James R. Speiser, DVM, DABVP, CCRT
February 17, 2017
We all know that dogs make fantastic pets and can help to enrich our lives every day, but did you know that many can also be trained to be the difference between life and death? Medical alert dogs have been specially trained to help people identify the onset of a medical condition such as a seizure, or diabetes, and can help their owner safely prevent or handle their condition.
Certain dogs can use their keen sense of smell - up to 10,000 times more powerful than ours - to sense a medical condition in a person and alert their owner to prevent a crisis from occurring. For example, seizure alert dogs can detect a seizure up to a minute or two prior to the seizure and alert their owner to take pre-seizure medication.
Below are some of the ways that a medical alert dog can help their owners:
Seizure response dogs
Can detect an impending seizure up to 30 minutes in advance
Summon help
Pull dangerous objects away
Help steer their conscious owner away from dangerous areas
Rouse their unconscious owner
Carry important information
Diabetic alert dogs
Give an alert signal during an episode
Detect a change in blood sugar levels
Rouse a sleeping owner to check their blood sugar
Medical detection dogs can detect
Autoimmune diseases & heart disease
Adrenal failure
Blood pressure & asthma problems
Early stage ovarian cancer
Breast cancer & lung cancer
Having advanced knowledge prior to a medical condition occurring allows the animals owner to take appropriate and sometimes life saving action like getting to a safe place, getting needed help, or taking emergency preventative medication.
