Seizure
Seizures
You have epilepsy. But epilepsy doesn’t have you.
Seizure Service Dogs
At Pawsitivity, we believe that most, if not all, dogs can smell the seizures coming on, but because they know so far in advance, it can be difficult to reliably reward any behavior indicating that the seizure is coming on. There are a few Service Dog organizations who require handlers to go off their medication for months in order to have multiple seizures, and then they train the dog to alert to a cue (by using cotton balls infused with the saliva of the handler, which had been taken immediately after their seizure). We believe that the problems with this approach outweigh the benefits because every time someone has a seizure, they get permanent damage to their brain. While that approach certainly works in other organizations, for us, though, we believe that it is not worth it to ask handlers to go off their medication in an attempt to train the dog to alert. Thus, we focus on training the dog for seizure response, set up protocols to bond the dog to the handler, and then even if the dog doesn't alert on it's own (hopefully it will, but it can't be promised), still, literally 100% of the handlers reported their quality of life improved (see studies below).
These dogs help with people with epilepsy in three ways:
- Response (Trained)
As recommended by Dr. Anita Datta, M.D., FRCPC of the BC Epilepsy Society, Pawsitivity trains the dog to respond to seizures by:
-Helping keep a person safe, for example keeping them from walking into dangerous areas.
-Try to arouse an unconscious person, during or after a seizure.
-Carry emergency medication or information regarding the handler’s medical condition. - Alerting (Many on their own)
In many cases, seizure response dogs then, on their own, develop the ability to alert to seizures before the seizure actually occur. Some scientists think the dogs are sensing the change in the physiology of their handler prior to the seizure, such as the breathing, heart rate, or smell of the person. - Quality of Life
In addition to the added safety of having the dogs alert and/or respond to seizures, new studies show that the quality of life of the handler is greatly improved by the presence of the dog.
- Are you perhaps suffering because of the long-term lack of driving?
- Or maybe lost wages are a problem?
- Is the cost (or side effects) of treatment making your life difficult?
- Or perhaps you feel loneliness, or depression, or frustration?
"A Service Dog would improve the quality of life" [1]
Testimonials
Quotes from study participants about their Service Dogs who helped them with seizure response, from a 2008 study[2].
- “My Seizure Response Dog has empowered me; I am motivated to do more and feel like I can do anything.”
- “He brought me out of my shell.”
- ‘‘I am no longer afraid of going out and being taken advantage of.”
- ‘‘Having a Seizure Response Dog has changed people’s perception of me. It has legitimized my condition (and) helped people understand epilepsy.”
- “My Service Response Dog has improved my relationship and communication with my partner who always worried about me.”
- ‘‘My family shares the confidence and security I do with my Service Response Dog and they worry about me less."
Other results of this 2008 study:
All participants in the study reported quality of life improvements (approximately 81% said major improvement, 19% said moderate improvement) as a direct result of their Seizure Service Dog.
- Spontaneous alerting behavior developed in 59% of the Service Dogs, evolving over months of ownership. Intense staring was most common reaction, and other alerting behaviors were close attachment, sniffing, barking/whimpering, jumping, licking, or even physically preventing their owners from leaving the house prior to seizures. The average alert time 31 minutes before the seizure.
The handlers also reported:
- Better mood
- Decreased feelings of anxiety
- Better interpersonal relationships, both with family and friends and with strangers
- Improvements at work/education
- More self-confidence
- More independence
- More safety and security
Even in the other 41% of Service Dogs who didn't develop alerting behavior, however, the handler's quality of life still greatly improved.
Added benefit: 45% of handlers of the Service Dogs reported decreased frequency, intensity/severity, or duration of the seizures.
"A further benefit may be the ability of an animal to divert attention from the disability and a provide a non-disease oriented focus for the handler and others." Strong, V., Stephen W. Brown, and R. Walker. Seizure 8.1 (1999): 62-65.
The Science
While science knows that some dogs can predict seizures (see quotes below), they don't know the exact mechanism. One theory is that the dog is detecting micro-tremors, while other scientists postulate that dog's sense of smell tells them that a seizure is coming on.
- Because a dog's primary form of communication is body language and facial expressions, it is plausible that a seizure-alerting dog is cued by the patient's most minute gestures or posturing. However, with report of dogs being out of sight of their handler and then suddenly approaching them and alerting, one has to consider the possibility of a scent, auditory cue, or some other signal independent of visual cues. It seems possible that any one or combination of these senses play an important part in alerting behavior.[3]
- If the dog is bonded to the person, they may indicate that a seizure is coming on by acting distressed. By encouraging this behavior, the dog may alert the handler or their family of the upcoming seizure.
Dog Selection
How we find the right dog to train for you, your needs, and your circumstances. All our dogs undergo behavioral analysis and training to determine their suitability for seizure assistance work. Our standardized selection criteria used to select dogs include:
- A calm disposition
- Responsiveness to humans
- Initiative
- Sensitivity to handler
- Confidence
- Ability to tolerate distractions
- Lack of hyperactivity
- Good attitude adaptability
- Crate/kennel livability
- A complete veterinary evaluation
Again - we don't ask handlers to stop taking their medication in order for us to train the dogs to alert to seizures (the hope is that with our training they will become intensely focused on the handler and then they develop that ability on their own), thus we train them to be very attentive to their handler and to respond to seizures.
Why a specially-trained dog is so important
Another study[4] examined whether people with epilepsy could simply rely on pet dogs to alert before or during seizures instead of specially trained therapy dogs. The report concluded not only that pets are not equipped to do the job of a Seizure Service Dog, but also that the demands of the task might actually be harmful for the pet dog. Most of the pet dogs suffered significant adverse health effects as a result of spontaneously reacting to, or anticipating, the distress of epileptic seizures in their human owners. These included three cases in which the dog died. However, when (non-pet) dogs have been specially trained as Seizure Service Dogs, these adverse effects have not been seen.
[1] "Neurology" magazine, Kirton A, Wirrell E, Zhang J, et al., Alberta Children’s Hospital's Division of Pediatric Neurology, 2004 and 2005.
[2] “Seizure Response Dogs: Evaluation of a Formal Training Program.” Epilepsy & Behvaior, October 2008. Kirton A, Winter A, Wirrell E, Snead OC.
[3] “Seizure-Alert Dogs: A Review and Preliminary Study," Seizure - Volume 12, Issue 2, March 2003, Pages 115-120, Dalzierl, Uthman, McGorray, & Reep, 2003.
[4] “Should People With Epilepsy Have Untrained Dogs As Pets?” Seizure-European Journal of Epilepsy, September 2000. 427-430. V Strong, S W Brown, Chapeltown, Sheffield, UK.
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