For eight years, Haley’s Angel was Charlene MacKenzie’s shadow. Everywhere MacKenzie went, the poodle mix was just a step away.
Haley was a hearing dog and constant companion for MacKenzie, who lost most of her hearing at age 20 as a side effect of a tuberculosis treatment. Haley would alert Mac- Kenzie to sounds — alarms, the phone, tea kettles, timers and the door — by jumping on her and taking her to the source of the sound. She once even alerted her that her granddaughter was having a seizure in her sleep in another room.
“She was so unbelievably helpful, loyal and caring,” said MacKenzie, a Bellingham resident.
Last fall, Haley was diagnosed with cancer, and on Oct. 15, 2006, the dog MacKenzie called her soulmate died. The living lifeline she had to the world was severed.
“It was hard,” she said. “I kept looking backward (at) how things were. I just mourned for the life that I had that was so warm and fuzzy. When she was gone I realized how much more I missed her and how good I had it.”
A NEW COMPANION
After eight years of steady companionship, MacKenzie had to apply for another service dog. About a week before the anniversary of Haley’s death, she got Lola, a hearing dog from the Oregon-based nonprofit Dogs for the Deaf.
“I had mixed emotions,” she said. “I was excited but I was afraid. But as it turns out, I’ve gotten two awesome service dogs. … My heart is plenty big enough to have a new dog and still cherish the memories that I had.”
Lola is a scruffy little Cairn terrier mix, with a small sprout of prickly hair on her neck that makes MacKenzie say she’s part porcupine. She’s young, affectionate and energetic, and during what could have been a melancholy time, she managed to make MacKenzie smile.
“I kind of forgot how to laugh because the hurt was so deep,” she said. “But this one is so spunky, she just makes me laugh.”
A LOVELY EXCHANGE
The connection between Lola and MacKenzie was instant, said Emily Minah, a hearing dog trainer from Dogs for the Deaf.
“The trainers here, we often talk about how dogs seem to know if it’s their permanent place,” she said. “It just seemed like Lola knew, ‘OK, this is my person.’ She just took to her right away.”
Dogs for the Deaf visits shelters throughout the West Coast, and workers adopt dogs they think would be suitable for training to aid the deaf, senior citizens and specialneeds clients. The costs are funded by donations, as well as each person’s nonrefundable application fee and a refundable good-faith deposit that is returned after an applicant’s first year with a service dog. The current cost for both fees is less than $200. Minah estimates the organization places about 30 dogs a year in new homes.
“It’s a neat exchange,” MacKenzie said. “She’s given a new lease on life because she’s rescued from an animal shelter. And then she gives me a new lease on life because my independence is tied into the support a hearing dog gives me. I maintain my independence by my dependence on Lola.”
Though she retired from her job as the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance coordinator at the California Department of Transportation in 2000, MacKenzie still actively advocates for communication access for people with hearing loss throughout the community, the state and occasionally the nation. She’s the president-elect of the Hearing Loss Association of America’s Whatcom County chapter, which she helped found three years ago, and she’s on the board of trustees for the Hearing Loss Association of Washington.
“That’s something I kind of ran out of energy for. I guess I lost the balance in my life without the support of a service dog,” she said. “My energy and my zest for life has returned to the level I had when I had Haley. I’m not sure I’m there yet, but it’s coming.”
MacKenzie still speaks clearly because she lost her hearing as an adult. Without a service dog, strangers would be unaware that she has hearing loss, a condition Minah said is often referred to as an invisible disability.
“Because I speak, people never question that I don’t hear. Lola is like a reminder,” MacKenzie said. “With her wearing the orange vest, she’s a reminder to people so they know I don’t hear.”
When MacKenzie is out, her service dog garners quite a bit of attention. At her old job, people would constantly come by to visit Haley. Though MacKenzie says she used to be shy, Haley helped give her the confidence to put herself out there.
“You talk to people you never expected to talk to,” she said. “Hearing-loss dogs are like socializing dogs. They keep the person with hearing loss more involved in the world. When you have a hearing loss you withdraw and tend to isolate yourself.”
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
On an icy day in late November, MacKenzie writes out the last of her Christmas cards as Lola curls up by her side. It’s a small act that feels huge to MacKenzie.
“Last year I didn’t send Christmas cards out because I was grieving so deeply for Haley,” she said. “This year, I’m making up for lost time. I’m sending out (cards) with a lovely picture of Lola. I’ve kept the mailman busy.”