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| Echo, my Australian Shepherd |
We got Echo last year as a family pet and had no intention of trying to train him to be my seizure dog. He's been a great addition to our family. Over the summer my seizure type changed and I began having more seizures. Fortunately they seem to be simple partials and present as stomach pain, nausea, vomiting. In November I had an unwitnessed seizure. 2 hours before the seizure happened, Echo would not leave me alone. He kept jumping on me and following me around the house. We didn't think anything of it and I left to see a movie. When I came home, the same thing happened. Echo kept jumping on me and wouldn't leave me alone and even started barking at me. Within 30 minutes I had a seizure.
A few weeks ago I was at my friends house when I had another seizure. I came home and as soon as I walked in the door Echo started jumping on me. He followed me everywhere until I laid down on the couch and then he sniffed me and laid down next to me on the floor. I didn't tell my parents, but while laying on the couch my stomach started hurting again and I got nauseated. That was probably another seizure.
We made a family decision this evening that we will invest the time and energy into trying to train Echo to be a seizure alert/response dog. He seems to already alert so we will need to work on other training with him. This will be a huge undertaking for us because we really do not have any experience in training.
My mom said she would feel better when I go out if I had a seizure dog with me. She knows that it's not always possible for my friends to go with me and a seizure dog would be peace of mind for her.
I know if anyone can do it, my family can. I will keep you updated on our progress through this blog.
Love,
Kaitlin
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