Program History

IHDI began as a program developed by the Minnesota Humane Society and funded by Minnesota Lions donations. The seeds of hearing dog training were planted in 1973, when Mrs. Elva Janke contacted the Twin Cities Action News television program to attempt to find someone who could train a dog for her that could do what her dog had done for her before it passed away...alert her to the sounds around her that she could not hear.  Mrs. Ruth Deschene, then executive director of the Minnesota Humane Society, with the help of board member Dick Lambert found dog trainer Agnes McGrath and she began to train a dog.

With financial backing from the local Minnesota Lions, Agnes trained the first six hearing dogs in Minnesota. In 1976, the program was transferred to the American Humane Association and moved to Colorado. Then governor of Minnesota, Wendell Anderson, signed the "Hearing Ear Program" over in a ceremony on February 13, 1976. The governor said, "This three year program - the first of its kind in the world - has generated so much interest that the American Humane Association, located in Denver, Colorado, has agreed to establish and support a training center and to administer the program on a national basis.  Now anyone in the United States, and perhaps the world, with a hearing disability will eventually be helped through this dramatic new concept in human services." 

Under the wing of the American Humane Association, Agnes received a grant to conduct a four-year pilot study in Colorado. Martha Foss, Emlynn Wood and Sandi Sterker joined Agnes to help with this pilot study, which was completed in 1979. On May 7 of that year, the program was fledged from the American Humane Association and Hearing Dog, Inc., was formed as an independent non-profit organization. Agnes was Hearing Dog President; Martha was Vice President of Training; Sandi was trainer and Secretary; Emlynn was Accountant and Kennel Manager.

In 1986, Agnes McGrath passed away and the Board of Directors voted Martha Foss its new President and Director. After its first hearing dog placement in Canada, International was added to the organizations title.

Today, more than 1,100 animal shelter dogs have been trained by International Hearing Dog to assist individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing throughout the U.S. and Canada. The facility has expanded to include kennel space for 42 dogs, additional training areas, and offices. Because of the quality of the training program, International Hearing Dog was chosen to provide training for Japan's first Hearing Dog program, has worked with individuals from Norway and Australia to help them learn the training method.  Martha Foss's retirement from the position of executive director in 2005 brought Foss's daughter Valerie Foss-Brugger to the position, a title sheholds today. 

With a growing need for its professionally trained dogs, International Hearing Dog looks forward to the future and many more years of service to persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.