DEL MAR: A dog lends his ears to a girl who can use them

By PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer | Friday, November 21, 2008 10:11 PM PST ∞

DEL MAR ---- Imagine having the hearing of a dog. In some small way, that is what it has been like for Megan Hogan since her new companion, Prince, came to stay.

Hogan, 17, is 100 percent deaf, but can hear some sounds with the help of a cochlear implant. It's the background sounds ---- a knock at the door, a fire alarm, her name called from across a busy room ---- that escape her, and that's where Prince, a specially trained golden retriever ---- Labrador mix, is proving very useful.

"He's a miracle," Hogan said, reaching down to scratch her new companion behind the ears.

The pair made their first appearance Friday morning at The Winston School, where Hogan is a senior this year. All 100 of the school's students turned out to listen to trainer Kim Meinhardt, of the Malibu-based Sam Simon Foundation, explain why one of their own will soon be bringing a canine companion to class.

Meinhardt asked students to give the pair a little space to get to know each other.

"Kind of let Megan and Prince build their bond," he said. "Friendships build over time."

Like the more common seeing-eye dogs, hearing dogs are trained to help their companions navigate the human world. They are trained to give a signal, a paw on the leg or a tug toward the noise, when they hear a range of sounds. The foundation, one of several in the United States that trains and places hearing dogs, trained Prince to recognize oven timers, ringing telephones, door knocks, smoke alarms and alarm clocks.

Hogan, who welcomed Prince into her family's Rancho Santa Fe home Tuesday, said the first time the dog notified her of a knock at the door was amazing. She added that she is spending fewer nights camped on a couch in her mother's bedroom because Prince can let her know if something is up.

"I sleep better at night already," she said.

Suzanne Hogan, Megan's mother, said it has been a revelation to see her daughter begin to work with Prince. She said her daughter has spent her whole life scanning rooms constantly, looking for clues that can compensate for not hearing.

"People will get mad at her if she's not responding," she said. "There have been plenty of times for Megan where the world isn't really kind. It's a really exhausting disability."

She said she has already begun to notice her daughter making better connections with the surrounding world with subtle nudges from Prince.

"This kind of pulls the world closer to her and her closer to the world," Suzanne Hogan said.

As a senior at Winston, Megan Hogan is looking for a college to attend in the fall of 2009. She plans to take Prince with her to school whether it is in California or Washington, D.C.

"Now I don't have to rely so much on other people," Hogan said. "I can start relying more on me and him."

Trainer Meinhardt said it takes a special kind of dog, one that is comfortable in large crowds of people, and one that is ever vigilant, to make a good hearing dog. He said only about one in four dogs adopted from California animal shelters makes the cut. Those that don't are made available to good families for adoption.

More information on the Sam Simon Foundation can be found at samsimonfoundation.com or by calling (310) 457-5898.

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.