I'm playing in the house band at an open stage, and over the past few weeks
a fellow has shown up to play drums. The guy is blind, with a golden
Lab-mix seeing eye dog.

We've noticed, and commented, that the dog has on occasion put his front
paws over his ears while music is playing. This suggests to me that the dog
doesn't like some of the sounds he hears.

Of course the dog is trained to stay right near his human, so he tends to
lie on the floor behind the drum throne, and thus behind the kick drum. I
suspect that loyalty trumps discomfort in the dog, so he stays nearby.

What can we do for hearing protection for the dog? Has anyone any ideas?
Google wasn't much help; I figure that if there's a bunch of folks around
who could answer this peculiar question, it'd be the folks here.

FWIW, the guy is a pretty good drummer, too. He's made me realize how many
times I try to cue a drummer visually, though...

Thanks.

Dave O'Heare
oheare at magma dot ca