One Thing I Wish I'd Taught Hannah

Hannah in January, 2017

Hannah, nearly 13, has lost her hearing.  Most sounds escape her attention thought she will usually respond to a loud clap of the hands or the beeping of a smoke alarm.  No knocks at the door, no thunder, no sirens disturb her days nor her naps.  She lives in a silent world.

I sometimes think she misses hearing our voices.  I've always talked to Hannah to explain where we're going, what's going to happen next, who's coming over, to tell her what I'm doing, etc.  In the car I let her know when a left turn or a right turn was coming so she could adjust her balance, and she always did.  Some people think dogs don't understand but I'm certain Hannah understood a lot of what I said.   

When she first arrived as a rescue girl I taught her hand signs at the same time I taught voice commands.  It wasn't a purposeful decision, just something that seemed to add interest to her life.  She knows both the voice commands and hand signs for sit, down, stay, come, and wait.  (She's an Airedale so, of course, she's not always reliable, but she knows them and usually does as asked.)

But now that she's deaf, I realize I neglected to teach her a hand sign for Good Dog! or Good Girl!  I don't know what it would have looked like but I believe she misses hearing those exuberant words.  Even though she's deaf I still talk to her.  "What a good girl you are, Hannah!"  Or, "What a great job you just did."  She gets plenty of pets to go along with the "good girl" but I sense that she misses hearing it.  I wish I'd taught her a hand sign so she could know when we say it.  Even more I wish Hannah could still hear.

What a great, good, dear girl Hannah is!

--Hannah's mum.