INTERVIEW WITH SUE
Conducted: Monday, June 13, 2005
What do you feel owning a service dog has done for your level of independence?
I feel that it has given it back to me.
How many years have you had a service dog for? How many dogs have you had?
Since 1990, I have owned 3 dogs. My second dog only worked for a short period of time before it began having seizures, so it could not fulfill its duties and had to be given away.
Do you feel that people started treating you differently when you got a service dog?
Definitely- they seemed to be almost afraid of me before. They were unsure of what might happen, and they feared that they wouldn't know what to do as a result. Once I got Seiko (my first service dog), whether they knew me well or not they seemed to be more comfortable around me. They felt that no matter what happened the dog would look after me. They didn't feel as though it was their responsibility anymore.
How do they generally react to the dog?
People are usually friendly with her. Even people who ordinarily have a fear of dogs don't seem to feel fear when they see the harness on the dog. The dog knows what she is doing, so people take comfort in the situation. They are put at ease by the fact that no matter what happens, the dog will do her work and not pay any heed to the distractions around her.
What is the name of your dog and how long have you had her for?
The name of my dog is Cherokee. I raised her from puppy hood, and she has been working with me for about 3 and a half years.
How did you feel when you first took her home?
I felt really excited from the start, but understood that this would entail a lot of work. Especially with the first dog, Seiko, it was a matter of realizing how much work it would take on a day to day basis; so that he could learn to work with me. There were many scheduled things to do everyday, but I felt that I had my independence back. For almost 2 and a half years I could not go out alone, and when I got Seiko I was finally able to do that again. Due to the nature of my seizures I tend to go into status epilepticus quite often, therefore my husband used to phone 8-10 times a day to make sure that I was ok, and that I was able to answer the phone. After having Seiko for 8 months my husband and I one day realized that he had started to only phone once a day- to let me know that he was on his way home from work.
How did your family react to Seiko (the first service dog)?
My husband was very happy, because he felt much more comfortable leaving for work everyday- knowing that I would be in safe paws. For my kids the problem was learning that when Seiko was in harness, he couldn't be played with. When he was out of harness he was treated like a pet dog, but when in uniform he needed to pay attention. For a working dog the rules are different, but when the harness came off Seiko did a beautiful pet dog impression!
What are some of the biggest misconceptions about service dogs?
Most people do not realize that a service dog is more work than a regular pet dog. The service dog has to follow along beside you and do work when it arises. The owner of the service dog has to learn how to work with the dog; there are a lot more things to do and responsibilities than there would be with a pet dog. A service dog goes everywhere with you, including flying on a plane. If you are going down and spending a weekend at a seminar, the dog has to be there with you. You have to make accommodations for the dog when you go away: regular potty trips, bringing dog food, bowls, and flexis for exercising. A flexi lead is a lead that is about 8 metres long, so it allows the dog to run a bit. For instance, if the owner tosses a ball, the dog still has enough freedom to run and fetch it. It is very useful in certain situations. If you find yourself in an area that does not have any fenced in places for your dog, then you can keep the dog on the flexi and still allow it to play. It does sometimes happen that a person with a service dog cannot find a place for their dog to play very easily. This is a result of the fact that a service dog cannot be taken to dog parks (unlike pet dogs), because one cannot take the chance of someone else bringing a dog in that has never before been socialized.
What does Cherokee do when you get a seizure? How does she react?
She does a couple of things. I have both complex partial and tonic-clonic seizures. When I have a seizure indoors I tend to walk beside the wall or approach furniture and sit down. Cherokee stands on top of me, until I can say the word "off". This approach works because my ability to speak doesn't return until after the seizure is over. The injury rate has gone way down, because Cherokee prevents me from doing things that could harm me while in the midst of a seizure. For instance, Cherokee will not let me walk down the stairs, if she feels that I am not ready. This is useful, because before having service dogs I did sometimes fall down the stairs, which can result in unnecessary pain and worry. During a tonic-clonic seizure, Cherokee pushes the life line button. Tonic-clonic seizures cause me to go into status epilepticus most of the time.
Cherokee wears a harness attached to a lead that I hold. I also wear a nylon belt that is attached to the harness, so even if I drop the lead we're still attached. When I am outdoors and a seizure starts I'll walk a lot, unlike indoors (where I'll sit down). This has created many problems. I have even been hit by cars twice. Cherokee helps out because she is trained to stop at the curb- she stops about a metre back. She won't step forward and let me cross until I can say the word "forward". Again, when having a seizure I can't speak; so this is just another way to protect myself. In the past, Cherokee has sat down on me, she's turned me around, and she has pulled me back from the curb.
Do you think that service dogs can predict seizures?
Cherokee can tell when a seizure is coming; she can almost detect it. There are a variety of things that she may pick up on: some people have a distinct change in body odours right before a seizure begins, and there is sometimes a faint difference in speech patterns or the way a person walks. There seem to be behaviours that dogs can pick up on before humans can. Unfortunately, until we can find out exactly what dogs are reacting to in people when they have seizures, we can't train a dog to alert someone before the seizure- only help them during and after. After working with a person for a while, the dog becomes accustomed to that person; so it's easier for them to pick up on these cues.
Usually Cherokee is not allowed on furniture, but once she ran up and jumped beside me on the couch. Normally I would not have permitted this and would have told Cherokee to get off; however, this time I let her stay. This was lucky because I started having a seizure soon after. I find having a service dog really comforting; I don't feel alone anymore.
What do you feel is the best breed to become a service dog?
Cherokee is a standard poodle; all of my dogs have been standard poodles.
