Seizure alert dog info

[Guest guest]

Here is some info I just copied and pasted from a previous file of Dina's.

Many places tell you the

seizure dogs are " free " but they have a 5 year waiting period.

Sorry this is so long...... Our dog has public access rights, which

means he can go into resturants and hospitals...just like a seeing

eye dog. He is covered under federal law.

Below is an excerpt I pasted...Please read it all to understand.

There are 3 types of seizure dogs:

Seizure support -is for emotional support and comfort in daily life

Seizure Response- is what the dog does DURING a seizure...(ours is

in training to bark, so Sydney can be out of my sight to play in her

room)

Seizure Alert -is what the dog does BEFORE a seizure to warn you

it's coming

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Meeting the needs of children and adults with seizures means

training a dog that is unique in what they do for each individual.

People who have seizures vary greatly in their needs and what we as

a service dog provider can supply varies as well.

Seizure Support Dogs, often have no advanced skills and are most

often placed with children, while the skills they have are not

advanced their impact on the lives of the children they are placed

with is miraculous.

The seizure Assistance dog provides emotional support, and physical

help to a person who has a seizure disorder.

The Seizure Response Dog is actually trained to respond to a

seizure when it occurs.

SEIZURE SUPPORT DOGS

Most of the calls 4 Paws take on a daily basis, in regards to

Seizure Assistance Dogs are from the parents of children who have

seizures. This has led us to develop a program geared toward the

placement of dogs trained to provide a level of emotional support

above and beyond what could be achieved with the addition of a

family pet. Children with seizures often face many medical

appointments and therapy sessions, and hospitalizations. The seizure

Support Dog can visit them in their hospital rooms, accompany them

to medical appointments or therapy sessions. The dog provides a

measure of comfort for the child, can provide a distraction during

unpleasant medical procedures, such as blood tests, and when the

child has therapy, the dog can be used during the therapy session by

the therapist to enlist the child's participation. While children

are not mature enough to participate in the intensive training

process needed for the successful placement of the Seizure Response

Dog, the benefits of having a dog as a companion and friend are

priceless. In addition, a child with seizures may be afraid of being

alone, sleeping in their own bed, and engaging in activities because

they might `have a seizure'. In these instances a dog can give the

child a little courage while maintaining their independence. No, the

child is not doing it alone, they have their four-footed buddy to

share in their life win's but that's okay; the child and their

service dog are a team, what they achieve together the child

achieved without the help of an adult just as their peers did.

In addition to providing emotional support in the various medical

environments, the Seizure Support Dog can bring with them the

miracles that arise with every service dog provided to children with

any disability. Sometimes the child who has extensive seizures must

wear a helmet to protect them from falls when playing on the

playground or they may have had a seizure while playing with the

neighborhood kids or during recess at school.

These events could, and often do, lead to isolation as the children

who lack understanding of the child's `difference' from them often

avoid the child who experiences seizures. Even children that do have

friends as young children may find themselves left behind by their

peers as they get older if the seizures limit their activities or

result in cognitive delays. However, there are few children that

don't like dogs and the miracles that occur when a child with

disabilities enters the playground with their service dog is

amazing. The service dog breaks the ice, the children will come to

pet the dog and in doing so there is an opportunity to get to know

the child and understand their disability rather than avoiding them.

The seizure Support Dog is not trained to respond to seizure

activity. During the training and placement process the 4 Paws

trainer will instruct the parents in ways they can behave and work

with the dog to try and elicit a responsive behavior from the dog,

however, there is no guarantee that this would ever occur. Some of

our parents have reported that their child has fewer seizures since

the dog entered their home. This is believed to be the result of a

reduction in the stress level the child has through the comfort they

find in their new companions. Other parents have reported that the

dog becomes stressed, wines, or barks when their child has seizures;

not something we trained the dog to do, but a response the dog makes

on their own. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict which dogs

would be more likely to develop this behavior; some dogs are just

emotionally upset by the seizure or have picked up on the parents

emotions during previous seizures and are responding to that.

