# Seizure Alert Dog



## Chancie

I am fairly new to the forum, and had recently asked for suggestions on GSD breeders in Rabies free countries. Since then it looks like my son will be diagnosed with epilepsy. He had "febrile seizures" (seizures induced by a fast rising body temperature), but the other day he had one without a seizure. My son is only 3. We are waiting for tests to determine what the next course of action will be...and there is a high probability that Navy (my husband's employer and reason we are stationed in Japan) will force us to move back to the US. 

Anyway, we were already looking for a GSD, and now I'm interested in trying to get details on getting one to be a Seizure Alert SD. I would like to find one who could alert me to an impending seizure and reduce the chance of serious injury from falls ext... I have read that this type of SD can be very difficult to teach/train.... My second choice would to have a dog trained to alert me during the seizure. I think these types are more easy to train. 

Does anyone know how best to do this? I've been told that if my son is diagnosed with Epilepsy (which is about 80% he will be) that the Navy Insurance may actually pay for the dog and his/her training, but it's not for sure. 

Anyway my questions are;

Is it ok to get a puppy and have it trained to do this, or would it be more beneficial for us to get an adult already trained.

Do any of you have any suggestions on what to do and how to go about it.... there are a lot of ifs in the senario, but I want to be prepared as much as possible.


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## Liesje

I could be wrong but I don't think seizure alert dogs can be trained, they either have the ability or they don't, so you'd probably want to hook up with a reputable service dog organization that can find you a dog with this ability.

Best of luck, my husband has "idiopathic" epilepsy, never had a seizure until he was over 20 years old. Luckily, his seems controlled by drugs so I've never had the chance to "test" my dogs, his seizures stopped with the drugs before we got dogs.


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## JessWelsch

I believe for a SD, you can't train them to alert you of impending seizures, it is as the previous poster stated: they have it or they don't. You could, though, have a SD trained to respond when a seizure is happening/over. They can be trained to alert you, or another adult, to stay with the person having the seizure, call 911, etc. I do agree with possibly hooking up with a good SD org. and seeing if they could fit you with a dog that has this gift. 

Also, I don't know if this helps but my non-sd pups have, over time, picked up on when im going to have a seizure, when I don't feel good in general, or when I am just overall weak... much like the humans in the house have. 

Best of luck on your search for a SD and with your son and his drs. Hope all goes well.

-Jess


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## LeftyGinger

One of my best friends has just been approved for a service dog to be put in place for her daughter (9 years old) who is epileptic. She did say that the organization she's been hooked up with works with Goldens and Labs mostly as they are more tailored towards family situations (not that a GSD couldn't be great also).
Dogs are usually trained for around two years and typically costs between 20-25 thousand dollars which makes getting a puppy the more difficult route to take and a longer one also. I think because of the age of your son and more of an immediate need of the service dog, a pre-trained adult may be the best way to go instead of training along the way even if the Navy is willing to pay for, or help with the costs associated.

From what my friend has been explaining to me about the route to get a service dog, it can be a long road with several bumps. Hopefully the military will be helpful in getting this taken care of for your family, it will be a great blessing for you guys. 
I'll ask my friend to see if she can give me more details about how she got all the stuff in order to have a dog approved for her daughter and let you know what I find out.


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## 3K9Mom

This article has some good info: Seizure-Alert Dogs--Just the Facts, Hold the Media Hype | epilepsy.com


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## Chicagocanine

It sounds like getting an already trained adult dog would probably be best for your situation. The thing with getting a puppy to train is it takes a lot of time and work and there is no guarantee that the dog will prove to be suitable as a service dog. This means you may get a puppy, spend months training him/her and then discover that they won't make a good service dog and have to wash them out.

While the ability to alert to seizures is not something that can be trained, there are organizations that identify dogs that exhibit the ability and encourage them to alert, teach them other tasks such as balance support and other assistance, then provide these dogs to people with seizure disorders.


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## Montana Scout

I am a retired disabled veteran suffering from seizure disorder, I've looked into seizure dogs, and it seems they are weening out the training, from everything I have read, its mostly dependent on the extreme bond of you and your dog, how much the dog knows your normal behavior and teaching him personally what a seizure is (meaning you have to have a few for the dog to figure it out)... other than that, getting an older already trained service dog is the main way to go. I have called the VA and they will only pay for 1/2 of the dogs vaccines and extra training AFTER its already passed the service dog program.. so 10k later they will help to pay a few extra bucks


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## Jessiewessie99

I wish Max & Simba were able to alert me to a seizure, so I didn't end up running a crazy health bill.


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## elly1210

You have received a lot of different opinions and advice. We have recently started to puppy raise service dogs, our first one was a lab and now we are fostering a beautiful plus female GSD. I have gotten a lot of different books and started to read and seizure alert dogs come in a different sizes and breeds including mixed breed. There is not one individual type of dog that is better at it. When looking at a seizure alert dog they test for personality, drive, alertness and more. When a person is having a seizure it is believed that there is a chemical imbalance that the dog can detect some dogs have it more natural then others but they can train them to be more aware of that they recognize so they are trained to alert. The more the dog bonds with their person the more seizures they can start to alert. Training a dog just basically can be a challenage along with that finding a dog that can service you as a puppy is a risk because they might have it they might not and if you invest all the training and they don't then you are back to square 1 with a dog you really bonded with but is not doing what you needed it to. If I was to need a service dog I would start researching different organizations and not just in my area but everywhere some organizations are just local others are international some are not legit some are very legit. That is where I would start.


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## ILGHAUS

Many times a pet dog will alert but the owner is not aware that the dog is trying to do so. I have had people tell me their dog would start acting like a brat or really bug them and it was getting annoying. It was only after someone who knew what was possibly going on brought this to their attention that they started tracking the dog's odd behavior with a seizure coming a short while later. 

