JoAnn, who lives in Anacortes, WA has been hearing impaired since birth and needs a service dog to alert her to possible dangers. Four years after applying to Summit for a hearing dog, she received Wiley, a wonderful mixed-breed dog rescued from a shelter. He lets her know if the doorbell or phone rings and more importantly, a smoke alarm sounds. One time he had the opportunity to alert to an actual emergency when he smelled smoke creeping under their apartment door. Luckily JoAnn had practiced regularly with Wiley to go to the end of the corridor to take the stairs rather than the elevator. That’s exactly what he did as he led her down the stairs to safety. He got plenty of hugging and reinforcing for that!
