Golden Years Article: Everyone Affected With Alzheimer's or Dementia Should Consider a DogWish K9
Published January/February, 2011
The following article was written for and published in The Golden Years magazine, for seniors throughout California.
 Having spanned the internet for corresponding studies or presentations of material I have found several applications where Therapy dogs have been used as a companion for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, however I have only found 1 other comparable study in America about someone who has attempted to train a real Service Assistance K9. Although there are NO laboratory experiments that have been conducted with our or any other K9s, we have placed over 100 such dogs, and have numerous clients from whom we have pulled this information for you.
The following are some reasons that should illustrate how and why our K9s can and will be effective with people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
OUR K9’S ARE TRAINED TO RESPOND TO OUR CLIENTS NEUROLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL NEEDS WITH EXCEPTIONALLY RESPONSIVE PERFORMANCE.
Through several years of research, field experience, and adaptation, at DOGWISH the K9s we train are imprinted and empowered with a variety of mind enhancing experiences. We use these experiences to create in them a highly sensitive, responsive, intelligently communicable, understanding, and highly effective K9 companion, who perceives, understands, alerts, and responds to abnormal mental and physical signals put out by the bodies of our clients. Many of these dogs, after being trained go into environments they are experiencing for the first time where they perceive, respond and instantly to strangers who are experiencing stress, seizure, and stroke like conditions. It happens constantly. The K9s can smell, feel, see, perceive and understand that something is happening here that is different, and personally dangerous. They then alert the individual to stop before the situation becomes worse. Of course, most people are so insensitive, disconnected, self absorbed, or whatever, that they don’t respond to the dog, and have to be told what is happening by someone who has been trained to BE sensitive, focused, and responsive, through our training. They then become “amazed” at what they just experienced, that they never “dreamed” a dog could do.
Our training is therefore of a quality not to be confused with other schools, who train K9s that operate with a much lower, less intelligent, unconnected performance, concentrating on picking up pencils, pushing buttons, and just being there. There is literally no comparison between what we do and what other schools are teaching.
We produce dynamic communication and neurologically superior performance in our K9s. This intense behavior will stimulate, motivate, entertain, enhance, and focus someone going through the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
The intention we have in providing this training is to “catch” the affected individual as early as possible, and keep them functioning successfully in their home environment as long as possible. We have noticed that most businesses in this field are concerned with helping the family “place” the affected individual in programs designed to “watch and care” for them, or in “nursing homes”. We choose the alternative. We want to make the connection between the individual and the dog as early as possible, and use that relationship to fight the affects of the disease as long as possible, to keep the individual in their own home, where they belong.
There are specific mental keys to success in each individual case that need to be examined and responded to. While every person will be different, in many, many cases, we have found over the past 30 years of work that the working relationship between an affected individual and a trained K9 is extremely successful and advantageous in helping, and resolving, many mental, emotional, social, environmental, and psychological issues in their life.
Many individuals with different types of disabilities will respond to our trained K9s when they wouldn’t to someone else, or without one. They then develop a dynamic relationship with that K9 that encourages and supports them, where no other such relationship could. We have K9s with individuals who have been diagnosed with extreme seizure conditions, autistic conditions, anxiety conditions, bi-polar and other related mental conditions, etc., who have helped them tremendously. As that relationship grows and evolves it motivates, stimulates, encourages them to “hang on” and continue to function in their home environment longer.
HOW DOES A K9 HANDLE A PERSON WHO IS CONFUSED OR SCARED?
As the cycle of “letting go” begins, and the affected person finds themselves less capable, more fragile, less cognizant, more vulnerable, and they need help. Our K9 is trained to supply that help, to be there patiently, lovingly, committed to their handler. Understand, we aren’t discussing the mental properties of a dumb dog, or a normal dog, trained to do special “tricks”, but those of a quality animal who was bred to be better, and trained by a world leader, to be dynamically superior. The K9s we place have been mentally conditioned, giving them an ability to use their left brain, to receive, and respond to “Alpha” brain waves. Not only that we enhance their natural senses which are several times as effective in detecting and responding to electro-magnetic, and electro-centric energies around them, as are those of a human. At the same time, the K9 is NOT distracted by the complex scheme of thoughts that we are. Because of their natural maturity level they keep things simple. Once properly taught a behavior they will use, repeat, and habitualize it as taught, until we change it. The K9 will simply recognize the pattern of behavior needed, and help the handler to recognize and respond. They can be trained to find things, your keys, your shoes, your purse or wallet, the dog leash, money, or whatever you need. Sometimes, just being there to calm your soul, lighten your load, ease your pain, can be everything. The K9 will remember what you did yesterday, and how you did it, even if you don’t. We find our dogs putting the process together in their own minds, and quite often, coming up with a logical scenario we didn’t think of.
THE K9 CAN BE TRAINED NOT TO “LEAVE” ITS’ PERMITTED ENVIRONMENT.
Whether it’s your home, yard, block, or whatever, your K9 can be trained not to go outside of the area you request. Having done extensive work “tethering” clients to their K9s, I have found it successful in almost every case. Unlike what you would think, a tether that is attached to the handler so that they cannot remove it becomes a normal part of life. If the affected person wants to go somewhere the dog is not allowed to go, they go somewhere else instead. If they are tethered to a dog who refuses to go across the street, that handler isn’t going. They will mentally justify their dogs’ behavior, and return home with the dog, who is trained to take them home.
IF THE HANDLER EITHER WANDERS OFF OR ESCAPES, THE K9 CAN BE TRAINED TO FIND AND RETURN WITH HIM TO THEIR CORRECT ENVIRONMENT.
Having worked with developmentally disabled people for many years now, we have trained numerous K9s who can, on command, track, search out, and find their handlers quickly, and safely. As a multi-national master tracking dog champion, the first dog I trained to do this was owned by the Vice-President of the Red Cross, and became the National Champion, recognized as the top Search dog in America, and I was awarded “American Hero” status. Actually, the dog was so good he found 1 missing person in a hospital of some thousands of people, in 10 minutes, and inadvertently, just walking down the street in Roswell New Mexico, found a house with four children, kidnapped from different part of America. Your K9 can be trained to track and find as you desire.
THE K9 CAN BE CAPABLE OF LEGAL, INTELLIGENT, PASSIVE AND ACTIVE PROTECTION OF THE HANDLER, WHEN AND AS IT IS NEEDED. I have now been the California Superior Court K9 Expert, for 35 years. I helped create the dangerous dog laws for California, have, been a Consultant for the Southern California Animal Control Association, and have trained specialized Police, Customs, and International Security K9s for large corporations, and different governments, throughout the world. As such, I have designed programs for my clients K9s where they were trained to show passive protection, and in some cases active protection, according to the “letter of the law.” This work is done with the utmost care and sensitivity, and I have NEVER had a problem with any K9’s protection work, ever.
Although I could continue, and go on, I have been warned that most people won’t even read what I have written. I believe that those who really care WILL read this, and want more. These are people I wish to speak with. As I wrote when I started with this paper, my goal in this training is first of all to keep the affected person function able as long as possible, and secondly to support the caretakers for that person as much as possible.
I hope this answered many of your questions, and am available to answer any question you have. Please contact me, Bob Taylor, at 760-662-3767, or at bob@dogwish.org. We’ll make it happen for you.
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