Many thanks to Yariv Ben Yosef for his kind permission to publish this article.
Visit http://www.dservicedogs.com/mainframe_eng.html for more information.
A project initiated and conducted by Yariv Ben-Yosef, Dog Trainer and Daphna Golan-Shemesh, Social Worker and Expressive Art Therapist, and Avi Rabinovich, M.Sc, Electrical Engineering.
People with Alzheimer's Dementia and other degenerative brain damage diseases suffer loss of cognitive skills, including memory, judgment, and orientation in time, peoples, and places. The loss of orientation hinders their ability to get home safely, so that any time they leave home, they run the risk of getting lost. This makes the ability to get home a major survival issue for them.
People with Dementia and other degenerative brain damage diseases also feel terrible loneliness, frustrations, anger, and helplessness. Against their will they are prisoners in their own homes and are dependent on others to get out.
With the help of their specially trained dogs, clients can get home safely by simply giving the dog the command to take them home. This enables them to return to real freedom, and makes it possible for them to leave their homes without requiring the help of their family members. The Alzheimer's Aid Dogs© solution is crucial to maintaining these clients' quality of life.
"Yehuda", a 62-year old client with Alzheimer's, is a pioneer for the project. In Yehuda's words, "the dog has given me a quality of life by releasing me from the prison wall of my own home. This is the best thing that has happened to me…"
The dog has not only been trained to bring her owner home, but also to take him home safely, avoiding physical obstacles such as holes, dangerous side curbs, parked cars, traffic etc. Yehuda has also noted that he has been falling lately, but only when the dog does not accompany him.
The dog's role as a "guard dog" is essential because in situations where Yehuda gets confused (as a result of the disease) or becomes anxious because he is not sure how to get home, he is capable of forgetting all his pedestrian skills.
Especially during the first stages of the disease, Yehuda felt terribly lonely and anxious. His dog is especially trained to be a real companion in these situations. She makes contact and physically touches her owner, and tries to calm him down or divert his attention, thus improving the client's morale (for example, forcing him to respond to her invitation to play a game).
Since the client must also care for his dog's needs, this helps him maintain a normal way of life as much as possible. It includes walking the dog, caring for its daily needs, and playing with her. This results in the added benefit of improving the client's own physical fitness.
Walking the dog also promotes contact between the client and other people in his environment. People show an interest and curiosity about the dog with the special harness. They begin talking with the client and interacting with him, which takes him out of the circle of boredom and loneliness. In this scenario, the dog acts as an "ice-breaker" or a social integrator.
Alzheimer's Aid Dogs© become full-time companions. The dog is attentive, and focuses its attention on its owner, his needs, and his mental/physical condition at all times. When Yehuda is depressed and does not want to get out of bed, Polly, the aid dog, plays with him, pulls the blankets away from him, brings him her toys and will not stop until Yehuda takes care of her needs.
Polly remains with Yehuda at night when he cannot sleep. She stays with him while his family is engaged in other activities. Yehuda reports that he does not feel the need to phone his family as much as before, and when he is bored, he goes out with the dog. The need to exercise the dog means getting up in the morning and taking the dog out for a walk . Teaching the dog the regular routes and directions. and continuing the training process gives the client maintain a framework and is an anchor for a steady and meaningful daily routine. Whereas other roles in life progressively diminish due to the illness, these activities contribute to the quality of life. The training of the dog gives significance to Yehuda's life. We hope that the pioneering trail with Yehuda and Polly will set a learning model that will help in the training of other dogs and thus promote the project to the benefit of other Alzheimer patients world wide. Yehuda hopes to train more dogs and tell the whole world about this unique project.
Alzheimer's Aid Dogs© are trained to sense their owner's condition, and warn when irregular situations such as breathing distress, falling, epileptic fits, etc. occur. Yehuda choked on food one day. Polly barked and ran between the family members until they understood that there was a problem. On another occasion, Polly clung to Yehuda after he tripped in the yard and was very attentive until he got up. Polly was also specially trained to react to crisis situations by calling for help or by pressing a special emergency button.