SEIZURE RESPONSE DOGS

Seizure Response dogs are trained to assist their owners during

seizures. The dogs can be trained to remove the pillows and covers

from the person having the seizure. Nocturnal Seizures (a seizure

occurring while the person is in bed and/or sleeping), can result in

death if the person is suffocated by pillows and/or blankets during

the seizure activity. The dogs can also be trained to go for help

and/or lay across the person, preventing them from trying to stand

up in the confusion, which can occur after the seizure. When the

person who has experienced the seizure tries to get up while they

are still in a confused state, they can fall and injure themselves.

The Seizure Response Dog provides emotional support, and physical

help to a person who has a seizure disorder. Seizure Response Dogs

can really make a difference in the lives of people who have severe

epilepsy and/or any other seizure disorders.

The person who has seizures may not be able to live alone; a seizure

response can give them the gift of independence. Can they cure their

seizures? No, but imagine, you live alone and fear that you will

have a seizure, quit breathing, and no one will ever know. Now add a

Seizure Response Dog to this picture; the seizure occurs and the dog

runs to hit a phone (designed especially for their use) summoning

911 and quickly help is on the way. This is the miracle a dog

specially trained to respond to their partner's seizures can bring.

4 Paws For Ability, Inc., along with most trainers providing

Seizure Assistance/response dogs, believe that dogs can be trained

to assist during seizure but alerting behavior is not a trainable

skill.

SEIZURE ALERT DOG

Some people refer to dogs assisting during seizures as seizure alert

dogs. In other words, they are saying that the dog actually sense

when a seizure is about to occur and warn the person of the oncoming

seizure. It is believed that the dogs are able to smell chemical

changes in the body several minutes before the seizure occurs. Often

the dog will develop a behavioral pattern that the owner recognizes,

as alerting to a seizure is going to occur. The person can then put

themselves in a safe position before the seizure starts. Some

seizures cause the person to loose consciousness immediately and if

they are standing up they will fall to the ground. Once alerted the

person can lay down so that they are not injured during the seizure.

Unfortunately, this is not a trainable task. No one is sure just how

the dogs are able to know the seizure is coming and there is no way

to determine if a dog will develop this behavior once placed.

4 Paws For Ability, Inc., along with most trainers providing

Seizure Support and Response dogs, believe that dogs can be trained

to assist during seizure activity but alerting behavior is not a

trainable skill. We believe that some dogs will develop seizure

alerting behaviors as the bond between the owner and the dog

deepens. It is unknown why some dogs develop alerting behaviors

while others just continue with responding after the seizure begins.

We stress the fact that seizure-alerting behavior is not trainable.

Seizure alerting behavior is a naturally occurring behavior. One way

to explain how this works, is to discuss housebreaking. When a new

puppy is brought home, you can't say to the puppy, " when you have to

go outside, run in a circle three times so that I will know you need

to go. " What we do, is to watch the puppy closely, after a period of

time the person will learn to " read " the dogs nonverbal behavior

indicating the need to go outside. For instance, the owner begins to

notice that every time the puppy runs in circles, they then proceed

to `go potty'. Eventually, the owner will let the puppy outside

immediately after observing this behavior and no further accidents

occur in the home.

This is the same principle as understanding how dogs alert to

seizures. If the dog is able to make the connection between the

chemical changes he senses and the occurrence of seizures, he may

begin to act in a certain way when these changes begin. For example

they may come and stare at the owner, or they may begin barking

and/or even nipping at their owner. Eventually the person realizes

that every time their dog barks madly and nips at them they have a

seizure and they will begin to prepare themselves for the seizure

before it actually begins. We hope that in time a method of training

the behavior of alerting will be found, until that time we will

continue to train the dogs to respond to seizures and hope that as

the dog/human bond develops, the dog will also develop alerting

behaviors.