Seizure dogs / woof woofs

Hello @lsittll . I was quite impressed the day I met a disabled woman who was giving a demonstration with her service dog. She was a wheelchair bound paraplegic with some use of her arms so she could control the leash. Her dog went through the paces of getting and bringing food without eating it, taking money or a credit card to a counter to pay a clerk, opening doors and dialing the phone for help. When she was at home, her dog was just like a pet that would cuddle and play. When they are wearing their harness/jacket, they are trained that they are working at that time so it is very clear to the dog when to be on guard and wait for instructions. To me, this was a very emotional and moving thing to see how much having an assistance dog could better her life. My family became involved with helping with fundraising efforts for the service dog organization which gave trained dogs at no charge to recipients and as a charity organization, they relied on fundraising events, and silent auctions, etc. Others volunteered as puppy raisers who would raise a dog the first year and do basic obedience training, then the dog would go to a professional trainer to learn the specialized skills. When the dogs were ready, they were paired with a person who came to the facility to learn how to work with the dog. At the end, there was a graduation ceremony and the new owner was presented with their service dog.

Here is a link from the Epilepsy Foundation with more information on seizure dogs.
https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/seizure-first-aid-and-safety/seizure-dogs

Do you know someone who may need a service dog?

It was so kind of your family to become involved with helping with fundraising efforts for the service dog organization which gave trained dogs at no charge to the recipient. This is an idea my mother could have utilized in giving away the ten old English championship breed dog. She would have been giving them away for a special reason as opposed to giving them away to just anyone she knew. The link shows that the dogs are primarily for children, With the location where I am living I do not know anyone who needs a service dog right now.

Laurie

@lsittll Thank you, Laurie! My dad really got into making wood shop projects for fundraising and he set a goal to raise enough money to completetly train one dog. I would help out too at events and gift wrapping for donations during the holidays. We had an Old English Sheepdog when I was a kid. I was little and he was big, so he just moved me out of his way, and would take my food away from me. He didn't do that well with obedience training. With the service dog organizations, often they breed their own because they choose specific breeds that are easier to train and hopefully don't develop problems like hip dysplasia because they have the genetics of the parent dogs. When they are going to put a lot of work into a dog, they want to pick the most compatible and healthiest dog to start with.

@jenniferhunter
I can imagine Old English Sheepdogs not doing well at obedience training. One night after my mother cooked dinner one of the puppies got on the dinner table and ate the entire beef stew my mother just cooked. She couldn't discipline him well,

@lsittll I remember our sheepdog was very stubborn. I don't think my parents had enough patience to be good trainers, and maybe some of it is the attention span and focus of the dog itself. Some breeds may not be good listeners. Our dog was like that too. He would walk up to me and take food off my plate or if he wanted to sit where I was sitting in the car, he just sat on me until I had to move. They may also be just too big to be service dogs when you consider that they could hurt a disabled person with their weight.