The arrival of Alfie the labrador will help a Warrnambool woman regain her independence.
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Erica Smith wears hearing aids and often finds it difficult to ascertain the source of certain sounds.
She began to experience hearing loss in her 20s and started wearing hearing aids in her 30s.
Alfie, Ms Smith's second assistance dog provided by Australian Lions Hearing Dogs, can pull off some pretty impressive tricks.
One of his trainers, Laura Harris, has been working with him for about six months.
"The dogs are trained to respond to household sounds - a doorbell, a baby's cry - all sorts of sounds," she said.
"With the normal sound they run to the source of the sound and come back and touch. The bigger dogs touch with one paw and the smaller dogs with two.
"They take their owner back to the source of the sound and sit in front of it and expect a reward."
The Warrnambool Lions Club contributed $2000 to train Alfie.
Club member Maureen Capizzi said the cost to train a dog was $37,000.
She said the club had helped provide some of the funding for five hearing dogs for Warrnambool residents.
Ms Smith said she was delighted to welcome Alfie into her home.
She said she had found it difficult to retain her independence since the passing of her other hearing dog in November. "I've had a lot of anxiety not knowing what certain noises are," she said.
"With a dog you can hear those noises but if it's important he will tell me."
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