NZ Soon Will Have Diabetes Response Dog

This has taken me awhile to check out, but it is for real and New Zealand will shortly have its first trained diabetes response dog. Service dogs are not new to New Zealand, but there are dogs for the blind, hearing impaired, and for mobility or disability assistance.

In researching the topic of service dogs in New Zealand, I found out that they have dogs for security, police dogs, and other service dogs. New Zealand is up front in their rules and regulations more than the USA and very clear about who is in charge and the procedures to be followed. The USA is obtuse and too lenient with their regulations. There are rules for flying on New Zealand's airlines, for entering the country (importing) your service dog and what must be done beforehand.

The dogs for diabetes resulted after Merenia Donne was injured in a serious car accident. She established a charity to train disability assistance dogs because her dog saved her life by pulling her from the wreckage. The charity, “the Kotuku Foundation Assistance Animals Aotearoa has been training dogs to help people deal with a range of conditions including agoraphobia, autism, OCD and Parkinson's.”

The Kotuku Foundation Assistance Animals Aotearoa is not yet reflected on the list of approved organizations for certifying service dogs, but this does not mean it may not be approved. This New Zealand government website lists the regulations for assistance dogs. Once trained, two-year-old German shepherd 'Uni' will be able to smell abnormal blood sugar levels.

Merenia Donne said in talking about characteristics for a diabetic response dog, “What you look for is a dog that's a very busy dog and a dog that likes to use its nose. So they're are little bit a kin to training a dog for drug detection, and explosives and various other things like...search and rescue dogs, so the training follows some of the principles. You need a dog that's willing and happy to use its nose all day everyday, but in doing so, to focus just on that one very important key sense."

Ms Donne says the dog can then take steps to alert the person or seek assistance.

"They will have a rubber rod or a toy that hangs from their collar and they're taught to grasp it as they sense a change in blood chemistry," she said. "That it will give a clear signal to the person who's beginning to go into a hypoglycaemic event. If it's progressed beyond that point, and the person is incoherent...then what the dog is also trained to do is to push an alarm button or to go and find someone."

Ms Donne says 'Uni' is in the final six-months of training - a process which costs around $NZ50,000 or USD equivalent of $41,455.

Some links that may be interesting about service dogs in New Zealand -

http://assistancedogstrust.org.nz/

http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/regional-chapters/australia-new-zealand-anzad/

http://www.mobilitydogs.co.nz/

http://www.ppadt.org.nz/

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/enter/personal/pets/guide-dogs

http://www.police.govt.nz/service/dogs

Service Dogs Have Rights Too!

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is getting action done when places feel they can ride roughshod over people with service dogs. This time St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas was caught in the cross hairs of the US Dept of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

Few details are made known, but the medical center does have to establish non-discrimination policies. This means teaching its staff and program participants of the policies and training them on their obligations to provide these services without discrimination to qualified persons with disabilities. Staff must receive training specific for permitting service animals into its facility in accordance with Section 504.

People in the USA that believe an entity receiving federal financial assistance has discriminated against them or someone else on the basis of a disability may file a complaint with the OCR. Guidance for filing the complaint can be found here.

By bringing this action, HHS has shown that it will enforce Section 504 and ensure access to health care. Service animals are used by people that have different disabilities and must be allowed to accompany people with disabilities. Many places do try to limit their access and more will face problems.

Section 504 provides that any entity may not limit access to service animals and prevents places from denying access just because the individual does not produce a tag or other documentation about the service animal. This also applies to what tasks the animal performs, veterinarian's health certificate, or other documentation about the animal's health.

Other entities must take heed from this settlement and be prepared to allow service animals for people with disabilities. Read the press release from HHS here.

Dogs for Diabetes

I was surprised to see this article in Diabetes Health as I have tried in the past to get information from Dogs for Diabetes, and have been totally ignored. I have had short communications with a couple of clients of Dogs for Diabetes (D4D) and both seemed very pleased with their service dog from D4D.

Generally if something seems too good to be true, it is. I am not sure about this trainer and the conditions outlined in this article. There may be good reasons to limit the area in which you will serve clients, but when excellent trainers can train from coast to coast, I have some concerns.

