Little Girl's Seizure Alert Dog, Jack

 

This is such a cute video about the loving bond between dog and little girl. Jack was found in a dumpster by the humane society and later adopted by this family in the video. Click on the link to watch the video and see how Jack has changed the life of one little girl. It made me cry.

http://www.godvine.com/Thrown-Away-Dog-Saves-a-Little-Girl-from-Death-671.html

A Little Bad News But Lots of Great News

Bad News:
Sadly to say I had a seizure on Saturday.  The stress of moving to a new city has that effect on me. 

Great News:

While at the Denver Greek Festival, Charlie and I were chilling at a table taking a break from the heat.  I started to feel a bit weird (I call it seizurey and for anyone who has seizures knows exactly what I am talking about) and all of the sudden Charlie started to bark at me.  He started quietly and then it got louder and louder and more persistent.  I thought maybe he was thirsty, but that wasn't it.  Paul and I hightailed it out of there and we made it to the car and Paul started driving home. I had one a couple of minutes into our drive.  I feel fine and no harm done thanks to the amazing Charlie giving me about a ten minute warning so I could get to a safe and private place to have my seizure.  I slept the rest of the evening as I felt like I had ran a marathon. 

I am doing great now and am back up and running.  I am so proud of Charlie for several reasons.

1. He is a bit rusty on sensing the seizures as I had one a year ago in Berlin, Germany and he wasn't with me then and the one before that was a year before so it had been 2 years since he had been around a seizure.

2. He just rocks and everytime he is right.

3. Having him makes having seizures really no big deal.

Thanks Charlie for taking care of me. I love you!

Flying with a Service Dog- Airport Potty Stations

I love flying out of Dulles Airport in Washington DC because they have 2 service dog potty stations right in the terminals. The one Charlie used was by gate D1 (between gate D and C) and I believe there is another one between gates A and B.

This potty station really helps out when we have a long flight ahead of us. Recently we went to Anaheim to go to Disneyland and the flight was 5 1/2 hours so it was great to potty Charlie right before we boarded the plane. I wish more airports would design a room like this for those traveling with a service dog.

Angry Day

Today was an angry day. Today reminded me why people can be frustrating and lots of people can be overwhelming. Charlie and I took the DC metro to meet Paul to go shopping at Costco, out to dinner and to the dog park. While rushing to get to the metro, I walked up to the front of the train and the metro doors were closing and I didn't make it in time. The train conductor was right there getting ready to drive the train and could obviously see me and Charlie and I said "Please sir it is hot down here, can you please open the doors?" and he said "No catch another train." and drove off. I had to wait about 10 minutes for the next train.

The reason this angers me so isn't so much for me, but for all my friends out there with disabilities that may be a bit more physically debilitated than I. This man had no idea my disability but it was obvious I had one as I had a dog assist me and he was so quick to slam the doors in my face. How often do those in wheelchairs or walkers or those using medical dogs get told tough luck and to try again? It can be very hard for those with disabilities to move around and for someone to not be willing to help them out just makes me sick.

Later, I was changing trains and was trying to get on the train and it was very crowded. I looked down a train car and saw a women in a wheelchair get bypassed as people crowded in front of her to make the train and she did not make the train because no one would make room for her. I didn't make this train either as everyone pushed in front of Charlie and I. What is wrong with people? Are they just too busy to see that maybe someone needs a little assistance?

Then at Costco the woman working the door told me I couldn't bring Charlie in the store and when I kindly told her that he was a service dog, she laughed at me and made a face, you know the "that is such a crock of crap" face. I kindly said "would you like to see some ID and it isn't nice to make faces at people and place judgments." That shut her up.

So that was mine and Charlie's day. Boo to stupid and overly important people.

the introduction

 

Hello lovely readers. I find that where ever I go with Charlie I get stopped because either

A. Charlie is "soooo cute"
B. People have a million questions about what he does
C. I am being interrogated that Charlie can not enter a place of business
D. People think I am faking it

I figure that someone out there obviously is interested in this little guy and our story, so I have decided 'what the hey' maybe I will write about us and someone out there will read about our adventures and smile, cry, laugh, or become informed.

Here is the short and skinny about Charlie Pants and me.

Me. Name, Leah Stone. Wife. Dog Lover. Grad Student. 28 years old. No Kids, 2 dogs Jack and Charlie. Entrepreneur. Musician. Artist. Lover of beautiful things like interior design, outdoors, music, art, a good book, anything vintage and old, and animals. I started having seizures at 24 years of age.

Charlie. Full name Charlie Pants. 5 years old. Trained Seizure Alert Service Dog. 15 pounds and slightly pudgy. Protector of all things around Leah. Big brother to "little brother" Jack, a 90 pound doberman. Smart. World Traveler. Lover of stuffed animals, stealing human food, barking at people outside, dog treats, and clicker training. Dead on of alerting me of a seizure about 5-10 minutes before it happens. Holder of the name to my music business Charlie Pants Music www.charliepantsmusic.com

People always ask me, "How does Charlie know that is seizure is coming?"

I usually reply by saying that how dogs detect an oncoming seizure in a human is a mystery. Some trainers and researchers think they detect subtle changes in human behavior or scent before an episode occurs. There is no scientific studies, however, to prove these theories. Trainers also believe the behavior is not breed, age or gender specific in dogs. Charlie was just born with this remarkable ability, as are other seizure alert dogs. This sets them apart from other types of service animals.

The next question I usually get is "Well how do you know he is telling you?"

Charlie, as well as other seizure alert dogs, exhibit attention-getting behaviors such as whining, pawing, licking, or anxious barking. Charlie's behavior is to lick my face very erratically and if he can't get to my face he whines and acts crazy until he gets my attention. Once he gets my attention, he locks eyes with me and wont stop until I lie down. Once I lie down, Charlie lays next to me. My husband says that when I am seizing Charlie tries to lick my mouth and nose and we have heard from trainers that this is his way of making sure I am still breathing.

How did he learn how to do this?

Well it is natural, but his alerting behavior was and is rewarded with food usually by someone other that me cause I am having a seizure. Charlie is trained to stay with me during a seizure or to press a button on the phone that dials 911.

This is a study that shows you just how special a dog like Charlie is.

A study in 1998 involved questionnaires completed by 29 dog owners who had seizures at least once a month. Of the 29 subjects, nine reported that their dog responded to a seizure. These dogs remained close to their human companions either standing or lying alongside them, sometimes licking the person's face or hands during and immediately after the seizure. Of the nine dogs reported to respond, three were said to also alert their owners to an impending seizure about three minutes in advance.


So there it is. What Charlie does, how he does it, and why he is so special. Charlie wasn't always a service dog. He started out as a family dog. He was actually a year and a half when he started his training, but because he was already alerting me of my seizures he was able to get certified as a service dog as long as he could become obedient in public.

All I know is that Charlie is the most amazing dog in the world. Thanks to him I have my freedom back and am not afraid to go anywhere because I know he will take care of me.

We would love your comments on this blog so we know someone is listening.

love,
leah and charlie pants




Jo, Me and Charlie in Chicago



















Charlie and Me at Fountain Head Lake