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Puppy Frank sitting on a bench at Paragon

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Fund a Future Hearing Service Dog

You can be part of the incredible journey that turns a puppy into a life-changing partner for someone who is d/Deaf. 

With a $25,000 match, your compassion goes twice as far. Plus, you’ll earn a chance to help name a puppy.

Right now, within our program, a brave puppy is taking their first steps—exploring their surroundings, listening to unfamiliar sounds, and meeting new friends. 

Each step is a character-building experience on an extraordinary journey to one day become the steady partner, the 24/7 alert system that hears what their person cannot, and the difference between uncertainty and independence for someone who is d/Deaf.

Will you make a gift today to help a puppy on their journey to become a life-changing partner? With a $25,000 matching challenge, your compassion goes twice as far. Plus, you’ll earn a chance to help name a puppy!

the journey to a life-changing partnership

Puppyhood: Laying the Foundation
Before a dog can alert to a smoke alarm at 2 a.m...before they can wake their partner when a baby cries...before they can provide confidence in a crowded airport or a quiet home…They must first learn how to be brave. 

Each puppy is carefully selected for the qualities needed for this work—courage, curiosity, resilience, and ability. From the start, they are guided through experiences designed to grow their potential. 

Over the months (12+), each puppy is:

  • Introduced to new environments
  • Exposed to hundreds of everyday sounds
  • Taught foundational obedience skills
  • Guided through problem-solving challenges
  • Encouraged to explore independently
  • Rewarded for initiative and curiosity

What we are building in puppyhood isn’t something you can see in a photograph—it’s the quiet confidence and assured independence that will one day allow a dog to change someone’s life as a service dog partner.

A hearing service dog must be self-motivated. They must notice sounds without being prompted. They must decide, on their own, to alert. They must be reliable not just in training sessions, but 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As such, raising and training for this work requires a very, very special dog. A dog who is confident, resilient, independent, and wants to work.

And developing that kind of dog does not happen by accident. It happens because someone like you believes in the journey.

Advanced Training: Shaping the Skills to Serve
As puppies grow into dogs, their training becomes more specialized. Alerts are shaped and strengthened. Distractions increase. Expectations rise.

Over the following months (6 to 9), the dogs learn to:

  • Alert to doorbells, alarms, timers, and name calls
  • Wake their partner from sleep
  • Work calmly in public spaces
  • Stay focused amid everyday distractions
  • Provide reassurance through a steady presence

Next comes team training. The moment when everything shifts. This is where a carefully raised, thoughtfully trained dog meets the person whose life will change forever.

Partnership: When Training Becomes Independence
For Tia, that moment came when she met her hearing service dog, Dancer. Before Dancer, due to Tia’s hearing loss, everyday sounds often meant uncertainty—missing a knock at the door, not alerted to an alarm, unaware of her daughter calling for her, or worrying about what may happen around her.

With Dancer at her side, that uncertainty changed. Dancer reliably alerts Tia to important sounds that may otherwise go unnoticed, giving her greater safety and independence. But the impact goes far beyond sound alerts. As Tia shared, being partnered with Dancer has brought confidence, reassurance, and freedom in daily life.

Every partnership begins the same way—with a motivated and adaptable puppy and a community that believes in the journey.

giving bonus: a chance to help name a puppy

Every donor whose gift to this campaign is received by July 15, 2026,  will be entered into a drawing for the chance to help name one of the puppies supported through this appeal—a meaningful way to celebrate the very real life-changing impact your gift will have. 

Imagine telling your friends and family: “I helped raise that dog.” “I helped change that life.” Because you did. 

A brave puppy is beginning their journey. A future partner is anxiously awaiting a hearing service dog. Won’t you give a gift that helps bring this life-changing partnership together?

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