I have assisted a mobility dog trainer here in Iowa and he has dogs all over the Midwest. The dogs are well trained for serving the person and the person is trained to keep training up-to-date and refresh the dog on a regular basis. He is available for communications with clients and is always willing to take a dog back if a client becomes unable to use the dog. He has two periods during the year for anyone wanting to come back with his or her dog for refresher training.

Whether I am misunderstanding the meaning of what Mark is saying, or I have been taught differently, I cannot say. I think Mark misspoke in the following statement in response to Nadia's question. “Training a dog to provide an alert to a potentially life-threatening condition is a serious matter. It requires a clear understanding of the medical condition, as well as of dog behavior and training skills. Dogs have been known to assist their close human companions spontaneously, but the anecdotal information does not prove that it is due to scent recognition, or empathy the dog may feel from the onset of serious symptoms. Scent training has the potential to provide an alert prior to the onset of the condition, while in these cases the dog's recognition of symptoms is a reaction after the condition is present.”

The bold is my emphasis and the part I dispute. Yes, in a few instances, Mark is correct, but the dogs that I have witnessed that have been self-trained, generally alert to the onset of the condition, and not after the condition is present. I think it has to do with the service dog owner and the dedication to training. If the owner is not dedicated to the training, I can see Mark's situation being a fact. However, I will not make a blanket statement like Mark, as there are too many variables.

I am glad the rules they have established work for them. I have been told that the age of 12 should be the lower limit and most trainers try for 16 years of age, but will work with lower ages depending on the person and the dog. Some dogs trainers use are smaller dogs that do not weigh as much. Those in the mobility area are often much heavier and most trainers will not work with person younger than 16. The trainer I am familiar with has only made two exceptions in almost 20 years. One was 14 and the other was 12. Both already had the dogs of choice and had a good working relationship with the dog.

The guideline for having diabetes for one year sounds reasonable. I know that many organizations prefer that the person have type 1 diabetes and have hypoglycemia unawareness to be considered, but not in all cases. I am not aware of people with type 2 diabetes being eligible for diabetes service dogs from most organizations.

This has to be the exception to most diabetes service dog placement agencies. This seems unsustainable. “Nadia: What are the fees associated with getting a service dog? Susan: A D4D service dog is valued at approximately $35,000 to $45,000 by the time it's placed with its diabetic team partner. The total cost to the person with diabetes for a dog currently is $150, which covers an application processing fee and training supply costs.” I also wonder if there are other costs not mentioned.

Susan is correct in her following statement and it is a shame that a few of these businesses are not exposed for the frauds they are. “Susan: There's a growing number of organizations, as well as trainers, claiming to provide service dogs to assist people with diabetes. Some are successful, while many others are not. Training methodology, client services, including client training, follow-up and continuing care, and costs-up to $50,000 a dog-create a confusing variation in outcomes. At times there have been disturbing misrepresentations in the industry, resulting in broken promises to consumers. D4D's goal as an industry leader is to leverage its expertise to set and maintain standards and educate the public.”

I wish them success. I just hope that they would have included more information on their web site. It is there, but the information is minimal at best.

Dogs Again Prove They Are Better Than Technology

When are scientists going to realize that dogs are smarter than they are? German researchers have shown that highly trained dogs are more reliable than computed tomography (CT) scans. The scans for lung cancer were only 20 percent accurate and the dogs came in at 71 percent accurate.

What surprises me is the fact that many doctors totally dismiss dogs as being this capable and see them only as possible pets. Some doctors are waking up and reporting instances when a dog does identify cancer and the evidence is building about the effectiveness of dogs. Read my blog here about research on colon cancers and dogs detecting it in Japan.

When you read this article, make sure to read the last two paragraphs. Again the only thing medical researchers and doctors are interested in is discovering what the dogs are capable of and developing a new technology capable of duplicating what the dogs can do and relegating the dogs back to pets. Also read the fourth paragraph in this article.

