Giving Back

WE PROVIDE FIRST CLASS PET RELOCATION services, ENSURING FAMILIES STAY TOGETHER

Sky Kennels are always looking to help

At Sky Kennels Ltd, we know that we are incredibly lucky to live on such a fantastic planet and to enjoy the freedoms we do and to share our lives with our beloved pets, so wherever possible, we try to give something back!

Hearing Dogs
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Military Discounts
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Recycling
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Hearing Dogs
SEE DETAILS
Military Discounts
SEE DETAILS
Recycling
SEE DETAILS

About Hearing Dogs for Deaf People

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is a national charity which trains hearing dogs to alert deaf people to important sounds and danger signals in the home, work place and in public buildings, that they would otherwise miss.

Hearing Dogs was launched at the world famous Crufts dog show in 1982 and since then has created over 2,000 life changing partnerships between deaf people and hearing dogs across the UK. There are currently over 900 working partnerships in the country.

They train hearing dogs to alert deaf children and adults to important sounds and danger signals such as the alarm clock, door bell, telephone, a baby’s cry and the smoke alarm – providing independence, confidence and valuable companionship.

Hearing dogs alert their deaf recipients to sounds by touching them with a paw or nudging their leg with their nose to gain attention. Using a hand signal the recipient then asks the dog ‘what is it?’ and the dog leads the recipient to the source of the sound.

For danger signals such as a smoke alarm, the hearing dog will alert the recipient in the same way, but when asked ‘what is it?’ the dog will instead lie down to indicate danger and that the deaf person should evacuate the building.

Selected Breeds

The breeds they train to become hearing dogs are Labradors, Cocker Spaniels Miniature Poodles and Cockerpoos. Through many years of practice, we have discovered that these are the best breeds for the job in terms of temperament, trainability and character, they even have their own breeding scheme, whilst also adopting a handful of puppies from reputable breeders.

The training of a hearing dog takes around 18 months, consisting of initial puppy socialisation training with volunteers before moving onto sound work training; usually at one of two training centres. Once fully trained the dog is then very carefully matched to an applicant based on a number of criteria such as lifestyle, hobbies, and other needs. The recipient and hearing dog then spend a period of time training together, before qualifying as an official partnership.

Easily Recognisable

Hearing dogs are easily recognisable by their distinctive burgundy jacket and lead slips, which help to signal the recipients otherwise invisible disability, bringing increased peace of mind for the deaf person. Deafness can be an incredibly isolating and lonely disability, and a hearing dog provides life-changing independence, increased confidence, companionship and a feeling of security.

For further information, please see the website www.hearingdogs.org.uk

We are immensely proud to be sponsoring a young hearing dog called Kai who is currently undergoing his socialisation training with a volunteer family. Watch this space for updates on Kai's progress.

Military Discounts

We understand that military life can be tough. We also know that Governments don't always reward service personnel overly generously and often expect whole families to up and move at a moment's notice anywhere in the world.

So in recognition of the service and sacrifice's made by military families on all of our behalves, we will always go the extra mile for them to make sure that we keep the whole family together wherever possible, so we offer a discount to service personnel of any nationality.

Recycling

The Earth is a fragile place and we are committed to ensure that our presence here does as little to impact the future of our beautiful planet as possible.

With our trusted partners around the world, we operate a sky kennel recycling scheme. This not only means that there less sky kennels being made, but also reduces the number of vehicles on the road transporting them from factories etc This is clearly great for reducing pollution and congestion, but it also allows us to offer our clients the option of renting a sky kennel for their pet's journey or even a reduced purchase price for a pre-used sky kennel.