[nagdu] In the Wee Hours of the Morning

[Marsha Drenth]

Hi Karen,
What a awesome dog you have! Thank you for sharing the story with us. It's a good example of what the proper training of a dog can do for someone who is deaf blind.
 this also sort of gets me to think, as in that because of my hearing loss, that I am deaf blind. I do not have the ability to hear fire alarms. I also at this point do not have one of those fancy alerting systems for my home. At some point I would like to get one. But my dog already Alerts to fire alarms and and some other loud noises. That I cannot hear.  your story reminds me of an incident that happened while I was at Helen Keller national Center, I was getting ready for bed, and my Pup was laying on her bed, when I was just laying down, she jumped up on the bed on top of me and would not get off. I did not have my hearing aids in. But she would not calm down. I knew that something was going on because once I opened my eyes I could see the flashing lights. I grabbed some clothes, with out thinking about the harness. And ran down the hallway. In the lobby of the residential building, we were instructed to go outside. This was during the time of the  year that there was snow on the groun. There was actually a fire as when I got into the main part of the building, I smelled a lot of smoke. It was a good thing that she got me, that she alerted me of this fire alarm. of course, if anybody knows this building, this building could never burned down. Nevertheless, she did a good job.

Marsha drenth  
email: marsha.drenth at gmail.com  
Sent with my IPhone  
Please note that this email communication has been sent using my iPhone. As such, I may have used dictation and had made attempts to mitigate errors. Please do not be hesitant to ask for clarification as necessary. 

> On Jul 14, 2014, at 7:30 PM, Karyn & Thane via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Last night or should I say early this morning, I was awoken to Thane hitting 
> his body hard against the back of his crate vibrating my bed.
> At first I thought he might still not be feeling well from the heatwave 
> effects, but he meant business and I could tell he was unsettled. He 
> immediately took me to the front door so after checking the back patio door 
> which overlooks the parking lot and ascertaining there was a big problem as 
> there were lots of flashing emergency lights out there, I harnessed him up, 
> leaving my apartment in my pjs (not even thinking about that little detail)
> The building wide fire alarm was blaring, but I was not privy to that being 
> deafblind. Thane has always been quite sound sensitive to the fire alarm 
> here, but this time, he was all business, doing what needed to be done to 
> save me.
> Once I got to my front door I smelled the smoke (still seem to have a more 
> heightened ability to use my sense of smell though) I had a really difficult 
> time getting through the two fire doors, but we did it. Once I got to the 
> outside door, a really neat gal grabbed and held it for me.
> I couldn't understand her. After I told her I was deafblind she immediately 
> began to fingerspell letting me read tactile from her (we didn't even know 
> each other before last night) She gave me really helpful information as well 
> as helping me to find one of my friends here which helped both Thane and I 
> relax.
> The sprinkler system did its jobon the fire in the unit one floor up across 
> the hall from me. The water damage is being dealt with on both the two 
> floors-- lots of work ahead, but everybody was OK.
> I am just so impressed with Thane's work. We've never had a situation where 
> I needed him more than I did while I was sleeping last night.
> Something changed in us last night. I realized just how much my wonderful 
> sidekick will do for me when danger is knocking at the door. We are both OK 
> (albeit a bit rattled from the experience)
> When the firemen were leaving the apt across the hall (lots of water damage 
> for them), I got to talk to them about safety concerns. They are entering 
> information I gave them into the 911 system so that they know to check my 
> apt for any emergencies as well as having critical information should I ever 
> need to call 911. It's something that I think is very good that I have 
> wanted to have done since I moved here. It might be something good for some 
> of you to consider as well.
> I am definitely putting together a go-bag after this experience. I want to 
> be ready to get out the door quickly while also having anything important we 
> may need in an emergency.
> The bottomline though is that I am just so proud of my little red head. 
> Thane totally ROCKED last night.
> 
> Karyn and Thane
> 
> 
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