A dog may alert in many ways until it is trained in the proper manner. Some dogs may stand in front of the person and bark, some may paw at them, and some will nip. It is only after the owner realizes what is going on that they can then work with the dog to alert in the way they wish.

I had a family member getting very irritated with their dog who started nipping and as a couple of weeks went by she was starting to bite harder though still not breaking the skin but giving a painful pinch. Once I heard about this I suggested that the family listen to the dog and work on a "kiss" on the hand instead of a nip.


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## jmincy

My wife has seizures and we have a small breeding program of working line german shepherds and 3 or our 4 dogs will alert her to a seizure before it happens. I am very confident the ability to do so is directly related to the love the animal has for the handler. They (in my opinion) smell a chemical release prior to the visible seizure activity and then witness a seizure which bothers them. It doesn't take but a couple of times before they relate the smell to the "bad thing" and the "worry" that they visibly demonstrate becomes the "warning". I do believe it is a smell, becaus of how they will come and sniff her face, as if to confirm their suspicion. Also my opinion is to get a young dog, not a fully trained adult. Let the child and the pup grow up together and secure that bond. I believe the bond is the key, the dog of ours that doesn't give a toot about the seizures is my dog that works with me and looks to me for her attention, she is not nearly as close to my wife as the others are. Also, I do believe there are dogs that do it and dogs that don't and we really have no way of knowing, but we have produced 3 puppies that are now warning their handlers and the pups come out of parents that do.

My 2 cents, hope it helps.


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## RoodHaus

I have used a mobility service dog for a couple of years now, my current dog is a 2 yr old GSD male whom I got at 11 months old and I did most of his training my self. In just the past couple of months he has started to alert me to my vertigo spells as well as partial onset seizures. He starts "talking" to me and pawing me when an episode is about to happen which gives me time to sit down or get to a "safe" place. My two previous service dogs still live with me and neither of them have ever alerted. So it's not necessary to start with a pup, but unless you have a lot of training experience it's good to either get together with a group that will help you train the dog, or get one already trained. 

Beth Rood


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## GSD_Xander

I have seizures and have now for 15 years (wow...had to think about that LOL). 

My GSD is still a baby and I haven't had a seizure around him yet but my other dog, Vega, she is a long-haired whippet and has been with me through quite a number of seizures. 

I have, for the most part, grand mals. 

I got Vega when she was young and there have been several times that right before having a seizure she would either come sit down in front of me and stare at me or, if she was outside at the time, scratch and whine at the door like she needed to be with me. When I have a seizure I have been told that she whines a lot - of course, I am having a seizure so I can't verify this but - it's what I've been told and I doubt that my husband or mother would lie to me. 

I can't say that she alerts to seizures per se since I wouldn't say it's consistent but she definitely seems to pick up on something.

My personal opinion is that if you want a dog that can pick up on your body's (or your son's) biochemical changes that may lead to a seizure that you should get the dog as young as possible so that the dog can be raised around the individual that has seizures.


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## ILGHAUS

I do want to come back here to remind everyone that a pet dog that alerts to a seizure is still a pet dog but one with a helpful bonus. Just because a pet dog happens to alert to a seizure it is not a service dog nor can the handler take the dog into places under Public Access. 

Remember the first things in consideration of a SD team. 

The handler must be *legally disabled* (which can be different than a medical disability). Even a well-trained dog from a reputable facility is only a SD when under the supervision of its handler so a spouse or friend of a disabled person can not take this dog into a place of business and claim the right to do so because the dog is a trained SD.

Next the dog must have been *trained a task* to mitigate the disabled handler's legal disability. An alert is not a trained task. So to sum this point up, a SD may also alert but an alert does not make a SD. Without the mitigating trained task the dog remains a pet who happens to also alert.

So while we may call a SD a seizure alert dog, it is the trained response that makes this particular dog a SD. 
* Was the dog trained to keep the handler safe during a seizure? An example would be does the dog lay across the person to keep them from trying to sit or stand up when needed? 
* Does the dog take on guide duties while the handler is disorientated? 
* Does the dog seek help for the handler?
* Does the dog hit a 911 call button when needed? 
* Does the dog position the handler so as to clear the airway if needed? 
* Has the dog been trained to clear the mouth if needed? 
* Has the dog been trained to bring a drink or medication if needed?


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## elly1210

I recently read a really good book and I wish I could remember what it was called but if you google seizure alert dog books you will find some to read. This book as I said before really went through on what they were looking for in a particular dog. Many seizure alert dogs are mixed breeds and have come out of the shelters. 

When they test the puppy/dog again they test for certain behaviors to see if the dog has what it takes to be a seizure dog and then from there they can work on enhancing the dog's natural ability by using scents. When people have seizures a chemical is released into the system and that is what the believe the dogs can detect. Some dogs can detect up to 40 mins. I was reading a blog where the family who was going to receive their dog before they came for the training with the dog had to send in clothes where the child had a seizure and then when there was no seizure. They were training that dog for that person's individual smell. In the beginning you have to work with the facility when you get your trainined seizure dog because the more the person bonds and is intuned with their dog the more seizures the dog can alert. They don't always alert to every seizure in the beginning. 

As stated above by another member I would look into different organization and look into working with an agency that trains these specialized dogs. You can put on your application that you are interested in a GSD but the waiting list may be longer because when you do breed specifications you have to wait for that breed and a certain dog that has the qualifications.

Right now we are puppy raising a GSD for the organization but like many it is mostly labs and goldens. 

Whatever you decide these dogs are invaluable but there is no guarantee if you purchase your own puppy if it will end up alerting to the seizures.


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