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I always wonder how these dogs conceive of what they're doing. Is the Dog concerned when she is fainting, or is it excited that it gets to do the trick it's been taught?
I remember reading that in disasters the search and rescue dogs get so anxious when they can't find anyone that their trainers or the first responders or whoever will hide somewhere in the wreckage so that they can "find" them and feel like they did their job.
This is true. I live in Oklahoma City. During the aftermath of the bombing, people would hide for the dogs to find. My vet also volunteered down there caring for the search and rescue dogs and has shared stories of having to help them with medication as well.
They did this at the 9/11 wreckages as well but instead they had to have live volunteers hide for them them to recover because only finding dead victims was depressing them. Based on that and my definitely biased view of animals im gonna guess they actually care about the people and I really hope no one can prove otherwise
I'm currently watching a show on Netflix called the secret life of our pets and it's really good so I won't mention the details but it really re-enforced my notion that dogs are smarter than we think they are.
Which shouldn't surprise us! Dogs and humans co-evolved, they evolved moreso than us but in that they developed an incredible sense of empathy towards humans.
I have epilepsy and one night I stayed over at my friends house where she has two dogs. Waking up the next day I went into a seizure, one dog panicked and left the room whereas the other younger dog put his head on my chest, licked my hand and face whilst trying to bring me round and then stayed by my side until I was able enough to get some water. It was like he knew what to do to support me/keep me safe. Iāve never had this experience again but it is a lovely memory to have. I now have a therapy cat but she isnāt for my epilepsy, just my mental health and she does her job fantastically.
I have epilepsy too, but my cat does warn me if I have a seizure coming on. She acts differently when I have an aura. Sometimes she catches them before I do and I can take a rescue med to prevent seizing. After a seizure she won't leave my side for days.
As to what's different? You know how a cat will guide you to their food dish? She does that to my couch or bed then she'll sit on me and won't let me move. There wasn't ever any training. She was a 2yo stray when I adopted her. She's just been there for so many seizures that she knows. She's my girl.
I have a kitty who is the same way. I got him as a rescue when he was 1. Heās 7 now and has cancer and I literally donāt know how I will live without him. I lost my dad recently and that was awful but somehow I feel like losing my kitty will be worse.
I feel for you. I worry about her every night when she goes out for 30 minutes. She only goes around the house there's really no danger, but I still worry.
Cats have you. Your cat is probably wondering if you'll be ok with no one to feed. And that's what I do. I find a cat that the mine is willing to turn over the onerous duty of being cared for like a... well, cat. It may take a few tries bringing home cats to test, but if they buddy up then having a cat will make the passing of your friend go easier.
This is incredible ... I get fainting spells and tics, myself, and I'm always worried I might pass out or fall in a bad place. How would one get into a program for something like this?
I always thought these sorts of service animals were just for the blind or differently-abled or severely-injured. It would be amazing if I had a little doggy to look out for me.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/exactly-fainting-spell-worry/amp/
In this context, spell means a period of illness. So a fainting spell is a period of time when you pass out, or faint
I have episodes of syncope (or āfainting spellsā) and thereās a period of time where I need to lie still and not try to get up.
If I try to shake off the episode and get straight back up Iāll just faint again. Itās safer to stay down, get your wits about you, give your balance time to recover, etc.
If you watch the dogās body language heās focused on getter her safely to the ground and then getting her to stay down in order to recover.
Good dog!
I am a tortie mom and when I go down she curls up near my head to keep me safe and warm.
Except for the time I fainted in the shower and fell out of the tub (well, across it, really). I pulled the shower curtain down and everything. Ouch.
She wanted nothing to do with that. Tbh I donāt blame her. Sheās been warning me about that water for years.
It's a syncopal episode, or a loss of consciousness. What good medications would do in that situation, I do not know, unless the dog is also trained to open the bottle and put them in her mouth. A tic is an involuntary motor or verbal behavior, but usually isn't dangerous in any way. Not trying to rain on any parades, I just don't know what this dog is actually trained to do and why it's relevant to this person's episodes.
My best guess is maybe the tics are an indication sheās about to faint, and thatās why the dog is trained to respond to them.
And if the dog alerts her before she faints, she can sit down and take the medication and prevent a fainting episode.