The main role of the Alzheimer's Aid Dog© is to return its owner safely home when it hears the verbal command "Home!" from its owner. To be prepared for situations when the person might forget the command,get confused, not be aware of the passing time or to the fact that he has left the familiar physical area, we have developed a special electronic "Homing device©". This device enables the family to summon the dog ,together with its owner, home. In case the owner is not capable of accompanying the dog home, the dog has been trained to stay with its owner and call attention to the situation by barking. This Homing device© can also help locate the whereabouts of the pair using GPS. This is crucial because a disoriented person who is lost could be in a life-threatening situation.
Training Alzheimer's Aid Dog© will aid Alzheimer patients to cope with the difficulties in different aspects of life caused by their illness:
1. Cognitive and safe
Canine and people - a unique friendship The canine-people relationship is magical, and more so, a mystery. Today, most canines are house trained and reliant on people. We raise them, train them, and develop new strains of dogs, which might not have existed, without human intervention. The canine- people relationship is exploited for various needs: sheepherding, pets, racing contests and more.. The dog relies on us and we care for all its' daily needs: food, drink, activity and hygiene. For mankind, this is an authentic opportunity to get involved and take responsibility. The dog, being a fun loving creature, can relate to what we call work, as play. As such, it is easily trained and accepts orders from children as well.
In recent years people have discovered the therapeutic opportunities embodied in the canine- people relationship. The dog accepts us unconditionally "as is" without verbal or behavioral judgment.
For people who find difficulties in communicating with their surroundings, we often realize that it is easier to communicate with dogs. Gradually, we can expand the communication to other people while using the dog - patient relationship. The dog's ability to absorb irregular behavior such as: noise, stress, tension, aggression, violence etc… makes it an ideal friend to people in various ages. The dog's presence can calm and support in hours of need, anger, frustration, anxiety and loneliness. Further more it can also arouse positive reactions, such as excitement and happiness.
The dog - patient relationship gives us an opening for rehabilitative work. It includes: accepting responsibility for the dog, exercising, training related assignments and encourages the practice of daily skills that are important for mankind. This role change from taking to giving commands is a wonderful experience for man's capability to control his immediate environment and to develop self-esteem and confidence.
The herding dogs family was found compatible as an Alzheimer service dog due to important characterizations such as convenient temper, high social ability, and high sense of smell, spatial orientation and high intelligence. Those are essential for the dog to fulfill its main goal: returning the owner safely home.
The dogs found compatible to be Alzheimer's Aid Dog© are carefully chosen from intentional supervised genetic crossbreeding in top quality habitats worldwide. The project-designated puppies go through different suitability tests during their first period of training. The puppy must have a high bringing instinct, stable character, self-confidence and high tolerance to mental stress and routine. It needs to be highly work motivated and have high adaptation ability to various life styles. 22-25 inch is the optimal size.
Alzheimer's Aid Dog©The training and joining of Alzheimer's Aid Dog© to the person they'll support is a long and complex process that involves a multiple professional team work including social workers, dog trainers and electronics engineers. The teamwork is separated and combined according to the patient, dog, foster family and project needs. While the dog is in the training process, it lives with a foster family whicht helps develeop its personality and prepares it for its' destined calling.
Yehuda and his family had maximal compatibility to the project. Yehuda (62) suffers from young onset Alzheimer. He is an animal lover who raised a "German Shepherd" dog. He is fully aware of his situation, and suffers mainly from orientation deterioration and immediate / medium memory loss. From time to time he has problems finding the right words. Due to his awareness of the disease and illness related losses he was despondent. Yehuda used to be a very active person, socially involved and had fulfilled many important public positions.
Before the beginning of the project and the progression of the illness, Yehuda secluded himself , afraid to go out because of the risk of getting lost. He became dependent on his family in order to leave his house and was fighting depression and frustration.
Yehuda's family was aware of his situation and tried to be as supportive as possible. However, his wife and children work during the day. After a family conference they accepted our offer to take part in our project with the Alzheimer's Aid Dog© - Polly.
