[nagdu] Combo dogs

[Applebutter Hill]

Bibi,
Odie sounds like a truly remarkable dog. We have a nephew who is diabetic
and he had a pet dog years ago who saved his life on two occasions when he
fell into a diabetic coma overnight when he and his wife were asleep. The
dog awakened his wife, and in both cases the paramedics said he wouldn't
have made it, if the dog hadn't intervened.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Criminal Justice
Major Extraordinaire via nagdu
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2015 10:36 AM
To: Tracy Carcione; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Combo dogs

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
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