# Service dog for Seizure disorder - 3 year old son



## mersh75 (Sep 14, 2014)

Hello all! This is my first post and I'm just trying to gather information for helping my son. 

A little back ground. My son has Dravet Syndrome which is a hard to control form of epilepsy. He is three years old and with medication we are down to mainly absent seizures, but if not taken care of can progress to grand mal seizures. The absent seizures are hard to notice unless you are right there with him all the time. It has been suggested to my wife and I to take a look at a service dog by his physician. We currently do not have a dog and would love to have one. We live in the country with plenty of room to run. We have done some research and found that the German Shepherd is by far the most suggested for seizure recognition.

Our questions are many, but we are trying to the best for our son.
Is a service dog really going to help our son?
Is he old enough for a service dog?
Is there a certain breed of Shepherd that is best for him?
Is a pup the best way to start or an older dog best for him?
Is there anyone in or near Central Indiana that would be open to meeting with us and discussing our options.

We have more questions, but we will take what we can from any and all.

We would like to thank you all for your help!


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Bump.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Hey there! I have a little bit of experience with service dogs.. not a ton, but I am very interested in this sort of thing. 

1. I'm sure a service dog would help your son out a lot if he is prone to seizures. 

2. Yes, however you will be the handler in charge of keeping dog and child safe. It isn't ok to allow your son to actually handle the dog in public, etc.

3. I would make sure you find a well bred GSD and talk to the breeder about expectations, what happens if the puppy doesn't work out, etc. 

4. Older dogs are going to have a lot higher chance of working as a service dog and not washing out. If you raise a puppy, you have no idea how it's temperament or health will turn out and the chances are not stacked in your favor for service work. Most trainers/organizations recommend older dogs with stable temperaments for this reason. 

5. I travel to the Indy area somewhat regularly and have a few contacts there, are you nearby? 

I'm wondering if you are expecting/needing a dog to alert to seizures or respond to them? They are quite different and seizure alert dogs are born, not made, in most cases.


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## mersh75 (Sep 14, 2014)

DJEtzel, thanks for your input. I think you hit what we are trying to understand for our sons needs. A seizure alert dog is what I think we are trying to figure out. Forgive our ignorance, we were thinking they were one in the same. One person that we talked to through our Dravet families warned us that claimed seizure dogs are a hoax. They claimed that the dog has to show signs that it can recognize the persons seizure activity before any training could take place. That is kind of the path we have been taking, but before we took another step I wanted to make sure we are doing the right thing and that is why I have asked for some expert help.

We are about an hour west of Indianapolis just off I74, but we can make it to Indy.

Thank You for your help!


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## brembo (Jun 30, 2009)

I can see why GSDs are recommended, they are hyper sensitive to their owners situations. I would be inclined to go after an adult/adolescent dog that shows lots of interest in your child. A puppy is a very big unknown, might not even bond with the child(unlikely, but possible) and you'd have burned time and resources on what them amounts to a pet rather than a service animal.

Please keep us informed on what you dig up/end up doing. Service dogs of this nature really intrigue me and tug at my heart strings.

*edit*

Little story here. A bit on just how perceptive these dogs can be.

I recently shifted positions at work, went from a very VERY stressful job to a more physical but less "impossible" position. A 12 hour shift that is wall to wall putting out brush fires to a more linear "get it done and don't kill/break anyone or anything" made me a much happier and sane person. My dogs picked up on it immediately, much happier to see me when I dragged butt home. I am wiped physically and mentally but not beat down mentally and my dogs could see that I was a happier person and wanted to have more interaction with me.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Sending you a PM.


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

an adult rescued dog that is already in a service dog program would be your best bet, imo


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

I don't think they are a hoax, but figuring out which dogs are capable has to be difficult, curious to know how they go about it. One of ours will alert for sure, but only for another dog about to have a seizure, nothing we trained, she just knows.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Nigel said:


> I don't think they are a hoax, but figuring out which dogs are capable has to be difficult, curious to know how they go about it. One of ours will alert for sure, but only for another dog about to have a seizure, nothing we trained, she just knows.


I could be wrong, but I don't think any reputable organization places dogs with the selling point being that they will alert to a seizure before it happens. There's no way to know that a dog will do it for every type of person, etc. Most organizations train seizure response dogs- the dogs are there to appropriately handle seizure activity. Meds, phone, help if necessary


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## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

I cannot address the seizure alert, but I can tell you about a service dog that alerts. Fiona is my service dog for fibromyalgia and spondylolisthesis. I was accepted by an organization to get a service dog, but needed to raise $24k in donations to "pay" for the dog. Through a divine appointment, I met a dog trainer who trains service dogs. He said that he needed to pick the puppy, because it had to have the right temperament. About 6 months later, he had a puppy he thought had the right temperament.

