1st
I thought as soon as Atlas was a tiny little puppy that I would train him to become an epilepsy dog. There were no other epilepsy dogs then, but I knew there were dogs for dibetics. So when we started at the Working Dog Club so, well Atlas must have been about six months, I told the chairman of the club that Atlas would become an epilepsy dog. And he said '"No, that he cannot become. There are no epilepsy dogs and it is far too difficult to even train a Service Dog and it is only done in northern Sweden." "But I continued to train Atlas and our coach that we had at the Working Dog Club, in Järfälla, she thought that Atlas was very good and that he could surely become an epilepsy dog. But I did not know where they trained them, so I found the Service and Signal Dog Association and they had never heard of epilepsy dogs either, because there were none before. But I told him how Atlas mother had saved my life during severe epileptic seizures and also other dogs who had alerted me, that I had owne. She said OK, you can try and I sent in all the papers to the Service and Signal Dog Association and after a long time I got an invitation to come and take the entrance exam and Atlas passed it and after some time we got a coach and Sweden, Europe's, first Service Dog for epilepsy began his training.
2nd (02:05)
Before Atlas began his training as an epilepsy dog, he needed many documents and I also needed to have a document that I had – have - epilepsy, and is helped by a dog. When no one previously knew about this with dogs detecting epileptic attacks, it could have been difficult to get that document. So, when I contacted my physician and asked if he wanted to write a certificate that I was helped by having a dog and that the dog could work as an epilepsy dog and help me, he never doubted. He said that he knew that already. I had told him many times that my dogs know, before a seizure starts. So he wrote a certificate and agreed that Atlas can detect an epileptic seizure and that I would have great help in educating him as an epilepsy dog.
Britta speaks some English…no need to translateBefore Atlas began his training as an epilepsy dog, he needed many documents and I also needed to have a document that I had – have - epilepsy, and is helped by a dog. When no one previously knew about this with dogs detecting epileptic attacks, it could have been difficult to get that document. So, when I contacted my physician and asked if he wanted to write a certificate that I was helped by having a dog and that the dog could work as an epilepsy dog and help me, he never doubted. He said that he knew that already. I had told him many times that my dogs know, before a seizure starts. So he wrote a certificate and agreed that Atlas can detect an epileptic seizure and that I would have great help in educating him as an epilepsy dog.
3rd (03:30)
Atlas strongly feels before a seizure starts. He has made me aware several times but now he marks by scratching on me. He paws on my leg and if he can’t do that, he scratches on my hand and he takes deep eye contact with me, so that I really feel that he is worried. After he has scratched and marked, he also scratches on my bag and shows that I should take my medicine. He can even show - if I take only one tablet and he feels that the oncoming attack is a strong one - that I need to take two pills. That’s pretty incredible! But he actually feels if it is a small or a large attack that is coming.
Britta speaks some English…no need to translateAtlas strongly feels before a seizure starts. He has made me aware several times but now he marks by scratching on me. He paws on my leg and if he can’t do that, he scratches on my hand and he takes deep eye contact with me, so that I really feel that he is worried. After he has scratched and marked, he also scratches on my bag and shows that I should take my medicine. He can even show - if I take only one tablet and he feels that the oncoming attack is a strong one - that I need to take two pills. That’s pretty incredible! But he actually feels if it is a small or a large attack that is coming.
Atlas can call an ambulance if need be. Then he pulls in a braid he
has. "Good Atlas, good." A braid that is fastened on
his service cover. Now he doesn’t seem to want to pull! "Atlas, pull! Good." And when he has pulled, they call up. First they call home and if
no one answers, the call is transferred to the emergency central station. There they can see on the GPS where we are. "Pull,
pull one more time". He doesn’t want to pull when I'm not sick. "Good."
Britta opens the bag
This is how the alarm looks like, and when Atlas has pulled the strap, the signals first go to our home. If no one answers it goes to 112 [In Sweden we have 112 instead of
911] where they will ask what has happened. When no one answers, they understand that Atlas has made the call to send an ambulance. And then they see on the GPS, where we are and they immediately send an
ambulance to us.
