[nagdu] Combo dogs

[Criminal Justice Major Extraordinaire]

Dear, Tracy,
I figure no matter what type of training any service dog goes through, it can be challenging.
People make it like it all sounds easy, but I can't believe that one one bit.
Odie and I had our ups and downs during the time he was a guide dog.
He is now a medical alert response working dog and no, he wasn't trained for this part by any agency.
He naturally began alerting to medical troubles when he was two and a half years old.
He alerted to a good friend of mine's cardiaac arrest two to three days prior before she sadly didn't survive it, then going on to alert my late husband of a heart attack, then another person who was wheelchair mobile with seizures.
He'd stand up on his back legs with his paws on her shoulders, giving her the same look as her other seizure response had done.
I didn't know what to think at first when she told me how it all unfolded.
I couldn't just call that individual a liar as I had to be careful.
When he alerted her a second time, then, I figured if he had to retire from guide dog work, he could still be a service dog, but as a medical alert response partner.
The third time he alerted of a seizure was when we were on the route38 bus.
It happened February 1, 2010.
He began to look over at a lady catty corner from where I planned to sit.
I usually sat by the front door on the route hand side of the bus, so the driver could see me and Odie too.
During that twenty minute bus ride, Odie started acting up, becoming uncomfortable and stressing out.
I almost gave him a leash correction, but had to stop myself when an off duty medical nurse told the bus driver the lady next to her was having a seizure.
Needless to say, the lady refused to wait for medical help and decided to get off the bus anyway.
She almost flipped face first off of the steps on to the ground.
Odie saw what was happening and he immediately crossed over the white line so he could prevent her from falling face first.
Her hands ended up touching his shoulder blades, but I didn't care.
The bus driver was just as shocked as I; he never experienced a service dog such as a guide alert to an unknown individual's seizure.
Once 2011 came into full swing: May 2, that was the evening I had my very first seizure.
A month later, June 16, 2011, Odie started following me around while I was doing a few walking laps to loosen up my left hip.
I suddenly stopped in the middle of the bedroom and down I went.
Again, Odie sensed what was coming; quickly rolled himself on to the floor up in a ball, tucking all of his legs underneath him.
I fell right on top of my partner and began to seizure.
Odie stayed with me during the ordeal, helping keep my head elevated so I would choke on my tongue.
Another interesting thing of Odie and his unique abilities is also alerting to low blood sugar.
My father is a major diabetic and Odie will usually smell his blood sugar dropping.
He has bugged the heck out of my father during those eppisodes.
I always do praise him with a good boy and he still continues to keep on doing his job.
I do wish that our guide dog schools would start looking into more than just guide dog training.
More and more blind people are ending up with various medical ailments like myself and it would be great if they could start moving into that direction.
I'm sure if I told all the guide dog schools some more about Odie's abilities, I'm sure many would think I'm crazy.
Thankfully, when I've been able to share some of his stories with Pilot Dogs, they were impressed as it seemed Odie was probably the first guide dog from their training school to do more than just the guiding, go way beyond his duty.
Although he is eleven and a half years old in two months, Odie is still going on strong.
He enjoys his MAR work and still goes out with me.
When I do need to use my power wheelchair, I tie Odie's leash around the hinge of my seat, then thread the rest of it through the loop.
I attach his leash on to the D ring of his Kong nylon walk harness, orange vest fitting over it and we're off.
If you have any other questions on how Odie and I work as a medical alert response team, feel free to ask away.
My belief is that our working canine partners deserve more credit than what they are given.
Bibi and MAR son Odie