Standard poodles are not the best service dogs for children. They are not the first pick because the dog has to go to school with the child; you need a dog that's comfortable lying underneath the desk. Higher energy dogs like standard poodles are not very good at this kind of task. They are best for outings and physical things like going out; therefore they are better with adults.
Have you traveled with one of your service dogs before?
I have travelled across Canada, and various parts of the United States of America, as well as Mexico, and parts of Europe, like France and Holland with my dog.
Mexico was the country where people seemed the most taken aback by the service dog. They are a bit behind in the assistance dog industry, so they wouldn't normally imagine dogs being trained for these tasks. On planes I do not usually have any difficulty because legally, service dogs are allowed on the plane at their owner's feet. I encountered a problem once on a plane; the first time to Holland on Air Canada, they said "no" to my dog, Seiko. This was the early 90s, and at that point in time people recognized only guide dogs for the visually impaired; no other type of assistance dog was standard yet, for instance dogs that help people with other physical disabilities like epilepsy, or even hearing. It basically boiled down to the fact that if the dog wasn't helping a person without sight, then the dog was not allowed on the plane. This was the first eye opener for me that life with a service dog wouldn't necessarily always be so easy. Due to my experiences I helped implement changes in the National Transportation Agency rules and regulations. The people I worked with were terrific, and were floored that nothing had been done before.
What is the service dog training like?
It takes 6-8 months, if you are using positive reinforcement training, which is also known as clicker training. Essentially, a clicker is used in the process, hence the name. When you click the clicker you also feed the dog a piece of hot dog and you'll see that after about a minute they've caught on to the fact that the sound of a click signifies a reward. Basically, a click means that the dog gets a treat- it is a positive response. For instance, if you are teaching a 6 week old puppy to sit, watch the puppy and as soon as they sit down on the floor, click the clicker and hand them a treat. It takes only 3-4 times before they realize that "when my tush hits the floor I get the treat". Once this is happening with regularity, introduce a key word- start saying "seat". It seems like a bit of a backwards process, but it is highly effective, in my opinion.
I'll provide you with this example. It can take about 6 weeks to teach a guide dog (a dog for the visually impaired) to turn a light switch on and off, but with the clicker technique it takes about an hour to an hour and a half. After that it's just reinforcement. Once a service dog comes into someone's home, it takes lots of work because they have to learn how to work with their dog introducing tasks on their end, i.e. how to operate the light switch at front door. The dog and owner have to practice at one switch, do it several times, be sure that the dog has it down pat, and then start on the next light switch (or task). It can take 2-3 weeks to make sure that the dog understands how to operate all of the light switches. People need to understand that it is a lot of work owning and training a service dog. When a dog doesn't do what you're asking it to, you ignore it, when they do it correctly you praise them. They learn quickly that way.
Would you recommend that others try to obtain service dogs?
I absolutely recommend it. Although service dogs are beneficial for most people they are not right for everyone. Some people are not willing to put the necessary amount of work into it, so they will not achieve the same results; most likely a service dog is not a good idea for these people. Not every day will require the same amount of work, but for the first 8 months to a year, you'll be putting in a lot more work than you thought you would. Somewhere in that period of time, people start to feel that they and their dog are working together as one. Somewhere along the way that feeling arises through the work that they've done with their dog.
More information about Key Companions
I started Key Companions in 1995. I wanted to do something different. All dogs at the time were trained by a trainer, but not with the help of the owner; which is crucial.
At that point in time people weren't able to raise their own puppies to become service dogs. Most organizations still make it so that dogs are raised by foster parents, then go through training and then meet the people they will work for after training. I wanted to offer the option to be able to raise your puppy; to be able to foster them as a working dog. I have kept Key Companions small; I have chosen not to expand it too much. In fact, the website that we once had was actually shut down because it was too hard to control, due to demand. In one year Key Companions usually trains about 5 or 6 dogs. The funds for these dogs are raised in a variety of ways. People that are within their community and clubs in the neighbourhood will often contribute.
What happens to service dogs when they get too old to "serve"?
After service dogs retire quite often they will stay with families, but sometimes this just is not possible. Sometimes if a service dog is with someone who really has physical limitations, where working with one dog is strenuous, to have a second dog come in and also still have to look after the first can be too much for them. Many people will start looking for a home before their service dog has retired, just so that they know that the dog will be placed in good hands. What has worked well with many people in the past is that when their service dog retires, they place it in the home of friends or relatives.
A problem that arises when the first service dog retires and is kept in the home with the second dog (the new service dog), is that the first basically won't quit the job. However, from my experience, the two dogs usually interact well with each other. This is due to the fact that service dogs go through socialization from puppy hood, meeting people and dogs in all kinds of different situations. By the time they are 16-20 weeks they have already met more dogs than most pet dogs do in their lifetime. If you own a service dog and you are visiting a friend who has a pet or service dog there is a trick that I like to use. Have the person's dog go to the backyard, and let them stay out there for 10-15 minutes, so they've had plenty of time to play around in their territory, and then let your dog out- it'll have to be nice. I also recommend not stepping in when the dogs are communicating with each other. Things like: which dog can bark the loudest and growling sounds are dog speak; they don't need to be interfered with.
If someone is looking for a service dog should they contact you?
By all means they can contact me. They need to know that Key companions can't accept new applicants right now, because there are piles of foster dogs that are coming in. Anyone should still feel free to contact me. Whether you want a recommendation for which organization would be best to obtain a service dog from, or if you just have a few questions that you'd like answered- I'm here.