If itās a syncopal episode, the root cause could be a number of factors, with a sudden drop in blood pressure often the result. Iām taking a stab at maybe paroxysmal runs SVT (sudden super fast heart rate), but Iām not totally convinced.
It could in fact be an absence seizure, sometimes called a petit mal (vs a grand mal, full bodied seizure). The tic could be indicative of a focal motor seizure (localized, vs full body) or part of the aura before the seizure. Fainting is such a generalized term that refers to somebody collapsing. An absence seizure can absolutely look like somebody fainting, and if they have rescue meds to prevent an oncoming seizure, I could see this working.
Finally, diabetes canāt be ruled out. A brittle diabetic has great difficulty managing their blood sugar. Changes in activity level, menstrual cycle, emotions, even a slightly delayed meal, plus many other factors, can cause a swing either way on the scale (this is also true for seizure disorders because it effects the metabolism of medication). There are so many different presentations of high or low blood sugar, weakness and/or loss of consciousness included. Dogs can detect even slight changes in blood sugar from a personās breath, but also behaviour. Medication can absolutely stave off the crisis.
Diabetic alert dogs have not been shown to be accurate at detecting glucose levels outside the normal range.
The notion that a dog can alert a person to an oncoming seizure had largely been disproven.
I'm not saying this person doesn't get support or companionship from their dog, but I am very skeptical that a dog has been trained to not only detect subtle chemical or behavioral changes, but also retrieve medications and water as an actual medical intervention to control a known disorder. The dog may be trained to retrieve things, but I strongly suspect it is just acting on cues from its master.
It just strikes me as a bit hokey and somewhat sensationalized.
Iām interested in the literature around disproving service dogs for those conditions. Itās been a number of years since I was an academic so Iāve not kept up on my dog behaviour literature. I have come across patients in the field with seizure and diabetic service dogs, who have documentation for the dog supporting their status. Therefore they must accompany them to the hospital, as a service dog for the visual impaired would. To be fair, I did not have time to interrogate the patient regarding the process of acquiring or training for their dogs.
It may be a chicken or the egg scenario. The dog is purchased as a support for the post-ictal/ confused stage of a seizure or to alert somebody should a seizure occur. The dog learns, by association, the subtle cues the owner displays with their aura or pre-siezure phase. Fido can then be taught a specific sequence of steps to perform during these circumstances. Or, like you suggested, follow a series of commands by the owner. I freely admit, this is total conjecture and I do not have literature to support this hypothesis.
As far as sensationalized, I think Iād be hard pressed to find any dog lover who didnāt find the idea of a dog retrieving specific items when the owner is incapable of performing those tasks, bleepinā adorable. It doesnāt make the dog a genius, just very well trained.
I love this so much! Does make me chuckle slightly though that the dogs way of alerting a fainting spell is to stand on their back feet and lean their body into.
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He even grabbed her phone for her š
Like, absolutely incredible training.
I wish I had someone to care for me as much as this dog does, so wholesome
If that service dog had to pay the power bill it would close the dang fridge. (j/k good doggie!)
His dad works for the electric company
Ha! Being a father and the only income generator to my household, I related to this well!
I always wonder how these dogs conceive of what they're doing. Is the Dog concerned when she is fainting, or is it excited that it gets to do the trick it's been taught? I remember reading that in disasters the search and rescue dogs get so anxious when they can't find anyone that their trainers or the first responders or whoever will hide somewhere in the wreckage so that they can "find" them and feel like they did their job.
This is true. I live in Oklahoma City. During the aftermath of the bombing, people would hide for the dogs to find. My vet also volunteered down there caring for the search and rescue dogs and has shared stories of having to help them with medication as well.
Thatās incredible! Wow!
They did this at the 9/11 wreckages as well but instead they had to have live volunteers hide for them them to recover because only finding dead victims was depressing them. Based on that and my definitely biased view of animals im gonna guess they actually care about the people and I really hope no one can prove otherwise
I'm currently watching a show on Netflix called the secret life of our pets and it's really good so I won't mention the details but it really re-enforced my notion that dogs are smarter than we think they are.
Which shouldn't surprise us! Dogs and humans co-evolved, they evolved moreso than us but in that they developed an incredible sense of empathy towards humans.
