[nagdu] Local business asks service dog to leave

[Katrin Andberg]

Dogs who naturally alert to conditions are not service animals.  A natural
alert is not trained.  What can turn that natural alerter into a service
animal is actual training in response behaviors and tasks to assist the
disabled handler when a condition is alerted to.  For seizure alert dogs I
believe the current thought % is 20-30% of dogs can naturally alert to a
seizure in their handler, these dogs are not by default service animals.  I
have a friend who has a seizure alert and response dog and she will say a
thousand times over what benefits her more is having the dog trained in
response behaviors such as clearing an airway, guiding her safely around
objects and drop offs when she is postictal, and other such behaviors.
While it is nice to know a seizure is coming, what is generally more
important is staying safe after.

 

Katrin 

 

Katrin Andberg

 <mailto:katrin at maplewooddog.com> katrin at maplewooddog.com