Norman is both deaf and blind. He relies only on smell and touch to know what is in front of him.
But that's enough for him to live a happy life.
He doesn't take commands from a voice or gestures - he can't hear or see anything - but when his owner, Michelle Coffill, wants to cross a road, for example, or alert him to an obstacle, she touches different parts of his body - and, lo and behold, he stops for traffic or he starts feeling his way with his paws.
He "scent maps", finding his way around a place by learning the smells.
His owner has now become Michelle Coffill OAM, honoured for her work with "Hear No Evil - Australian Deaf Dog Rescue", and for her public service at the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal.
"I'm absolutely blown away. I love being a public servant. And with the dog rescue, I've just been following my passion," she said.
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Norman was blind and deaf at birth. It was a genetic thing - if two canine parents have very dappled coats, the chances of them producing a deaf or blind dog are heightened. It's called a double merle condition, merle being the name for the dappled coat.
One of Norman's eyes remains but he can't see through it. The other was removed. "He was quite content post-surgery to just keep living life," Michelle said.
After all, Norman doesn't know he's disabled. He has never known a sighted world, with sounds. He lives with four other disabled dogs.
His sense of smell, though, is wonderful (though it does get confused in wind where the smells get mixed in the turbulence).
And he has a sense of taste - roast chicken is good.
The mongrel English mastiff was rescued six years ago as an eight-week-old puppy from a pound for stray dogs in Rockhampton on the day he was due to be put down.
Since then, he hasn't looked back (as it were).
"He's just happy dog and we hope to have many more years with him."
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