Dog l
overs have always known the endless devotion our pooches feel for us, and now there are very special dogs that can provide security and safety for the 50 million people who suffer from Epilepsy and unpredictable seizures.
A large number of seizure sufferers are unable to undertake the most common of activities like cooking dinner, showering or shopping, without supervision or paranoia of an attack.
This sort of condition and constantly supervised lifestyle can often result in a complete loss of independence and privacy, and can even be detrimental to the emotional health of a sufferer.
Dogs have been trained to assist the blind, sniff out bombs and drugs and assist the police and forces. Over the past 20 years a new brand of assistance animal has emerged; the ‘Seizure Alert Dog’ or ‘Response Dog’. These animals have the innate ability to sense when a seizure may be about the happen minutes or even hours before the seizure occurs.
This amazing ability has not been explained, some researchers believe the dog can pick up on subtle changes in the person’s behaviour leading up to an attack. Regardless, these animals have a 90% success rate of detecting impending seizures.
The response dog is trained to alert the individual of a seizure before it occurs, allowing the person to find a safe place or call for help.
Each dog is individually trained to tailor to the needs of the individual. Any dog of any size, breed or background, can be trained to be a seizure response animal, with the exception of dogs that have previously been guard dogs or dogs that have the urge to chase things.
Seizure dogs not only warn of impending attacks, they can also help and protect the person during and after an attack. Some dogs can seek help from family or surrounding people, if alone the dog will stay with the person until they regain consciousness.
In an attack called an “absence seizure”, some dogs can redirect the person so as not to run into objects, and some dogs have even been trained to call for help on special phones.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this service is that Epilepsy sufferers can get a degree of independence and confidence back in living their day to day life.
We have always known of the uncanny ability of dogs to pick up on things we never would have seen coming, and now it seems there’s even more our lovely companions have to offer us, as though their endless love and devotion wasn’t enough!
Love those dogs! I have 5 beagles myself.
I too Love Beagles I have one also they are a great breed of dog. Wonderful size not too small or too big, great temprement, smart and cute. The whole package!
I own a head halter but I haven’t used it in years. The male dog I put it on was extremely upset about it to the point of becoming frantic, I could not distract him with food, so I took it off. I guess some would say I gave in, and I would do it again. The next day he was very painful and had trouble eating. Not too much later I witnessed an obedience class being offered by a large chain pet supply store. A young German Shepherd bitch wearing a head halti was frantically throwing herself around on the floor fighting the halti and screaming. The instructer ignored her behavior, I told them to stop, that she would get hurt. I was asked to leave. I know that there are many dogs that quietly accept these halters. But they need to used with caution and there should be warnings of the possibilty of injury both mental and physical.