It was a crap shoot, but it has worked out awesomely. I am also diabetic, but he could not train to alert to that. However, Fiona started to notice a change in my smell. She would repeatedly sniff my behind. We did not figure out until a few weeks later, that "ok, she does it when my #s are high"

So do I think a dog can alert to seizure, yes. Fiona seems to know when I am about to have a dizzy spell. She will cross behind me, so the leash is tight across the back of my legs. She was not trained for that either. You just need to find the right dog. Start with finding a trainer in your area that can come work with you in your home.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

Cheyanna, your Fiona is an amazing dog


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## mersh75 (Sep 14, 2014)

Cheyanna, I'm happy that you have found Fiona. She sounds like she is a great help.

I wish there was a local trainer in our area, but we don't have that kind of luck. I would be willing to drive, but the distance is just how much my son can stand. We have some feelers out in Indianapolis for a possible trainer through the state police. The money is the hard part for us also. I'm by no means asking for a free dog, we are just trying to see what our options are. If I have to cash in some stocks to get my son what he needs than that is what I'll do.

If we had a dog that could at least let us know that he is seizing, than its worth it. But, that is what we are trying to understand. What kind of seizures can the dog recognize? What can/should the dog do if he does seize? Is continuous training need for the dog and my son as he grows? At my sons current age, there is not much that the dog could do to assist with a grand mal seizure. With the absent seizure, I can see were the dog could be a great help. With the absent seizures, something catches my sons eyes and he just starts staring which basically locks him up. Once he locks up you only have a few minutes to hit his VNS(vegus nerve stimulator) before the body tremors start. It would be a god send to have a dog that could activate his VNS and stop the absent from going any further.

Thank you all for your help and comments!


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

The dog senses a change in body chemistry that occurs before a seizure. I'm pretty certain most dogs can do this (their sense of smell is crazy and not 100% understood yet) but the key is a dog that is already genetically willing to alert to that. Then I'm assuming the "alert" is molded/changed to what the human wants.

So...maybe a dog's natural response is to bark at the change of chemistry/smell...well you probably don't want that and want the dog to indicate in some other way, so you change that alert.

The biggest issue is probably if a dog just doesn't care enough to alert when a change of chemistry occurs. If a dog doesn't believe (genetically/naturally) that the change is a big deal, and there's no reason to alert...you'll never teach that dog to alert because YOU can't pin point when the change in chemistry occurs and teach the dog to alert to that.

I have a feeling service organizations that train dogs for this probably have a group of dogs that they place in homes where a "trainer" has seizure issues and possibly already has a dog for this. That way, from a young age, they can see if the dog alerts to an upcoming seizure. If the dog doesn't...then it probably ends up doing some other form of service.


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

Buyer beware there are a great many scams out there and no I will not give recommendations.

Not all dogs can be trained for service work. The odds of success go up when choosing a dog with certain traits in their family lines. Even within one litter there may be one dog with potential and the others not. 

Diabetic alert dogs are trained. Diabetic response dogs are trained.

Seizure alert dogs do so naturally and then how the alerts themselves can be changed through training. Seizure response dogs are trained.


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## 1hogfan83 (Sep 27, 2014)

I myself am epileptic and experience uncontrolled seizures almost everyday. I do not believe that a dog can "sense" a seizure. I do think that a seizure response dog would be a better option. Just don't let anyone try to sell you on a dog that can "sense" seizures, especially one that has been "trained to do so." If your son loves dogs and what little boy doesn't, they could potentially grow together and maybe it would be good to go to an obedience class. Confidence is very important for young men experiencing seizures. Mine was an aussie, I still miss him. As for actually sensing a seizure, I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, you'll be more than enough in that department for now. I hope all becomes well, he will become a strong man.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

I did a home visit for rescue in a home with a teen girl with multiple disabilities, including seizures. They had purchased a dog who was clearly uncomfortable in the home and with the daughter. The dog tried to stay closer to the mom the whole time we were there, and you could see he did not want to be in that situation. I felt so badly for him and them. He was a super nice dog. We talked about rehoming him to a working home, in another venue. The dog I brought on the visit was also clearly not able to relax there. It was just too much to take care of and handle. 

The dog they ended up adopting was an older puppy who was totally fine with the whole dynamic right from the second he and his foster visited. He ended up being trained - not sure how, by whom, for what but he was a support. He's a mix. 

All this to say you really need to spend a considerable amount of time doing what you are doing and trying to find out more. Good luck. 

For your son, are you hooked into services? Infants & Toddlers - The Arc of Indiana and FSSA: Developmental Disability (BDDS) have more information, beyond Early Intervention?


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