The Charity's dogs provide emotional support through companionship, and practical support by alerting deaf people to life-saving sounds like the smoke alarm, and important sounds such as the oven timer, baby monitor and text messages.

After around a year, the dogs go on to advanced training, in which they are taught to alert people to sounds, called 'soundwork'.

Since the merger with Hearing Link, the Charity has also been able to help people with a wider range of hearing loss, who might not want or need a dog in their lives, but who would benefit from assistive technologies, support and practical advice.

Hearing Dogs for the Deaf (as it was initially known) was officially launched at Crufts in 1982, as a three-year pilot scheme by Dr. Bruce Fogle and Lady Beatrice Wright.

In 1986 Hearing Dogs was granted full charitable status and bought its first property in Lewknor, Oxfordshire.