Job 12:7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,”
Training Information
At our inception, we at the Canine Seizure
Assist Society of North Carolina felt it may be better for the alerting
success of a seizure assist dog not to train the dogs in a facility. It is
our practice to assist the client in choosing a puppy or dog for this type
of work. The dog immediately goes home with the human for whom he/she will
work. We feel that this allows the animal/human bonding process to begin
immediately and allows the client to better understand what their dog is
trying to tell them. If we receive a call from a person with epilepsy who
feels their pet dog is alerting before the onset of a seizure, we will
evaluate that dog and assist in training for service.
After the dog has lived with the client for a couple of weeks, our trainer
goes to the client’s home to train the dog. The client is involved in
everything that is done with their dog. We have had clients say that working
with their puppy “gives them a purpose – a reason to get out of bed”.
It makes it difficult to assist in training dogs when the person lives too
far for us to drive. We have, however, worked with people in all parts of
the United States and as far away as New Zealand trying to provide advice in
how we train these dogs. We are happy to send as much information as we have
to a trainer who has been asked to train a dog for a person with epilepsy.
We are nearing completion of a “Trainer’s Manual” and also a book that will
be available in book stores covering everything we do with seizure assist
dogs from helping a person decide if a service dog is what they really want
through training and all information we have up until the dog is ready for
retirement.
To obtain training information, please contact us at
704-663-1427.
CSAS Application Process
If you would like to apply for our help in choosing and training a seizure
assist dog, please either telephone us at 704-663-1427 or send an e-mail to
csasnc@att.net. We will mail an application to you.
Upon receipt of your returned application, we will schedule a time to come
to your home and interview you. We do require that a statement from your
physician stating that you do have a seizure disorder and that you working
with your dog will in no way impair the physician’s treatment be sent with
your application.
After the interview, the decision will be made as to whether or not we will
be able to assist you.
Please be aware that we have often been requested to train a dog to break a
person’s fall during a seizure. We will NOT train a dog to do anything that
will likely injure the dog.
