Find Help For Your Illness In A Medical Alert Service Dog
Service dogs are very valuable for people who struggle with certain medical conditions or physical disabilities. Seeing eye dogs are some of the most common training animals. However, service animals can do much more than guide people who have lost their sight. Medical alert service dogs can provide advance warning for people who deal with chronic illnesses. If you suffer from one of these conditions, you're a good candidate for a medical alert service dog:
1. Epilepsy
People with epilepsy suffer from seizures. These seizures can strike at random times, often without warning. As a result of these seizures, patients can sometimes hurt themselves by falling or striking their head against the ground. A medical alert service dog can sense impending seizures. They will alert you, so you can lie on the ground in a safe position. If you have a seizure, your dog is trained to impose their body between your head and the ground in order to protect you from injury.
2. Diabetes
Medical alert service dogs can be very valuable to people who suffer from advanced diabetes. Your dog will be able to alert you if your blood sugar drops to dangerously low levels. They can also alert you if your blood sugar climbs too high. Dogs manage to do this by detecting changes in your smell. By alerting you to an impending blood sugar emergency, your dog gives you adequate time to medicate yourself with insulin or glucose.
3. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Service dogs can also help people who suffer from mental illness. Post traumatic stress disorder affects people who have lived through trauma. Flashbacks can sometimes be triggered by everyday events, and these flashbacks can compromise your physical and mental well-being. Service dogs are attuned to their owners' body language; a service dog can often detect an impending panic attack before you do. Your service dog can apply pressure by sitting on your lap or chest, which many people find soothing. They can also fetch your anti-anxiety medication and bring you a phone to call for help.
The waiting list for medical alert service dogs can be long, and these animals can be prohibitively expensive. If you're willing to do some work yourself, a medical alert service dog training service can help you train a dog of your own. You'll provide your own puppy, and then an expert trainer will teach your puppy to perform all the tasks of a medical alert service dog. If you want to go this route, remember that some dogs are more suited to becoming service animals than others; choose a puppy that is calm, confident, intelligent, and eager to please.