THEY say dogs are a man’s best friend, and that is certainly the case for a hearing-impaired volunteer at Dogs Trust Evesham who has formed a bond with Lollie, a deaf Crossbreed.

Phoebe Curtis, 18, from Stratford-Upon-Avon became a volunteer at the Wickhamford-based rehoming centre in July and has struck a friendship with Lollie.

Ms Curtis was using sign-language to communicate with Lollie and she’s built up quite the repertoire of signals now.

She said: "I absolutely adore Lollie. When I found out there was a deaf dog at the centre, I just knew that I had to meet her.

"Lollie already knew some hand signals so I started to spend time with her and almost instantly felt that we had a connection.

"She is the most loving dog ever and adores human company.

"The methods used to communicate with dogs, are the same for humans so it is perfectly possible to bond with a deaf dog and train them to respond to lots of different commands.

“She reminds me a bit of me in the fact that she hasn’t let a hearing impairment hold her back.

"She gives the best cuddles and will make a wonderful pet for someone. I hope she find a new family soon with someone who can give her the home she deserves.”

Chris Slight, Dogs Trust Evesham Rehoming Centre manager said: "When Lollie came into us, we were so worried that she'd be overlooked because of her deafness as sometimes people feel they wouldn’t be able to cope with a dog like Lollie.

"But deaf dogs can have a perfectly normal life and can be trained fairly easily using hand signals and positive, reward-based techniques.

“Despite never being able to hear someone call her a good girl, her lack of hearing hasn’t held her back and Phoebe has proved that dogs like Lollie are able to develop special bonds with people."

The team at Dogs Trust Evesham say Lollie would be best suited to a home without children or other animals as understandably she doesn’t like to be approached unexpectedly, but she loves to have cuddles with canine carers at the centre.

Ideally her new family would live in a quiet, rural location with a large garden and experience of, or have researched training, a deaf dog.

To give Lollie a loving home, contact Dogs Trust Evesham on 0300 303 0292 or drop into the centre on Pitchers Hill, Wickhamford, Evesham, WR11 7RT.