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Meet Golden Ben
Seizure-alert dogs give new freedom to epilepsy sufferers
By Judy Fortin, CNN Medical Correspondent , October 20, 2008
ALPHARETTA,
Georgia (CNN) — Ben, who's 15 months old, can already do a lot of things. He
can turn on a light or open a door. He can pick up a remote control off the
floor. He can pull a heavy object with his teeth.
Colise Johnson, 42, spent two weeks in September at a canine training camp
getting acquainted with Ben.
Colise Johnson, 42, spent two weeks in September at a canine training camp
getting acquainted with Ben.
But Ben, a gangly golden retriever, is more than a family pet. He is a specially
trained seizure dog who may one day be able to save the life of his new owner,
Colise Johnson.
"Having epilepsy and cerebral palsy is kind of like having a nonstop roller
coaster ride," said Johnson, 42, of Portland, Oregon. "You never know what's
going to happen, but with him, he slows the ride down so it's manageable."
Johnson, who uses a wheelchair and must wear a helmet because of persistent
seizures, is among 3 million Americans who live with some form of epilepsy, a
brain disorder that causes recurring seizures, violent muscle spasms or,
sometimes, a loss of consciousness.
There are no estimates of how many patients are paired up with assistance dogs,
and the benefits of having such an animal have not been studied to any great
extent. But Dr. Gregory Barkley, a neurologist at Henry Ford Hospital in
Detroit, Michigan, and an adviser for the Epilepsy Foundation of America,
believes nearly a quarter of the people who suffer from frequent, severe
seizures might be helped by a canine companion. He said the dogs have "an
unqualified devotion to their master" that may offer important mental health
benefits.
The dogs are sometimes credited with powers they really don't possess, Barkley
said. "The dog does not predict a seizure," he said. "It may respond to the
earlier stages of a seizure."
Johnson owned a seizure dog for 12 years before he died in 2007, ironically,
having his own seizure. Video Watch more on Ben and his new owner »
She recalled that the dog, named McKeever, "told me ahead of time when I was
going to have a seizure. ... He helped me get off the floor if I fell, helped me
retrieve items, helped me get clothes out of the drawer for a bath, open the
fridge on command and took out the recycling."
She said she'd felt lost without McKeever since his death, but that recently
changed.
Johnson spent two weeks in September at a training camp at
Canine Assistants in Alpharetta,
Georgia, getting acquainted with Ben. This year, Johnson was one of 1,100 people
on the agency's waiting list.
Jennifer Arnold founded the nonprofit service in 1991 and has placed more than
1,000 dogs with adults and children with physical disabilities or other special
needs.
"We work primarily with people who have mobility issues and have conditions like
muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and brain injuries,"
Arnold said.
In the past few years, Arnold also helped train 100 seizure dogs to assist
people with epilepsy.
"We train them to do basically 90 different commands," Arnold said. "They learn
to do things like go for help and press buttons to alert 9-1-1."
Over time, nearly all the dogs eventually develop the ability to identify the
onset of a seizure, she said.
"We have no understanding of what it is that alerts the dogs that a seizure is
oncoming," she said. "Is it a smell that the body produces? We don't know to
what stimuli the dog is responding."
By spending time with epilepsy patients, Arnold's dogs are taught what a seizure
looks like and not to be frightened.
Some dogs are able to anticipate a seizure 20 to 40 minutes before it happens.
"If the dog feels that their person is going to have a seizure, they tend to get
very restless and distressed. ... They show signs of stress and agitation,"
Arnold said. "Provided their human can read what that means, you have a really
good alert system going on there."
Barkley has heard similar anecdotal information from his own epilepsy patients,
but many of those dogs were simply family pets and were untrained, he said.
He warned patients to be wary of agencies that charge a lot of money for a dog
that may or may not be able to perform certain tasks.
Canine Assistants offers its dogs free of charge to qualified patients. The
group not only covers the cost of airfare and lodging during the training
sessions, but it provides a lifetime of food and veterinary care at no cost.
Arnold estimated the total value at $20,000 per dog. She said that a third of
her company's operating costs are underwritten by large corporate grants. The
rest of the money is raised through private donations.
Arnold helped train some of the 140 dogs currently at the facility. She said she
has no trouble letting the animals go to new homes because she knows they'll
serve an important purpose, especially for the epilepsy patients.
"They become a prisoner," Arnold said. "They don't want to leave the house ...
they're so vulnerable. Just having this dog with you means that you're not ever
alone."
Johnson, the married mother of a 15-year-old, is looking forward to regaining
some independence with a new dog in the house. "He's going to be able to give my
family a break. He's going to be able to let them rest a little bit easier," she
said.
She also looked forward to a new reason to get out of bed in the morning. "With
the dog, instead of getting all bummed out or getting depressed over the
seizures, I'll spend time with him and play with him and start laughing."
"These dogs will change your life in such a way you won't know how you've lived
without him once you've had them."
FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains
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