In the beginning all family members came to observe Polly's training. They were very impressed by her professional performance and capability and mainly her ability to help Yehuda with his main problem - getting lost in his domicile area and getting back home safely. They agreed to commit themselves to bring Yehuda to our center 3 times a week to allow us to start the social and professional acquaintance between Yehuda and his Alzheimer's Aid Dog© - Polly.
8 weeks later, Polly moved in with Yehuda and his family. This was possible only after locating an new home for their German - Shepherd. Yehuda practiced with Polly a lot, introducing her to his routine routes. Due to stormy weather, confused situations Polly was forced to get Yehuda home before she completed the training process. To Yehuda's and our joy , she excelled in her mission. This strengthened Yehuda's and his family's confidence in Polly to the point that Yehuda didn't always use the special harness on Polly and we had to repeatedly emphasize the importance of being strict about the organized learning process for the dog..
Polly started finding her place in her new home and with the family. Soon Polly became very attached and attentive to Yehuda and his emotional state. During his insomnia at nights, she was there with him, which strengthened Yehuda's bonding to her. Polly started being sensitive to Yehuda's mood swings. On those mornings when Yehuda didn't want to get out of bed, Polly would pull the blankets off him and brought her toys until he responded - got out of bed and played with her. Polly learned to identify Yehuda distress signals and the family learned to "read" Polly's reaction to Yehuda and respond accordingly. Yehuda learned he couldn't lean his head on his hand because it would make Polly bark in order to signal distress. Polly was taught not to climb on sofas as it bothered Rachel - Yehuda's wife.
Today, Polly asks Yehuda to bring her special blanket ,which she lies on, next to him. She is used to being around Yehuda. Once Polly came to Yehuda and barked at him. Barking she went to another room.. She wanted him to bring her the cushion from the children's bedroom to the living room. After Yehuda brought it she sighed a sigh of relief and fell asleep.
Yehuda's grandchildren enjoy their connection with Polly very much. They want to take her out for walks and they eagerly await the moment when Yehuda gives Polly her "magic order" - HOME.
Polly is very strict about keeping eye contact with Yehuda 24 hours a day and Yehuda is grateful that he has "someone to count on". Yehuda states that he in no longer afraid to leave the house, Polly has become a part of him and he can't imagine himself without her. She has become his "spine" and together they are one great team. Polly excells in bringing Yehuda back home safely. Moreover, she is attached to Yehuda and no cats, dogs nor children can distract her. >
One day when they were together in a shopping mall, kids came to pet and play with her but Polly stuck to Yehuda. The more unfamiliar the area they're in the closer Polly sticks to Yehuda always ensuring there is a clear path and safe route for him.
Yehuda states that today he spends much more time outdoors. He has become a known figure in his neighborhood and many people and children talk to him and take an interest in Polly's work. The kids call him "Grandpa Yehuda" and wave "hello" to him and Polly. They know that Polly is an assisting dog. Yehuda now attracts many children that approach him and chat to him. Yehuda states that he is no longer so lonely and is now showing a desire to help different children with Polly.
In one of their walks, Polly took Yehuda back home via a longer route than usual. When we tried to figure out why she chose that route we noticed that the usual (shorter) route was inconvenient due to construction works. Polly had probably noticed that and chose the safer route back home. In situations like these, when Polly feels that Yehuda is disoriented she keeps checking up on him and is constantly alert making sure he is right behind her.
Recently a few falling episodes occurred to Yehuda when he didn't pay attention to his surroundings and was only Polly. Polly responded well and called for help. Now we are in a process of strengthening that reaction. Yehuda noticed that when he is walking with Polly and the harness, he doesn't fall down.
Yehuda is interested in spreading the project worldwide. Therefore, he and his son have spent many hours filming a video about their work and also improving the homing device.
Polly's contribution to Yehuda's quality of life is very significant. Yehuda talks so emotionally about it, that it touches us all.
"A person has no worth or existence if he doesn't belong to a social community. A person without a companion is empty. The most important aspect of this project is not just getting me safely home which is very important but to allow me to be socially active. To go with Polly to friends and acquaintances… now there is no fear whether I'll be back home safe or not. With Polly there is no pressure."
We'll conclude with Yehuda's words on Polly:
