After a lifetime of hearing problems, Ian Brink was gradually withdrawing from the world - until Jumble came along. Nick Morrison looks at how it's not just blind people who are benefiting from four-legged assistance.

ONE of the worst things for Ian Brink about being deaf is the isolation. He has suffered from hearing problems since he was a child, and while hearing aids may overcome some of the practical difficulties, they have done little to ease his sense of not being included.

That is where Jumble has made the difference. It's not just the obvious things where she can help: alerting him to the doorbell, the telephone and the smoke alarm. It is more the reassurance her presence provides, and the route back into society she offers.

Jumble is a hearing dog, one of about 1,200 in use in Britain today. While they may be less well known than their fellow assistance animals, guide dogs for the blind, they can be equally as important in helping their owners to live as ordinary a life as possible.

"You do feel excluded. Even with the hearing aids if there is a lot of noise you can be disorientated and you don't know where it's coming from," says Ian, 56. "And at family gatherings the deaf person is the one washing the dishes.

"I don't really socialise that much and isolation is one of the big things. You just have to grin and bear it sometimes but it can get quite depressing."

Ian, from Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, had continually runny ears when he was a child, and the day after his 20th birthday he had an operation to remove part of his left eardrum, which was perforated. He later developed tinnitus in his right ear.

Astonishingly, he was originally told there was no point being fitted with hearing aids as there was nothing left for them to work with, and it was not until he was in his 40s, after he had struggled with profound deafness for more than two decades, that a specialist at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle gave them a try.

"When they first gave me a hearing aid I could hear a clock ticking. I thought that was amazing," he says.

But the hearing aids did little to end his isolation. If anything, they gave him a new anxiety. "I was at a family funeral and my brother said, 'Do you not find it degrading wearing hearing aids?'. I couldn't hear a bloody thing if I didn't have them in.

"The problem is where there is excessive noise, traffic or children or something like that, the hearing aid amplifies it. Shops were ok because they could see what I wanted but if I had to ask for directions it was difficult. Some people raise their voice and speak slowly, which doesn't help because it changes their speech pattern," he says.

Ian, twice-divorced and now living on his own, was first alerted to the existence of hearing dogs through a television programme. After researching the scheme on the Internet, he applied and was accepted following an assessment. It took about a year - including a five month wait for a 15-minute hearing test - but he was then matched with Jumble, a three-year-old crossbreed. After a week getting to know each other and checking they were compatible, Ian was allowed to bring Jumble home. He has now had her almost a year.

Her main role is around the home. If the doorbell rings, she goes to have a look to check somebody is there, then comes back, puts her paws on Ian, and takes him to the door. She follows the same procedure with the telephone, even though she never sees anybody at the end of the noise.

There's a different routine for the smoke alarm. If this goes off, it could be dangerous if Jumble took Ian towards the noise, so instead she is trained to touch him and then lie down in front of him. If any of the noises goes off in the night she jumps on the bed.

Each time she is rewarded by a treat - a dog chew, or her favourite, a piece of cheese - signalled by a squeak. This means she is not allowed squeaky toys, in case she expects a treat every time she squeaks them.

"She has given me confidence. If I haven't got my hearing aids in, if it is first thing in the morning for example, I would never hear anything, so she gives me that reassurance," he says.

This confidence is one of the main benefits for people who use hearing dogs, according to Jenny Moir, of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. The charity, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, places around 140 dogs a year, and normally has a two-year waiting list.

"They make a massive difference. The obvious one is the sound work, but it is much more than that. They bring security, confidence and independence," she says.

"If you lose your hearing you can become isolated and withdrawn, and often people aren't very tolerant of deafness. If you don't hear straight away they say it doesn't matter, but it does matter. That is when people lose their confidence because they don't want to put themselves in social situations.

"Sometimes it's as simple as someone coming up to you when you are taking the dog for a walk, and when they find out it's a hearing dog they're interested and start talking to you. It can bring you back into the world."

As well as being an ice-breaker, the dog can be a companion to its owner. "Obviously having a dog is a responsibility, but the rewards are just fantastic," she adds.

But although she may be a boon in many ways, Jumble has also presented Ian with a new set of problems. Hearing dogs come with burgundy jackets to identify them as such, but Jumble is reluctant to wear hers. To demonstrate, Ian puts the jacket on her and her head instantly goes down and she refuses to obey commands. He takes it off and she immediately perks up and does what she's told. Ian has been given special tags to attach to the lead but he is still frequently challenged about taking his dog with him.

Jumble is wormed and given flea treatment every few months, and is issued with a certificate saying she can enter establishments where food is served, but Ian still sometimes finds it easier to stay away.

"We go into shops but I'm apprehensive because people come up and say I'm not supposed to have dogs in. I've had people chasing me down the aisles in supermarkets because they assume she's a normal dog," he says.

"When I explain she's a hearing dog they say it's ok, but it means I have to keep explaining, and that can be quite uncomfortable. We go to a caf and the people there are good but sometimes the customers look at you as though you shouldn't be there. You have just got to bite your lip."

In one incident, Ian was refused entry to the Royal British Legion club in Newton Aycliffe, and told he had to leave the dog outside, although the club has now apologised and says he can take Jumble in.

The dog is also making it difficult for Ian to find work. He had to give up his previous job as a carer when a frozen shoulder meant he was unable to lift heavy weights, and some employers are reluctant to allow dogs into the workplace.

But, despite the drawbacks, they are far outweighed by the advantages of having Jumble, and not just in the exercise he gets taking her for her daily walk. "She has made a big impact on me," he says. "As soon as her lead is on she knows she is working and she behaves very well. I have to think about what I can do with her, but we go everywhere together."