I sincerely wish there was a way to determine to cost of the equipment they are trying to build to take the place of the dog and then annualize the cost of a dog and equipment to see if this would even be worth doing. Yes, some people can be allergic to dogs and a few people will have a fear or phobia of dogs, but dogs I feel can do a very good job even in a clinical setting.

Another variable mentioned in both articles is that the length of training varies and may have affected the results in some trials. This would create variables of unforeseen consequences and make some trials invalid from the start. Training costs can be high, but it would seem to get valid data, training should be the same for all trials.

The Use of Dogs for Early Cancer Detection

This is about another type of service dog. Researchers in Japan have proven that dogs are accurate detectors of cancer, colon cancer specifically.

Researchers used a Labrador retriever that was trained for several months to sniff out colorectal cancer in the breath and watery stool samples. They stated that in previous studies on dogs and cancer that the dogs can detect lung and breast cancer from breath samples and that there is anecdotal evidence suggesting that dogs can detect melanoma, bladder, and ovarian cancers.

The research took place at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. The dog was used to detect colorectal cancer from patients and volunteers, some that had gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease. The dog correctly identified cancer in 33 of 36 breath tests and in 37 of 38 stool tests.

The highest detection rates were among samples taken from patients with early-stage cancer. Samples taken from smokers and from people with other gastrointestinal diseases, which possibly might mask or interfere with cancer odors, did not seem to confuse the dog.

The most encouraging statement from the researchers is, “this study shows that a specific cancer scent does exist”. Then they go on to state that they are not suggesting using dogs in a clinical setting.

They are right that the training of the dog is expensive and time consuming. They also say that the ability and concentration varies between individual dogs and even the same dog on different days.
Of course then they state why the study is preformed, to determine whether there could be something that could be used to develop cancer detection tests based on “odor materials.” They are looking for cancer-specific volatile organic compounds that can be used to develop an early cancer detection sensor that would substitute for the dog.

Read about the study here.

Therapy Dogs

The names I use in this blog are not their real names, to protect the individuals and the dog (although long deceased). Therapy dogs are service dogs, but not what most people think of when service dogs is a topic of conversation.

While visiting a former neighbor in one of the nursing facilities in a town not too far from our home, I was in the lounge with him when a therapy dog was introduced to the group in the lounge. “Therapy dogs” sneered another resident named Jon, as he got up and left the room. What set him off I wondered? So I asked his daughter, Janet, who was visiting her father in the nursing facility.

At first she was not going to answer me, but after hesitating, said her father was a hunting dog person and did not like being around other dogs. I thought okay, some people are biased about what they like and dislike. I asked her what breed of dogs would get his attention. She had decided she had enough and got up to follow her father. On her way past me, she said, “coon dogs”. Okay, not what I expected, but at least I had something. I had no idea how important this information would become.

Now where in this area was I going to find someone with coon dogs that would have a therapy dog as well. Yes, many raccoon hunters live near here, so I headed out to one of the farms that I knew raised raccoon hunting dogs. They were home when I drove in the driveway. I asked the oldest son if his father, Jason, was in the barn. It was then that their mother, Mattie, came out of the house. I introduced myself and stated the purpose of my visit.

Her face lit up when I said something about therapy dogs and mentioned Jon's name from the nursing facility. It was like I had gotten everyone's attention with his name. They all gather around and they all wanted to know how he was, where he was, and when I had seen him. The short of it is that his farm adjoins their farm and they knew him well. All they knew when I arrived was that about two weeks earlier, his daughter had showed up and taken him somewhere and had not let anyone know.

Mattie said that she and one of their dogs had just completed the therapy dog training course, and she was hoping to start taking the dog to schools and nursing homes in the area. Now she knew where she had to go first. After discussing how to get the dog into the nursing facility, she said she would call them in the morning. I said he may be a little on the difficult side, but she knew that he would be happy to see Sheba (the name of the dog) since it had been purchased from him about a year prior when Jon had sold his dogs.

Sheba is a sleek Redbone Coonhound with no color variations. I had not noticed her in the group of five dogs around us until she was called. I was introduced to the dog and then we went back to talking. Next I knew, I felt a wet nose at my hand. I let my hand slide along her muzzle and down her head and along her back. She was one gentle dog. She wanted the attention and made herself available to get it.

