How to Train Your Dog to Alert for Seizures

How to Train Your Dog to Alert for Seizures
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Time icon6-48 Months
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Introduction

Every parent dreads not being able to help when their child is in grave danger. For moms and dads of kids with epilepsy, this fear is something that they have to live with day in and day out. Even letting their son or daughter play in the backyard can stir up feelings of anxiety.

A seizure assistance dogs can take the worry out of everyday life if your family is affected by epilepsy. Our canine friends are much more than just cute, furry faces. You can buy a pre-trained pooch (for a fairly hefty sum) or you can embark on teaching a dog how to properly react to a seizure.

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Defining Tasks

A dog's nose is so much better at smelling than a human's. They can actually tell when a seizure is about to happen by the scent of the chemicals released inside the victim. Once a pup has seen a seizure take place, they can be trained to soften the fall of the person, or to go alert another human by barking.

Many canines will respond or alert to a seizure without any training at all, however properly teaching a dog what to do greatly increases how effective they will be for the task. Buying a dog who is already trained can cost up to $20,000, giving you some more motivation to try some teaching yourself. The process can take anywhere from 6 months up to 2 years, and works best if your pooch is exposed to someone who has at least three episodes a month.

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Getting Started

To help kickstart your training process, there are some things you're going to need. These include:

  • The Right Dog: Certain breeds do better at this kind of thing than others. Beyond that, each dog's individual personality also impacts on whether they would make a good service dog or not.
  • Professional Help: Whether you work with an organization or you hire a trainer with experience dealing with epilepsy assistance, you're going to want to work with someone who knows what they're doing. The way that your dog responds could really be life or death for the person involved.
  • Treats: As with any type of conditioning, treats will be your new best friend. Try to find a large bag of small treats for the most effective use.

Remember, teaching your dog to alert while someone is having a seizure is not a small feat. It's going to take a lot of time and determination for this training to be complete.

Below are some methods that will help you on your way to shaping an amazing service animal.

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The Stay Close Method

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4 Votes

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Stay Close method for How to Train Your Dog to Alert for Seizures
1

Grab the treats

Make sure you have the bag of treats with you at all times that your dog is near the seizure patient.

2

Reward clinginess

Toss over some treats and praise your good pup whenever he gets up close to this person.

3

Do this a lot

Constantly encourage your doggo to be by the victim's side so that he starts to pick up in all of their little subtleties.

4

Ensure he sees a seizure

Always have the dog around, so that he can witness a real seizure.

5

Repeat!

After the first seizure, continue to praise him for all contact. Once he has been through several seizures with the person, he should recognize what's about to happen and alert you in some way.

The Positive Reinforcement Method

Effective

5 Votes

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Effective

5 Votes

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Positive Reinforcement method for How to Train Your Dog to Alert for Seizures
1

Have the dog around

Once again, you need to make sure that your pooch sees as many seizures as possible during training.

2

Make the seizure "fun"

It sounds backwards, but if you want your dog to be as alert as possible to a seizure, you need to help them anticipate the event.

3

Use treats and praise

As soon as your pup shows that they know a seizure is coming, try to make it a big deal and give them tons of praise.

4

Keep doing this

For the training to be effective, you're likely going to have to work at it for months on end.

5

Maximize exposure

The more seizures that your dog experiences and that you have a chance to reward, the more deeply ingrained the reaction will be.

The Watch Her Method

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2 Votes

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Watch Her method for How to Train Your Dog to Alert for Seizures
1

Let your dog see a seizure

Have your pupper be there during an entire seizure. The closer the better (while still keeping her safe).

2

Do it again

Try to keep your dog close to the person prone to seizures so that she witnesses a few more.

3

Watch her

After she's seen enough to understand what follows those initial warning signs, watch her closely at the beginning of the next seizure.

4

Learn her signal

At first, it might be something as little as a nudge, but most likely she will exhibit some behavior when she suspects a seizure is imminent.

5

Work to make it obvious

Once you know her warning sign, reward the behavior and work to make it more noticeable. You could teach her to speak each time she shows her signal, until she learns to bark at the beginning of the episode.

