Back in 2009 I started training service dogs in Tucson, AZ. There was a reason for this. I was getting dog training clients with service dogs from the large programs who were developing nasty behavior issues. The programs weren’t willing to do behavior modification for these dogs and were only willing to give the person a new dog. What happened to the dog with issues was unknown.
These dogs, despite their issues, were loved and relied on by their handlers. Starting fresh with a new dog meant at least a year of familiarizing that new dog with everything about the handler’s life. It also most likely meant that the person was again put on a waiting list for a new dog. Those waiting lists can be 3 to 5 years long.
So I started training service dogs as well as helping those with behavior change on the dogs they currently had that others had originally trained. At the same time, I trained my own dog to watch my blood sugar levels and also alert me when a migraine was going to happen.
At this time, I didn’t know I was doing something that couldn't be done, that it wasn’t “proven” by science that a dog could do these things. One of my first clients had seizures. Another area that is still hotly contested today. Dogs, it is said, will only start alerting to seizures if they love you enough to care. There is no science, “they say”, to prove that you can train a dog to alert to a seizure long before it starts.
But I did it and continued to do it despite the naysayers who don’t seem to understand that science comes after the pioneers have proven that something can be done. Science tells us great things, and often helps us understand why things work. But most of human progress has come from the accidents, the experiments, and the surprised observations of what works out. I realize there are those out there that have singled out seizure alert as something to argue over because there are very few studies showing that it works. But I want to point out a few things.
Diabetic alert has yet to be "proven". The substance - isoprene- that they thought was the item in 2016 has since been shown to be wrong. And yet there are hundreds of trainers who teach dogs diabetic alert every day. There is no "science" that proves that ANY medical alert can be trained.
There is no "science" proving that dogs can follow whales by their poop, yet they are trained to that and do that.
Pioneers flew planes, created TV, discovered the uses of electricity, etc. ad nauseum LONG before there were any studies. Science generally doesn't create, they only study that which has already been created and tested in the real world, and gives some proof of reliability.
Pioneers exist in the field of medical alert. I'm one of them.
In that first year of training service dogs, I trained for seizure alert and response, autism support and alert for anger and tantrums, diabetes, mobility, and PTSD (also included alerting to an oncoming panic attack). Since then, I’ve also trained for anaphylaxis, POTS, EDS, Mold allergies, narcolepsy, MCAS, depression, other panic disorders, memory issues, blood pressure issues and more. I’ve also trained dogs to detect cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, kidney disease, valley fever and SARS COV-2.
There are already thousands of disabled people who are training their service dogs either with the help of books and YouTube videos or with the help of a trainer. Except for a few online platforms with codified curriculums, mostly for those wanting to be a service dog trainer or platforms for specifically training a diabetic alert dog, there are no tested and proven programs to assist the owner trainer. Until now.
In June, I am launching an online program to help everyone have a medical alert service dog without spending an arm and a leg or spending tens of hours with an online fund-raising campaign. This program puts together several of my individual courses into one huge opportunity to train the dog of your dreams.
You can do all of the exercises or pick and choose. There is a community forum to chat with other students all who are working to train their perfect medical alert service dog. There are also two special sections on the ethics and responsibility of service dog handlers and employees of businesses that service dogs visit. These two sections include US Federal law and each states laws as of 2020.
\You can Pre-Order this course now! A Dog For Me (thinkific.com)