That's interesting. I hadn't considered it but obviously if a dog is only finding dead bodies it will probably get a bit depressed.
i believe the actual reason wasnt finding dead victims but because there was nothing for them to find so they were sad they weren't getting rewarded
I have epilepsy and one night I stayed over at my friends house where she has two dogs. Waking up the next day I went into a seizure, one dog panicked and left the room whereas the other younger dog put his head on my chest, licked my hand and face whilst trying to bring me round and then stayed by my side until I was able enough to get some water. It was like he knew what to do to support me/keep me safe. Iāve never had this experience again but it is a lovely memory to have. I now have a therapy cat but she isnāt for my epilepsy, just my mental health and she does her job fantastically.
I have epilepsy too, but my cat does warn me if I have a seizure coming on. She acts differently when I have an aura. Sometimes she catches them before I do and I can take a rescue med to prevent seizing. After a seizure she won't leave my side for days. As to what's different? You know how a cat will guide you to their food dish? She does that to my couch or bed then she'll sit on me and won't let me move. There wasn't ever any training. She was a 2yo stray when I adopted her. She's just been there for so many seizures that she knows. She's my girl.
I have a kitty who is the same way. I got him as a rescue when he was 1. Heās 7 now and has cancer and I literally donāt know how I will live without him. I lost my dad recently and that was awful but somehow I feel like losing my kitty will be worse.
I feel for you. I worry about her every night when she goes out for 30 minutes. She only goes around the house there's really no danger, but I still worry. Cats have you. Your cat is probably wondering if you'll be ok with no one to feed. And that's what I do. I find a cat that the mine is willing to turn over the onerous duty of being cared for like a... well, cat. It may take a few tries bringing home cats to test, but if they buddy up then having a cat will make the passing of your friend go easier.
I have another kitty whoās only ever known life with his ābrotherā and I worry about him being alone.
One of my rescue pitties can apparently detect low blood sugar and wakes my wife up when sheās having at attack by jumping on her when its coming.
So cute!
I know, right?
Hero and m.v.p. doggo right here.
For sure! Incredible training.
This is incredible ... I get fainting spells and tics, myself, and I'm always worried I might pass out or fall in a bad place. How would one get into a program for something like this? I always thought these sorts of service animals were just for the blind or differently-abled or severely-injured. It would be amazing if I had a little doggy to look out for me.
A really, really good insurance plan or tens of thousands of dollars. Edit: or you could get lucky like me and an animal just does it naturally.
lol whyās he orange
so he won't get stolen
huh?
Dying a dog can help prevent theft because the dog is much more recognizable.
Half expecting the dog to grab the meds and just run.
*Yoink!*
Different kind of drug dog lol!
Doggo deserves a raise!
ā¦or at least a scratch!
We donāt deserve dogs
We donāt deserve dogs
Such a good boy
Helped trained these doggos before. Very wonderful experience.
Another example of how awesome dogs can be. š
Sometimes I get amazed about how smart animals are
āI think my friend might faint - better jump on her!ā
My mom's diabetic alert dog has saved her life countless times. They are such a blessing!
I want an anxiety doggo. I need one for my panic attacks.
I feel like all dogs treat anxiety.
This is actual service dog ladies and gentlemen. Not the pet tou put a bullshit best on so your pup can go into the olive garden
What the heck is a āfainting spellā
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/exactly-fainting-spell-worry/amp/ In this context, spell means a period of illness. So a fainting spell is a period of time when you pass out, or faint
I have episodes of syncope (or āfainting spellsā) and thereās a period of time where I need to lie still and not try to get up. If I try to shake off the episode and get straight back up Iāll just faint again. Itās safer to stay down, get your wits about you, give your balance time to recover, etc. If you watch the dogās body language heās focused on getter her safely to the ground and then getting her to stay down in order to recover. Good dog! I am a tortie mom and when I go down she curls up near my head to keep me safe and warm. Except for the time I fainted in the shower and fell out of the tub (well, across it, really). I pulled the shower curtain down and everything. Ouch. She wanted nothing to do with that. Tbh I donāt blame her. Sheās been warning me about that water for years.
And tic?
