3 October 2008

A Brighton dog owner has told how his pet supports him at work and gives him more confidence.

Marlow, a terrier, is a hearing dog that accompanies his owner to work every day in his role as a street cleaner.

Robert Jones received his pet from Hearing Dogs for Deaf People last August and since then the dog has been helping him at work and in his home.

The intelligent dog alerts Mr Jones to noises such as alarms and sirens, ensuring his safety while at work.

In addition, Marlow has helped his owner's confidence in communicating with people.

"Marlow has given me a lot of confidence to go out and about. I have always found it quite hard to talk to people as my lip reading is not up to much," he said.

"It is getting better and having Marlow by my side makes conversation flow more freely."

The charity has trained 1,400 pet dogs since it was launched in 1992.