a little family together. He’s filled a gap that I honestly didn’t realise was there.”

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