The next day, Mattie called me to say that they were not permitted to visit him by order of the daughter. Uh-ooh. Mattie asked me if I wanted to take the dog into see him as she had that approved. I met them in the visitors lot and went to check with the staff to get the full story.

Janet was the only person of record on the medical power of attorney and general power of attorney and admission records. I knew that Janet had two older brothers so I wondered what was happening. Since Jon was still in his room, I asked if he could be brought to the lounge while I brought the dog in.

Sheba seemed to sense something and was straining at the leash and once inside, her nose was on to something and I was having all I could do to restrain her. When entering the lounge, Sheba needed no more, she let out a howl and was almost more than I could handle. When Jon saw Sheba, he was out of his chair and on his way to greet Sheba with tears in his eyes.

After the two had greeted each other, Jon asked me where Jason and Mattie were. The nurse explained that they had orders from Janet that he we not to see them. Jon was very upset now and asked where his boys were and that he wanted to see them. The nurse said they were not part of his records. I asked if the order by Janet included the grounds outside and the nurse said no, only the indoors. I told the nurse to get her writing board and join us outside. Jon was very happy for a few minutes when he saw Sheba and was now wanting to see Jason and Mattie.

When we were outside and under a tree, Jon thanked me and asked how I had found his friends. I said that was purely by accident and a slip by his daughter when she told me that your favorite dogs were coon dogs. With Jon, Jason, and Mattie all talking, I asked if Jon knew how to reach his sons. He did not as he did not have addresses for them any longer, but knew that his brother would. Jason said he would get Jon's brother, and his sister, there that afternoon along with some other people to get to the bottom of what was happening. The nurse was taking notes and asking questions as well.

That was my introduction to therapy dogs about 18 years ago. Jon (after some legal hassles) was able to return to his farm and lived there for about 15 more years until he returned to the nursing facility where he passed earlier this summer. His daughter passed about 9 years ago.

Yes, there is much more to the story, but I will not go there at the request of Jon's sons who were just thankful that a particular therapy dog came back into their dad's life. Sheba was returned to live with Jon and lived about 8 more years working as a therapy dog with Jon under Mattie's guidance. They became regular visitors at the nursing facility and other nursing homes in a 60 mile area, and in my home.

Diabetes Alert Dogs – Part 3

There are no trainers presently certified as diabetes alert dog trainers. This is good in a sense that they have adapted from training other service dogs and thus have a history that can be checked to learn if they are good and knowledgeable trainers.

Most dog trainers today are knowledgeable in animal behavior and learning theory plus sufficient experience. Excellent trainers do exist as independent trainers, trainers working for breeders, and as trainers for some tax-exempt organizations. Some trainers are certified as professional dog trainers (CPDT). In fact, over 1400 people have been certified as CPDT since September 2001.

In selecting a trainer, make sure you know what types of dogs the trainer works with best for training. Some trainers work best with certain types of dogs and not others. After the trainer does an evaluation of your situation, is the type of dog they are suggesting, one that you are comfortable having as a 24/7 companion. The closer you and the trainer are in the selection of a dog, the more successful your experience will be.

Some trainers work best with the larger breeds and some the small breeds. Therefore, this should be a factor in the selection of a trainer. Conversely, just because you like a particular dog or breed of dog, does not mean that this type of dog will be the best fit for you. Learn to be flexible.

I will now cover training standards and hope that I do not confuse you. The standard in the dog training profession is the Canine Good Citizen program started in 1989 by the American Kennel Club. The Canine Good Citizen Program is a two-part program that stresses responsible pet ownership for owners and basic good manners for dogs in the public arena.

Several organizations have established standards and do have enforcement procedures in place to curb violations. The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) is one organization. The other organization is the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). These two organizations do have certification procedures and continuing education units (CEU's) as a requirement for staying current with changes in dog training. They also have procedures for dealing with trainers that do not stay current.  Another organization worth checking out is Assistance Dogs International.

After following part-time with a mobility dog trainer for the last four months, I have a better understanding of how these organizations work and their requirements. So in the process of selecting your trainer, do your due diligence in checking them out.

