Canine companions are ears for hearing impaired

By COLIN HICKEY
Staff Writer

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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	Staff photo by Jeff Pouland enlarge Nona Purnell sits with her hearing service dog Gemini in the backyard of her home on McGrath Pond in Oakland on Wednesday.

OAKLAND -- Because of severe hearing loss, Nona Purnell can't rely on the sound of an alarm clock to wake her each morning.

For years she has had to depend on other people to make sure she gets up.

But no longer. Now she has Gemini.

Gemini is a hearing service dog. As soon as Purnell's alarm goes off, Gemini is on the bed, nuzzling Purnell until she is out of bed and ready to go.

"The very first thing this does is give me a level of independence I haven't had in my 41 years," Purnell said, "and that is waking up to my own alarm clock."

Dogs that serve the blind are familiar to the general public. Hearing dogs are a different matter. Yet dogs such as Gemini provide a service just as vital.

Purnell will vouch for that.

Exposed to German measles while in her mother's womb, Purnell had a hearing impairment at birth that has grown worse over the years.

Early last year, the hearing loss became so severe that she was forced to step down from her job as a surgical counselor for cataract patients at Maine Eye Care Associates in Waterville.

About the same time, Purnell applied to get a hearing dog from the National Education for Assistance Dog Services, an organization that trains service dogs for people with disabilities.

She had to wait nearly two years to get Gemini, the yellow Labrador retriever/spaniel mix that now is Purnell's four-legged shadow.

Gemini, though, has been well worth the wait, Purnell's husband, Ronald Purnell, said.

"It has really been amazing," he said. "It has been a real change in our lives -- a real positive change."

Along with independence, Gemini has provided Nona Purnell with a much greater level of security.

If a smoke alarm sounds, Gemini immediately alerts his mistress to the fact.

If the doorbell rings, Gemini springs to action just as quickly, leading Purnell to the front door.

The same goes for the phone.

For Ronald Purnell, the addition of Gemini to the family has been a great stress reliever.

"I'd have a high level of discomfort whenever I went off traveling," he said.

Once, before Gemini joined the family, Nona Purnell was preparing a luncheon at the Purnells' McGrath Pond Road home when unbeknownst to her the smoke detectors sounded.

Nona said she smelled the smoke but assumed she had burnt the lasagna she had in the oven. She didn't realize she had forgotten to open the damper on the wood stove.

"I came home and the smoke detectors were going off, and the house was filled with smoke," Ronald Purnell said.

Gemini is a highly intelligent dog and highly trained.

In fact, he is the product of more than a year of vigorous training.

The National Education for Assistance Dog Services, which has chapters in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, invests about $17,000 in each dog it trains, according to Maine puppy trainer coordinator Linda Sargent.

Sargent, who lives in Saco, said training for service dogs starts when they are about 12 weeks old and lasts 12 to 14 months.

"Puppies need to go out and go everywhere," she said, "so they can get used to being in schools and stores and at ball games."

Sargent said breeders sell or donate puppies for the program and a network of volunteers does the training. Before the dogs are paired with their master or mistress, the disabled person must spend about two weeks at the school in Princeton, Mass.

That was the case for Nona Purnell and Gemini. They established their bond in that two weeks, a bond that has grown more powerful over time.

The Purnells paid $500 of their own money for Gemini. They also had to agree to raise $6,000 through sponsorships -- the service agency takes care of the remaining costs.

Purnell, an administrator for Maine Eye Care, wrote a letter to his coworkers about the fundraising commitment, hoping to jump start the effort.

The response stunned him.

"Within 24 hours, the doctors and staff at Maine Eye Care had raised the entire amount," he said.

Gemini entered the Purnells' lives soon thereafter.

As delighted as the Purnells have been over Gemini, they are equally as impressed by the attitude of people in the community toward Gemini.

Not once, they said, has any restaurant or retailer objected to Gemini coming into the business.

"I was just really impressed," Nona Purnell said, "at how the community understood that need to have a service dog with you at all times."