4 Paws NZ
“Assistance Dogs make the lives of children suffering from Autism better. These dogs will significantly improve the quality of life of children, particularly with regards to increased health, safety and independence. The dogs are valued at $USD15,000 each and have been hugely subsidised at a cost of $NZD3,000 thanks to the generosity of 4PAWS For Ability.
4 Paws NZ need to raise approximately $NZD60,000 to get four dogs to New Zealand. This includes the cost of purchase, training, quarantine fees and flights for each dog as well as the cost of flights and accommodation for the trainer. Three of the children requiring an Assistance Dog have Autism. Autistic children have no concept of danger especially around traffic, water hazards or strangers. Assistance dogs can accompany the child everywhere protecting them from dangers they don’t understand. It means training a dog that is unique in what it does for each child. Most agencies will not work with children, especially very young children. At 4 Paws, they have no minimum age requirement and believe fully in early intervention.
Two of the four children have severe epilepsy. Assistance Dogs are trained to detect a seizure and to inform the parents or caregivers, when that is about to happen. The knowledge that the Assistance Dog is always looking out for their child and their needs is hugely reassuring for the parent(s). Read Reuben, Lilly, Luke and Aniwa’s stories.
Most of the calls 4 Paws for Ability take on a daily basis, in regard to Seizure Assistance Dogs, are from the parents of children who have seizures. At 4 Paws there are two main categories. Their training falls into Seizure Assistance Dogs and Seizure Assistance Dogs with facilitated Alert Training. The seizure Assistance dog provides emotional support, and physical help to a person who has a seizure disorder.
This led 4 Paws for Ability, to develop a programme geared toward the placement of dogs trained to provide a level of emotional support above and beyond what could be achieved with the addition of a family pet. While children are not mature enough to participate in the intensive training process needed for the successful placement of the Seizure Response Dog (which is what the agencies that do not place with children train), the benefits of having a dog as a companion and friend are priceless.
The Seizure Service Dog can do the following:
* Provide a measure of comfort for the child
* Provide a distraction during unpleasant medical procedures, such as blood tests
* Be used during a therapy session to enlist the child’s participation
In addition, children with seizures may be afraid of being alone, sleeping in their own beds, and engaging in activities because they might have a seizure. In these instances, dogs can give the children a little courage while helping them maintain their independence. In the US, Seizure Assistance Dogs are true service dogs and are allowed to go everywhere the child goes as long as an adult team member is with them (someone trained to handle the dog for the child). These dogs are task trained.
All Seizure Service Dogs at 4 Paws are trained in behavior disruption, which is a skill started in their Autism Programme. With behavior disruption, the parents have commands to send the dog in to interact with the child. Seizure medications often cause behavioral issues, and this skill is a great means of helping a child work though them.
In addition, some seizure medications cause issues with balance and the dogs are trained, if needed, to help the child during these times by walking beside them with a harness they can hold to help stabilise themselves. During the interview and acceptance phase other tasks that may benefit the child may also be identified and trained.
The seizure Support Assistance Dogs they train for kids is not trained to respond to seizure activity in the traditional sense. They are not trained to call on the phone for help when they see the seizure or to keep the partner from getting up after a seizure. Young children can’t participate in the training to the degree needed to place a dog like this successfully. During the training and placement process, the 4 Paws trainer will instruct the parents in ways they can behave and work with the dog to try and elicit responsive behavior from the dog, however, there is no guarantee that this will ever occur.
Some parents have reported that their children have fewer seizures since their dogs entered their homes. This is believed to be the result of a reduction in the stress level the children have through the comfort they find in their new companions. Other parents have reported that the dog becomes stressed, whines, or barks when their child has seizures.
This is not something 4 Paws for Ability have trained the dog to do, but a response that the dog makes on its own. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict which dogs would be more likely to develop this behavior. Some dogs are just emotionally upset by the seizure or have picked up on the parents’ emotions during previous seizures and are responding to that.
Seizure Assistance Dogs With Facilitated Alert Training (Seizure Alert Dogs)
Some people refer to dogs assisting during seizures as Seizure Alert Dogs. In other words, they are saying that the dog actually sense when a seizure is about to occur and warn the person of the oncoming seizure. It is believed that the dogs are able to smell chemical changes in the body several minutes before the seizure occurs. Often the dog will develop a behavioral pattern that the owner recognises, as alerting to a seizure is going to occur. The person can then put themselves in a safe position before the seizure starts.
Seizure alerting behavior is a naturally occurring behavior in some dogs. The one thing scientists have been able to come to an agreement on is that the dog smells a chemical body change on the person just prior to and during a seizure. They have developed a programme at 4 Paws for Ability to work with some children who have very frequent, obvious seizures. They have had great success with this training and have noticed that more dogs begin to alert the seizures with the training than without.
The group 4 Paws NZ and its supporters possess immense kiwi spirit and determination to overcome obstacles, and the belief that they can take the “dis” out of disability. I urge and encourage you all to be part of the journey, to bring Assistance Dogs to New Zealand. You can contact the organisation for more details or make a DONATION.
And thank you readers from me on their behalf. I always appreciate your help to worthy causes such as theirs.
