Not long ago, a friend asked me about dog-related charities that he and his wife, childless except for their dogs, could remember in their wills. That got me thinking about the incredible service dogs out there, so I wrote about this subject in my January 2013 column in the AKC Gazette.
Over the years, numerous news stories have featured dogs who sniffed out illnesses, including a Standard Schnauzer whose nose could detect cancer. Back then, I thought “How interesting,” but I didn’t tumble to our Standard Schnauzers—Murphy (Rainbow Bridge1999 at 14), Emma, and Clancy—sniffing and nose-nudging my left breast. Then in 2005, a phone call after a routine mammogram informed me I had left-breast cancer. Surgery turned up five small slow-growing malignancies; my surgeon thought they had begun growing at least twenty years before detection (there are two morals to this story–get your mammograms, and pay attention when your dog is trying to tell you something!).
In the USA, the Code of Federal Regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm) defines a service animal as “any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.”
The Act gives persons with disabilities the right to be accompanied by their service animal anywhere the general public is allowed. Additional federal laws protect people with disabilities partnered with service animals from discrimination in housing (the Fair Housing Amendments Act: www.ada.gov/cguide.htm) and on aircraft (the Air Carrier Access Act: www.disabilitytravel.com/airlines/air_carrier_act_details.htm).
Service dogs help those with visual or hearing impairment live near-normal lives. The late Nancy Aronstam (Stone Pine Standard Schnauzers) worked tirelessly for Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc, San Rafael, California (www.guidedogs.com).
Assistance Dogs International is a coalition of organizations that provide trained service dogs (www.assistancedogsinterrnational.org). Their website states: “Service Dogs…can be trained to work with people who use power or manual wheelchairs, have balance issues, have…autism, need seizure alert or response, need to be alerted to other medical issues…, or have psychiatric disabilities.” These dogs can retrieve objects out of their person’s reach; pull wheelchairs; open and close doors; turn light switches off and on; bark to indicate help is needed; find and lead another individual to their person; provide balance and counterbalance to assist ambulatory persons in walking; provide deep pressure; and many other individual tasks needed by a disabled person.
Seizure dogs assist persons with epilepsy (4pawsforability.org). Hairless or short-coat dogs provide soothing heat for people with chronic pain like fibromyalgia or arthritis (pawsforcomfort.com). Autism service dogs are trained to help calm their owners, minimize emotional outbursts, and help advance social skills (autismservicedogsofamerica.com). Diabetic alert dogs (dogs4diabetes.com) sense chemical changes in persons when blood sugar gets low. Trained service or therapeutic companion dogs (soldiersbestfriend.org) help our military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI).
At http://www.akc.org/dogowner/training/therapy/index.cfm is a summary of the AKC’s new Therapy Dog program, explaining the difference between service and therapy dogs, how to earn the ThD title, and contact information for national and regional therapy dog organizations.
Our furry friends help strengthen immune systems, lower blood pressure, soothe emotional distress, elevate mood, relieve depression, increase seratonin and dopamine levels, reduce anxiety, combat stress, listen without judgment, absorb tears, provide fun and companionship, and most important, give unconditional love.
Shouldn’t we give back by contributing time or money to any of these dog-related charities that train dogs to help us?
Copyright © 2013 Suzanne T. Smith. All rights reserved.