One of the weakest parts of the Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) is their abstaining from setting up enforceable standards for public access of service dogs and an agency to enforce these standards. Too many “fake credentials” are getting untrained pets into public places where trained service dogs are allowed, thus sometimes creating problems for legitimate service dogs.

One standard that needs to be in place and enforced for any type of service dog is the prevention for use of prong and shock collars and force. Many trainers use them and some boldly advertise that they have and use them claiming that certain dogs will not train without their use. This is an accepted training technique unfortunately. When a service animal is certified as trained, this method should no longer be necessary.

In my opinion, if the animal is not trainable without force, then it needs to be rejected as a candidate for a service dog of any kind and considered for another occupation such as being a guard dog. While it is my opinion only, large dollar fines need to be imposed on trainers using force when a dog is to be partnered with a young person. I would even consider banning these trainers from service dog training. This may not be enforceable, but should be considered. Again, this is my opinion.

The Delta Society totally surprised me in the discussion of service dogs being appropriate for young children. They mention some age ranges that trainers are using and I agree that age limits need to be set. I also respect those that look farther on an individual basis. While it is difficult to be so arbitrary, child maturity factors are necessary. Service dogs should never be a “tool” for the parents to abdicate their responsibilities as some parents are doing.

One of the positive discoveries I have found in training are what a few trainers are almost insistent on and for good reason. The good trainers realize that for a service dog, training must continue after they are out of the picture and for the rest of the life of the service animal. These trainers are training the person and occasionally persons involved with the animal. They want the person partnered with the animal to feel success in training and in the ability of the animal to do its tasks.

More trainers today are training for hand signals (signing) that the dog will understand and follow without verbal communication. While this has been used for the hearing impaired, trainers are starting to use this for other medical disabilities. This has some definite advantages for communicating with the service dog without surrounding persons even knowing that anything is taking place, especially in the public setting.

While I am not in favor of the use of puppies for training to task other than behavior and house breaking, I am finding that I am in the minority view on this. I do question the usefulness of a service dog less than 10 months old. I know that for diabetes, it may be possible to train for some tasks before 12 months, but I will continue to question how effective the dog will be. Again, after following a mobility service dog trainer, I better understand why some training is necessary once the dogs are weaned. This is not concentrated training, but slowly working on habits that will become part of the dog as it matures.

Before training can begin, some determination needs to be made as to how successful the service animal will be in providing the healthcare needed. The primary concern should be the capacity of the individual receiving the service dog and their ability to learn and handle the needs of the animal and training of the animal. Some have said that the abilities of the trainer and the dog are all important. The trainer and the dog can be of no value if the person receiving the dog is incapable of the ongoing training and taking care of the needs of the dog. The service dog is a living animal and not a machine that can be shut off and turned on as some people are want to do.

Most trainers will want to know the following information:

1. Who will be the recipient of the service dog and the type of service dog that is needed.
2. The age of the recipient.
3. Whether other pets will distract the training and effectiveness of the service dog. Most trainers are very careful about this requirement. A household of trained animals can be accepted, but unruly animals cannot be accepted.
4. Whether the owner or family will be able to take care of the needs of the service dog in all situations.

There are other questions of course, but the above are the important questions to determine whether the potential recipient is a good candidate. So be prepared and I urge all to do their research and due diligence in selecting a trainer. Take time to read the sites I have posted with the colored text.

Diabetes Alert Dogs - Misc Warnings

Like so many good things where there is an honest dollar to be made, you can bet that someone is there to make a dishonest dollar by defrauding people.  So as a warning - please, please, do your homework before acquisition of a service dog of any type.

For the four categories below, enter the name of the person or business and the word complaints in a search engine (example: insert name of [breeder or kennel] - complaints).  You will need to do the same for trainers.  I was surprised at the results of several random picks.  Therefore, please read the full story including the comments below the story.  Some complaints are legitimate while others are mean spirited or are written by competitors.  Also do not forget to check with the Better Business Bureau in the area.  Use any other sources you can.