By Amy Caldwell

Published: 10/11/2017, edited: 01/08/2021

Training Questions

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Training Questions and Answers

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Eli

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German shepherd mix

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Thirteen Weeks

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Question

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My Mom was diagnosed 2 yrs ago w/ Post Traumatic Epileptic Seizures w/o Epilepsy; it was the next stage in her seizure evolution since 2012. They're not triggered by lights but rather pain, extreme stress, emotional turmoil, etc.. We do everything we can to keep the causes of her seizures to a minimal in addition to her medication. They're extremely violent: she's already lost her eyesight to one. Gratefully she only has a seizure every few months w/ all the precautions implemented. Can I fake having a seizure to let him react to it so he'll be prepared for hers when they come?

Sept. 28, 2022

Eli's Owner

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Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer

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1133 Dog owners recommended

Hello, Yes, seizure alert can either be taught using saliva scent samples taken right after a seizure, or by acting out a seizure and teaching an alert to it. Some seizures cause chemical changes in the body before they are visible, allowing the dog to alert the person before the seizure symptoms begin. Some seizures don't cause those changes that can be detected ahead of time, and the dog can only be taught what to do once seizure symptoms are happening. When you teach a dog to alert to acting out the seizure, the dog will be trained to respond to a seizure that is happening, versus learning to detect the scent of an oncoming seizure (which may or may not be possible in her case depending how seizures are happening in her body anyways). Sometimes, after being taught to alert to a visible seizure - something like going to get help or applying pressure, a dog will begin to make the connection between the external symptoms of the seizure and what they smell during a seizure, and the especially bright dog might notice that smell before symptoms begin and alert on their own beforehand if the seizure is detectable beforehand. Only expect pup to respond to a seizure happing with the acting training in most cases though - so pup can be taught to do something like get help during one. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Oct. 3, 2022

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Krypto

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Pit bull

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16 Months

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He is really good at being by my side constantly, but I want to make sure I am teaching him correctly as to what to do when I do have seizures.

July 11, 2022

Krypto's Owner

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Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer

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1133 Dog owners recommended

Hello Ginny, There are different types of seizures as you probably know. Some cause chemical changes in the body before the seizure is evident, and some don't until the seizure is evident. What a dog can be trained to do partially depends on whether something happens in your body before the seizure is evident. If the seizure changes your chemistry before its evident, many dogs can be taught to alert before a seizure has begun. If your chemistry doesn't change until after the seizure is evident, then the dog can only be taught to alert people that one is actively happening to you. Training a dog to alert before one is evident when your body chemistry changes, is often done by taking saliva samples right after a seizure and teaching pup to perform an alert like barking whenever they smell a saliva sample taken after a seizure, opposed to your normal daily saliva samples pup is taught not to alert to. If your body chemistry doesn't change, or if you want to train pup to also alert when one is actively happening - like to get help, then you can either teach pup to alert with a saliva scent sample or by pretending to have a seizure. Pup is taught an alert on cue, like Barking when you say speak. Then you act out the seizure while saying "Speak", and practice it until pup will bark before you say Speak, when you just pretend to have the seizure. Once pup is starting to bark when you act out the seizure before you are saying the word, then act out the seizure but wait seven seconds before giving the verbal command - to see if pup will alert to just the acting without the word, giving the verbal cue after seven seconds if pup doesn't, like a hint, to help pup learn to pay attention to the acting more. For scent detection, pup is taught an alert on cue like Speak, then pup is given that command when they sniff the seizure saliva sample, practicing until pup will Speak when they sniff the sample before you say Speak, doing the same seven second delay described before, until pup can alert consistently to just the scent sample without needing that verbal cue. Once pup is alerting to the seizure saliva sample, then you also take normal samples at non-seizure related times, and practice with both samples - rewarding the alerts to the seizure one and not rewarding the incorrect alerts to the normal sample, until pup is able to tell the difference consistently. When pup can tell the difference, then you would plant the seizure saliva sample on yourself, like a pocket, and reward pup for alerting to that whenever they detect that smell on you. Samples are generally taken by sucking on a piece of gauze immediately after the seizure while your body chemistry still smells the way it likely did during the seizure, putting that sample in a freezer ziploc bag, then the bag into a container with a lid, and taking the sample out of the freezer for practice sessions, to keep that scent viable for several practice sessions. There is a lot of practice then helping pup be able to do it reliably and only when the sample or situation mimics a seizure, and not at other times. Connecting with other owner trainer in your city through social media groups on facebook, instagram, or youtube can also be helpful, in addition to watching videos of how this is trained. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

July 11, 2022


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