Natalie Elwer, Columbus Dogs Examiner – July 8, 2011
Disclaimer: Seizure-Alert Dogs are only known to detect epileptic seizures. For a guide to epilepsy, please visit The Epilepsy Foundation.Seizure-Alert Dogs are service dogs trained to warn their owners of an oncoming seizure. Dogs alert of a seizure
by circling, pawing, barking, or other similar behaviors. During a seizure, many of these dogs are trained to lay beside the seizing person in order to protect him or her from injury, especially to the head. Dogs typically may detect the onset of a seizure a few minutes to an hour before it strikes.
While these dogs are quite helpful in protecting those afflicted with epilepsy, not every dog can perform this task. They must be specially trained, and some dogs either do not catch on to the training or become too frightened by the seizing person to be a successful service dog. Not every person with epilepsy is suited for a service dog, either. In some instances, having a service dog is not appropriate in every situation. For example, a child going to school who has epileptic seizures infrequently may not get as much use from a service dog as someone who spends the day alone at home and seizes several times a day or week.
Although these dogs are typically quite successful, not all Seizure-Alert Dogs can detect every seizure, every time. This is not to say that they are not useful in providing the owner with quite possibly life-saving response times, but they are not guaranteed to detect every seizure in every epileptic person. It is known that some dogs are more suited to certain owners, so a detailed application process is important and essential. Matching a seizure dog to a person with epilepsy is a careful process that requires a lot of skill on the behalf of the trainer or other matchmaker, so it is necessary to obtain a Seizure-Alert Dog from a credible source in order for the dog to be efficacious.
