Dogs prove be great companions and often provide wonderful surprises along the way. Bella has been no exception! As I work as an educational therapist, I decided to take advantage of Bella's ideal temperament and start training her as a therapy dog. My partner developed a reading/therapy program that Bella quickly adapted to. Bella worked for a while in the practice performing therapy work, but soon began to demonstrate other abilities. Among the various learning disabilities, and other health impairments that the students have are epilepsy. Bella was detecting the onset of seizures.

A decision was made to channel these abilities through formal training with a professional trainer. Bella first had to first pass the Canine Good Citizen exam to demonstrate that she was a passive and good natured dog. Then the training and preparation for the exam to become a fully certified Service Dog began. Bella now works as a Service Dog with special qualifications as a Seizure Alert Dog.

Normally, seizure alert dogs are trained and then placed with a candidate who has epilepsy so that the canine can work one-on-one. These dogs are trained to lick the face, block the path of the owner when walking, bark or use some other form of alert prior to the onset of a seizure. In some cases the dog can be trained to press an emergency button to summon help such as an ambulance, although in many cases the main goal is to give the owner prior warning of the onset of a seizure so they can stop an activity that might be dangerous and place themselves in a safe position. This can be a life saver if the person is about to cross a busy intersection, go down a flight of stairs or escalator prior to having a grand mal seizure, which may render the individual unconscious for a brief moment. Bella is a little different in that she identifies more than one person's problems. As mentioned she reacts to several of the students, some of whom have been attending the center for over 6 months. There was another incident that shows just how sensitive Bella's capabilities are. My cousin, a diabetic who had been visiting from out of town, had already been at my house for about four weeks. While taking our customary early morning walk, Bella crossed my path and walked in front of my cousin. I asked him if he felt OK. He said yes and for us to continue walking. Less than a minute passed when Bella did a wide arc in front of me and jumped up in front my cousin, placing her paws on his chest, stopping him from moving. I suggested we return the two and half blocks to the house to check his blood sugar. It was a good job we did, it was critically low. If we had waited much longer, he could have gone into a diabetic shock. He did not have his insulin with him on the walk. This is another demonstration of the life saving value of these wonderful dogs.]

So how do the dogs detect seizures in humans? Epileptics undergo a noticeable change in their brain rhythms prior to a seizure. The brain activity is triggered by a chemical reaction in the body. This chemical builds up over a set period and emits a subtle odor. It is widely believed that the dogs sense the change in body chemistry. With the dog as partner, the owner can lead a normal life; having a 10-15 minute warning prior to the onset of seizures. Service dogs can be trained for a variety of disabilities, such as signal dogs for the hearing impaired, balance dogs, dogs for various physical impairments and of course seeing-eye dog. All of these dogs are covered by the same federal law governing service dogs for access purposes. There are some organizations that claim that they can train dogs to detect seizures, but I would caution anyone purchasing any such dog, which can cost thousands of dollars. However, it is acceptable to purchase a dog that has been trained as a seizure dog that has already demonstrated the ability to detect seizures, but to actually train a dog to detect is somewhat suspect. It's really how you channel the dog's natural abilities through professional training and eventual certification that really counts. This is not to discount the wonderful work that many professional trainers and organizations do with dogs that already demonstrate seizure detection abilities. These dogs still need to be trained in how to react prior to and during a seizure. Then they must pass the exam to become a fully licensed service dog, which not all dogs pass. There is even a program in a women's correctional facility that trains seizure dogs and then places the dogs with a candidate through an in-service training period prior to their eventual release.

Finding a dog is hard, sometimes its luck, but there is an organization that actually screens their dogs for Seizure Response work. In the year 2000, of the 385 dogs and 105 puppies that were tested, they only had 10 that had the qualities they were looking for in a Seizure Response Dog. That equates to about a qualification rate of about 2% of the dogs entering into their program.

Bella still comes to the practice on a daily basis. She loves interacting with the children and is an invaluable asset to the work we do. There are some children with profound reading disorders or dyslexia who have overcome their reluctance to read out loud due to the reinforcement that Bella provides when she interacts with them as they read. After the individual remedial work it's important to have the children undergo some form of reading with controlled text to build fluency. Bella plays an important role in getting the children to overcome their reluctance to read so we can build on their skills and make significance progress in our remedial program. She also provides an important channel for the more complex and emotional cases that are sometimes difficult to access by having Bella in the room as an outlet.

Motivator, therapy case worker, seizure alert dog and all around companion, Bella provides a tremendous amount of love and support for little in return. We should treasure these precious animals and all that they do for us. I know I treasure everyday of Bella's life.

Adrian Whitchelo-Scott, M.Ed, ATS, BCET is a Board Certified Educational Therapist. He has a private practice in Los Angeles, California where he lives with his 22 month old German Shepherd named Bella.

May 2003