4th (06:38)
My life with Atlas, yes my whole life has changed completely, since Atlas received his training and I can bring him along everywhere. First of all, I myself have accepted my sicknes in a completely different way. Now I am no longer afraid of going to the hospital by ambulance. People rather think of me as "her with the capable dog". And then when Atlas has his service cover on, everyone sees that I need help. Everyone is very friendly and if I had a dog that was not educated and could not wear the service cover, people might think that I was on drugs or something. I can sit down anywhere and receive help. They see Atlas ID-card here. It says Service Dog and that the owner has epilepsy and there are also phone numbers they can call. It may also be that some ambulances do not take dogs, then they can call someone else will come and pick up Atlas. So just to be able to go into a store by myself makes a very big difference to me, and gives me a much higher quality of life. I can participate in society in an entirely different way. I do not feel nearly as isolated and when I see that Atlas is calm, I know that I do not have a seizure coming. Sometimes you can feel a bit stressed and get scared and think "I might have a seizure", but if I have Atlas with me, I need only look at him. If he is calm, I know there is no seizure coming and I can relax.
My life with Atlas, yes my whole life has changed completely, since Atlas received his training and I can bring him along everywhere. First of all, I myself have accepted my sicknes in a completely different way. Now I am no longer afraid of going to the hospital by ambulance. People rather think of me as "her with the capable dog". And then when Atlas has his service cover on, everyone sees that I need help. Everyone is very friendly and if I had a dog that was not educated and could not wear the service cover, people might think that I was on drugs or something. I can sit down anywhere and receive help. They see Atlas ID-card here. It says Service Dog and that the owner has epilepsy and there are also phone numbers they can call. It may also be that some ambulances do not take dogs, then they can call someone else will come and pick up Atlas. So just to be able to go into a store by myself makes a very big difference to me, and gives me a much higher quality of life. I can participate in society in an entirely different way. I do not feel nearly as isolated and when I see that Atlas is calm, I know that I do not have a seizure coming. Sometimes you can feel a bit stressed and get scared and think "I might have a seizure", but if I have Atlas with me, I need only look at him. If he is calm, I know there is no seizure coming and I can relax.
Sometimes when Atlas paws or scratches me, he only does it a
little. Then all that might be needed is that I sit down, drink some water and I
do not always have to take a tablet. This means that I don’t need to take so
much medication anymore and that also affects my life quality. Having Atlas means
fewer seizures plus I do not have to take so much medicine. And here in Sweden everybody
accepts Atlas now. We have no problem being accepted everywhere and there will
certainly be - I know there will be many more epilepsy dogs in Sweden because
the need is very large. Just having a dog that senses an oncoming attack is of
course something quite amazing. Atlas has detected a seizure up to 30 minutes
before the attack and I have had time to sit down, lie down and take a tablet –
and the tablet has time to work. I have seizures, first a little weak one and
then they usually accelerate. But if I can
stop or ease the first small one, then no more will follow and I for the most
part do not need to go to the hospital. This is an incredible improvement of my
life quality.
5th (10:24)Also dogs that are not trained feel when a seizure is coming. All my dogs have shown me that they can detect. You cannot teach a dog to detect an attack when you do not even feel it coming yourself. But my dogs have alerted in different ways and it is I who, after a long time, have understood that they are aware before a seizure starts. So even totally untrained dogs can alert but it is very important to have a good contact with the dog and really like each other. Then the dog really cares about you and tells you when it detects that you are beginning to have a seizure. It will tell you "Hey, go to bed now because you will be sick". But of course, the examination when the dogs are allowed to wear the service covers, that is very important because otherwise, we owners are not allowed to bring our dogs along everywhere we go.
Well, it was great to talk about Atlas. There is a lot more I could tell you but I, as you probably already have noticed have difficulty concentrating and unfortunately don’t speak English so well. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much
