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Therapy Doodles and Special Needs Children
It is very heart warming to know that I can provide Special Dogs to Special People for Petsand Special Needs People
Please enjoy some photos from our Dogs that have been therapy trained and storys also below:
Hi Marcia FYI
Just wanted to forward a copy of the email that i sent to lissa
From: Diane Mellendick <dianemel@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:23:47 -0500
Conversation: Dogs & Special Needs Children
Subject: Re: Dogs & Special Needs Children
Hello lissa – i am sorry to hear about your daughter’s health situation and understand your search for help.
i can tell you about my labradoodle, rae, and what she has learned to do.
perhaps something we have done with rae, can help you and your daughter.
a brief history on me:
had multiple symptoms for 8 years of unknown origin
looked many places for help to feel better – no answers
in 2004, had a major seizure (prior to that i had stroke like episodes or “tia”s)
during the major seizure, i was getting ready for work and should have left the house by
10 am but was found 8 hours later (when my husband returned home from work).
i was on the kitchen floor, seizing (on my side, thank goodness) in a pool of vomit.
was unconscious or 4 days in ICU and semi-conscious for 2 days thereafter.
referred to johns hopkins hospital where i was diagnosed with a very, very rare seizure
disorder, hashimoto’s encephalopathy (HE).
i also have hashimoto’s thyroiditis (more common) but there may be a link between the two.
after 8 months of recovery, i am doing much better, take seizure meds 2x day and now drive, etc.
the neuro-immunologist at hopkins said my episode was acute. “HE” is a relapsing disease but i am hoping that i won’t ever have to go through that again.
during my recovery, we found an organization within 2 hours of baltimore (where we lived at the time) who accepted me for a service dog.
within a month, we had to move here to orlando due to my husband’s job. after reading about “owner trained” service dogs, we decided to find the labradoodle we had been wanting for some time and try training her. we worked with 2 private trainers on obedience and rae earned her canine good citizen title. the trainer is going to grade us on the public access test. we both feel rae will do fine. we also worked on “trick” training to help her learn the steps for alerting to an alarm and responding to a fall (which could be caused by a seizure or just an imbalance on my part).
i decided to work on alerts for meds first...seemed like a more simple task.
my cell phone alarm clock is set to ring 2x a day....9am and 9pm. most of the time, when home, i keep the cell phone hanging in a certain spot. other times it is in my purse. when the alarm goes off, rae finds me in the house, gives a “woof”, and leads me to the phone. she pushes the phone with her nose just to let me know that she “got it”. i praise her and say, “di gets a pill, rae gets a milk bone”. she waits til i open the bottle, i wave the pill past her nose so she knows i have it and then give her the milk bone.
rae was the runt of the litter, when her mom stood up, the other pups would feed and rae couldn’t reach. when mom laid down, the other pups fed and by the time rae wiggled her way in, she had to push more with her nose to get the milk. she grew up as a pup that used her nose a lot to discover the world. she pushed and nudged many things including me! this was natural for her so i wanted to encourage that.
i searched & searched for a device that rae could learn to push as an alert if i would fall or seize.
i finally found a gps device that is small and can be worn with a strap on the wrist or ankle.
the device is called a GemTek. It is the size of a cell phone.
the SOS button is in the middle of the device, very small (size of half of a dime) and concave. so i finally found something around the house to tape to the front of the device that gives rae a bigger area to press with her paw. since the button has to be held for 4 seconds, i didn’t think she would do that naturally with her nose. she normally pushes quickly with her nose.
once the trainer saw rae do the pill alert, i showed her the gps device. she wasn’t sure
that we could do it but we persevered. with this device we trained her to use her paw.
when my husband leaves for work, i tell rae she has to “work”. i put the device on and have her practice 4 times and reward her. then we go about our day. with training, the most important thing is repetition so that is one way to achieve success.
the company who makes the GemTek was very nice and offered me the first month’s service for free. while testing, i fell alot & rae pressed the button many times per day. when the button is pressed, it sends an email to my husband at work, a text message to his phone which gives him a “near” street address and time of the SOS. he can then log onto a computer to see a gps map and or satellite view of my exact location.
my husband and i feel much better that rae is with me when i am alone.
sorry that it took me so many words to explain my situation.
from what i have learned/read, maybe the following would work for you:
since your daughter is in your care but could be in another room at the time of a seizure,
i think a dog could be trained to come get you if she seizes or falls.
rae will sometimes get my husband if he is home to let him know that i fell (in practice) or to
tell him that my alarm is ringing OR she will do her normal routine with me.
the other thing that could be helpful in your situation...
since your daughter has many seizures, it has been said that a dog placed in that situation
may eventually be able to alert before a seizure.
from reading, i understand that most dogs can’t be trained to alert. it is more a skill that is
learned from being attached to someone who does seize often. since your daughter seizes
often there is more of a chance of success in alert training.
here are 2 articles about seizure alert, response or assist dogs...they may be helpful.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0416_030416_seizuredogs.html
http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1084289240
is there another task that you would like a dog to do for you/your daughter?
i can’t imagine what you must go through each day worrying and caring for your daughter.
a dog can be a wonderful, loving companion to help you and your daughter. although since
your days must be so busy, perhaps a puppy would be a lot to care for. working through an organization would leave you free of that responsibility and focus on your needs when the dog
is mature and ready. in this case, i would search organizations in your area for information and possibly the epilepsy foundation (if the seizures are a form of epilepsy).
wishing you only the best, keep in touch and let me know how things work out for you.
while in my search for a dog and how to handle my situation, a stranger said to me,
“keep your heart open and the right dog will come”.
so true. not long after that i found marcia mobley. while visiting her and the pups, we noticed tiny little rae and her peaceful nature. my husband held her up and said, what about her? she is so
sweet. that was that... and that’s why we named her “sweet baby rae”.
marcia is great to work with. she has wonderful pups, they are loved from the start. she only wants the best for each owner and their pup.
attached are pics of rae pressing the alert button on the gps device worn on my wrist. now we are working with it while worn on my ankle. (keep in mind the pics are more flattering of rae than me!)
attached is also a pic of rae & me on the 2008 Pets N Patients calendar.
PetsNPatients is a nice website with stories of how pets have helped their owners through
difficult health issues. if you get a chance, please visit and read their stories.
take care,
diane (& rae, of course!)
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