Hear, hear!

Liu communicates with Pan in sign language.[Photo provided to China Daily]

According to the club, there are more than 230,000 people with hearing loss in Beijing. The country has just a few hearing dogs like Pan, including those donated by the Samsung Group in 2008.

Liu says, thanks to Pan, life is more convenient than before. For example, she doesn't need to constantly check whether water is boiled or worry about her alarm clock.

Pan alerts Liu by throwing itself onto her or patting her when it hears voices, such as a time-meter or water leaking.

Liu says it's important to continue training Pan for about 10 minutes a day, so Pan won't forget its duties.

She lives alone but says if she lived with her family and they took care of her, Pan would lose its skills and become an ordinary pet.

"With Pan, I'm more confident. I used to communicate with colleagues by writing, but now I often open my mouth to talk to them," says Liu, who has mastered lip reading.

As one of 10 volunteers, she's eager to train a hearing dog to help more people like herself.

Zhen Pengpeng, who works in Beijing's IT industry, has been calling on people to adopt homeless dogs for more than seven years.

"It's very difficult to do the adoption job because most people want pure breeds rather than mixed ones. If the mixed-breeds can become assistant dogs, they will surely lead a better life," says Zhen, who is a dog owner.

She says one of her best friends can neither hear nor speak, and died in an accident at the age of 15. Whenever she sees people with difficulty listening or speaking, she wants to help them because they remind her of her friend.

Zhao Puyang, 32, a finance trainer in Beijing, says: "People with hearing loss are very pure and use their eyes to learn about the world. We find it difficult to communicate with them due to the language barrier. I also want to change my career and work in the pet industry, because it's my interest and I want to serve others."

According to Sasaki, training a hearing dog is a lifetime learning process.

He says one should choose dogs that are alert to voices, reserved and friendly to people. It takes six months to a year to train a hearing dog.

He adds, homeless dogs are a severe problem across the world. At times, local authorities have to kill some of them. To train them as hearing dogs is the best way to help them be part of society.

Volunteers will soon head to the canine shelter center to choose their dogs.

According to Huang Jing'an, chief of the canine shelter and inspection center, there are more than 200 dogs at the center.

"The only way out for the dogs here is to be adopted by others. The hearing dogs program provides a new way for homeless dogs and I'm totally for it," he says, adding that the center is open on Friday for free adoption. Those with certificates from neighborhood committees to prove they can raise a dog are allowed to apply.

Problems remain though, Liu says.

Because the country usually bans pets in public, Liu says it is almost impossible to take Pan on the subway or bus.

"Taxi drivers refuse to take us," she says. "I hope one day I can take Pan out in public, rather than leaving it at home every day."

Contact the writer at xulin@chinadaily.com.cn.