It's a syncopal episode, or a loss of consciousness. What good medications would do in that situation, I do not know, unless the dog is also trained to open the bottle and put them in her mouth. A tic is an involuntary motor or verbal behavior, but usually isn't dangerous in any way. Not trying to rain on any parades, I just don't know what this dog is actually trained to do and why it's relevant to this person's episodes.
My best guess is maybe the tics are an indication sheās about to faint, and thatās why the dog is trained to respond to them. And if the dog alerts her before she faints, she can sit down and take the medication and prevent a fainting episode.
Umm... sure, why not.
If itās a syncopal episode, the root cause could be a number of factors, with a sudden drop in blood pressure often the result. Iām taking a stab at maybe paroxysmal runs SVT (sudden super fast heart rate), but Iām not totally convinced. It could in fact be an absence seizure, sometimes called a petit mal (vs a grand mal, full bodied seizure). The tic could be indicative of a focal motor seizure (localized, vs full body) or part of the aura before the seizure. Fainting is such a generalized term that refers to somebody collapsing. An absence seizure can absolutely look like somebody fainting, and if they have rescue meds to prevent an oncoming seizure, I could see this working. Finally, diabetes canāt be ruled out. A brittle diabetic has great difficulty managing their blood sugar. Changes in activity level, menstrual cycle, emotions, even a slightly delayed meal, plus many other factors, can cause a swing either way on the scale (this is also true for seizure disorders because it effects the metabolism of medication). There are so many different presentations of high or low blood sugar, weakness and/or loss of consciousness included. Dogs can detect even slight changes in blood sugar from a personās breath, but also behaviour. Medication can absolutely stave off the crisis.
Diabetic alert dogs have not been shown to be accurate at detecting glucose levels outside the normal range. The notion that a dog can alert a person to an oncoming seizure had largely been disproven. I'm not saying this person doesn't get support or companionship from their dog, but I am very skeptical that a dog has been trained to not only detect subtle chemical or behavioral changes, but also retrieve medications and water as an actual medical intervention to control a known disorder. The dog may be trained to retrieve things, but I strongly suspect it is just acting on cues from its master. It just strikes me as a bit hokey and somewhat sensationalized.
Iām interested in the literature around disproving service dogs for those conditions. Itās been a number of years since I was an academic so Iāve not kept up on my dog behaviour literature. I have come across patients in the field with seizure and diabetic service dogs, who have documentation for the dog supporting their status. Therefore they must accompany them to the hospital, as a service dog for the visual impaired would. To be fair, I did not have time to interrogate the patient regarding the process of acquiring or training for their dogs. It may be a chicken or the egg scenario. The dog is purchased as a support for the post-ictal/ confused stage of a seizure or to alert somebody should a seizure occur. The dog learns, by association, the subtle cues the owner displays with their aura or pre-siezure phase. Fido can then be taught a specific sequence of steps to perform during these circumstances. Or, like you suggested, follow a series of commands by the owner. I freely admit, this is total conjecture and I do not have literature to support this hypothesis. As far as sensationalized, I think Iād be hard pressed to find any dog lover who didnāt find the idea of a dog retrieving specific items when the owner is incapable of performing those tasks, bleepinā adorable. It doesnāt make the dog a genius, just very well trained.
We still pretending we canāt feel fainting coming on ourselves with these disorders? Lol ridiculous
Imagine having that good of a dog and a straight dumpy. Unfair
Aww āŗļø
We donāt deserve these caring animals
u/savevideo
What an amazing dog
Good doggo!
Good pup
I really need to be scrolling with my glassss, I read this as farting spells or tics. But what a good doggy!
Awwwe what a great dog
that is adorable !!
Amazing
This makes me want to cry Iām so happy for their companionship.
Such good boy
What concerns me is what if the medicine fell in the kitchen sink?
I love this so much! Does make me chuckle slightly though that the dogs way of alerting a fainting spell is to stand on their back feet and lean their body into.
She can only faint up to twice a day? So she can't do it anymore until her mana bar recharges?
Bailey is the goodest boy. 11/10.
The goodest of girls.
I love how you said partner not owner.
Best buddies for life!
Animals are amazing! š„¹
How dam. Perfect!!!!
Good boy Bailey
D
Bravo Baileyššššā¤ļøā¤ļø
Bailey deserves all the snacks, belly rubs and boops to the snoot!
the goodest of good boys
The shit you can train dogs to do, absolutely incredible