Nancy Gillen wrote:
> my husband saw something on TV...that showed a service dog helping...a person with Parkinsons...Has anyone heard about these dogs? If so, do you know
where I can get further info on them?
February 11, 1999
Parkinson's Disease: Dogs Help!
You've heard of seeing eye dogs and how they've given blind people new
independence.
But have you ever seen a dog who can turn on the lights, or answer the
phone? We found
a place where man's best friend is learning to do just that and changing
the lives of some special people.
Imagine the horror of shaking, stiffness and the constant fear of
falling down.
"You are afraid to take a step..." It's a reality that Parkinsons
patients like 59-year old Peter Moribito live with every day.
One of the worst symptoms is "freezing" ...when the brain tells the
body to move,
the message doesn't reach the feet, causing a freeze. The result can be
frightening and
embarrassing.
But Peter's dog Victor is always one step ahead of his
owner...literally! The Great Dane is more than Peter's best friend,
he's a special dog with remarkable skills. "He will stand on my foot
until I move my other foot and then I'm on my way"
It's amazing! "Victor" helps to stabilize Peter as he walks, and when
his owner
freezes up the pooch reaches over and taps him on the foot. Doctor's
are not sure why,
but it's this simple touch that breaks the freezing cycle.
Peter told EXTRA: "We are dealing with an animal that makes me very
happy,
very complete. It has changed my life."
Hundreds of miles away in Barto, Pennsylvania Ivan, a Rottweiler, is
changing
Russell Mohr's life. "My father freezes a lot...almost every doorway,
and Ivan is fantastic. If he's next to him and he says touch foot it
breaks the freeze." Diane Hanley says her father has been suffering
from Parkinson's disease for more than a decade. But with Ivan by his
side, Russell has found a new sense of security. Russell himself told
EXTRA: "It's not ever going to get any better I know that but I feel
safer... and I rely on the dog a lot."
Ivan and Victor are among nine dogs in the United States with this
unique
training. And it all begins at a Philadelphia training center called
"Independence Dogs,"
but it's more like *amazing* dogs! For as long as 3 hours a day, a dog
works with a
trainer and is taught to touch feet, counteract faulty balance problems
and retrieve
objects. They'll even learn to push elevator buttons, open doors, and
answer phones -- all through repeated positive reinforcement. It's much
like learning to fetch a bone.
Jean King, who suffers from tuberculosis of the spine, founded the
center. She
says her dog Darcy, who pulls her wheelchair, helps her live the life
she once thought
she'd lost. She told us about Darcy: "He's my life, he's my love, he's
my independence,
he's my legs... he has enabled me to be me. He has enabled me to go on
being Jean, not
just a lady in a wheel chair."
Now Jean is sharing this gift with Parkinsons patients like 69-year-old
Ruth
Hirsch, who came to live at the center for 3 weeks to train with her new
best friend, a
black lab named Grady. Ruth, who usually falls at least 10-times a day,
was astounded
by Grady's intuition. "He seems to know when I am going to fall. He
braces his body
against me and prevents my falling."
And Jean says these proud owners are getting more than just a "working"
dog,
they're getting a lasting friendship like no other... and she speaks
from experience "He is not my dog, I am his person, he lives for me...
it makes me feel very very humble that
such a creature is willing to donate his whole life to me"
The center tells us there's no one ideal breed, but that dogs must be
large and
service oriented. A typical course lasts about seven months and costs
12,000 dollars, but patients only have to pay two hundred of that; the
rest is covered by fund-raisers and private donors.
To send any donations in to the program, or for more information,
contact:
Independence Dogs
146 Stateline Road
Chadds Ford, PA 19317
(610) 358-2723
Copyright 1999 TTT West Coast Inc
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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