Trainer Problems

Happily, there are more trainers interested in helping you sincerely, but be careful.  Even good trainers have bad days, but normally they will have your interests foremost.

The trainers we want to avoid are those that do not train the dogs.  While harsh training methods are a method of training, I do not advise using trainers using these methods - aversion, force, shock and choke collars.  Some trainers can really talk the talk, but produce no results, can not walk the walk.  Be careful in dealing with those trainers that want a lot of money up front and have demands that have to be followed.  Requests and suggestions are acceptable.

Puppy Mills

Puppy mills exist most everywhere in the US.  As long as we continue to patronize them instead of boycotting them and the pet stores they supply, they will continue to cause problems for healthy dogs and local animal shelters.  The shelters and ASPCA's often have to put many of these animal to sleep when local law enforcement steps in.  While ASPCA's can take action, they need assistance from local law enforcement and thus their record is less than stellar.

Most of these puppy mills have recurring health problems in their animals.  The pet stores often do not care, know that the health certificates are not up to date or are a total fake, spread this problem on to consumers.  Avoid these operations if you want a healthy service dog.


Problem Breeders and Service Dog Scams

These can be separated or combined depending on the way you look at them.  Since many unreliable breeders use unreliable trainers and the reverse.  They both will use and sell untrained or untrainable dogs as service dogs.

There are organizations at work trying to record and maintain records of the undesirable breeders and trainers.  Before retaining a trainer, take a look at this site.  For breeders be sure the look at this site.

Service Dog Registry Scams

These people are diminishing the rights of owners of legitimate service dogs.  This blogger is calling attention to it, while at the same time selling the equipment he is complaining about. 

Service Dog Registry is FREE.   Why would anyone pay $35 to $350 (or more) for something that is free?  Apparently many people who do not research the rules and regulations.  Many people think that the fake certificates will qualify their pet as a service dog.  They also use these fake certificates to get their pets into places they otherwise would be prohibited, and make it more difficult for legitimate service dogs.  But a word of warning, if you travel outside the United States, you may need papers that meet the requirements of the country or countries in which you will be traveling.

For information on service dog registry check out this site and this one.

There are many medical doctors that are writing prescriptions for what are loosely termed "comfort dogs" to get their owners around the "No Pet" rules in many housing situations.  The American Disabilities Act needs an enforcement provision powers to curb the abuses being foisted upon us by scammers and their own lack of definitive rules.

Other Planning

Get your service dog micro-chipped.  This is in your best interest.  What happens if your dog bolts away and you are miles away from home - it happens.  There are dog-nappers that kidnap dogs for ransom or for sale to labs using dogs for experiments.  The following are some of the sites you should be familiar with for using microchips.

Site 1.  Costs vary from $45 to $60 or higher depending on the charge by the veterinary.  Microchips are important. but do not replace collars, ID tags, and rabies tags.  These are still the primary means for getting your service dog back when they are lost.  Microchips become more important in cases where the animal is stolen and you need to positively identify the dog or in cases where the collar has broken away and the shelter has picked up the animal.

Site 2.  This site tells about a universal microchip reader which many shelters do not have.

Site 3.  President Bush signed a bill in 2006 that charged the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) with standardizing microchips. However, APHIS only exercises authority over organizations that are regulated by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).

Site 4.  The American Animal Hospital Association on September 22, 2009 created the AAHA Pet Microchip Lookup Tool.   This is not available to the public for use, but you need to know that it exists and ask your local shelter, ASPCA, or veterinarian if this can be used if you lose your dog.

Uninsurable Service Dogs  

In most states, insurance companies, in particular home owners insurance, will not cover certain breeds or mix of certain breeds in their insurance policies.  So before you look for a service dog, check with your insurance carrier to see what the provisions are and what breeds might be excluded.

Food for Your Dog

Before purchasing food for your dog, you would do well to read the following articles about dog food and talk to your trainer or breeder about the foods they use.  Just be careful as many of the commercial dog foods may not be suitable for your dog.  Your veterinary may be a trustworthy source also, but use care.

Summary

The warnings are not all inclusive and you should do your homework before laying out money for a service dog.  There may be additional information that is published that is applicable.