Will be making a photo album soon site not working..
<http://neighborsgo.com/blogs/10/85306>
http://neighborsgo.com/blogs/10/85306
Dogs' Keen Sense Of Smell Keeps Lewisville's Terri Sutten From Physical Harm
Of Epilepsy
By NANCY MATOCHA <mailto:nmatocha@neighborsgo.com>
Lewisville/ Flower Mound editor
She's suffered from epilepsy since birth. A lifetime of grand mal seizures
has taken its toll on her body.
But despite it all, none of that has dampened Lewisville resident Terri
Sutten's zest for life.
"Some people who have seizures stay in the house," Sutten said. "I'm not
just going to stay home just because I might have a seizure. It's a part of
you. It's not who you are."
Sutten's willpower can be attributed in part to her two Australian
shepherds, Maddigan and Zach, who stay by her side, putting their noses in
her business, ever ready to be at the rescue. For Sutten, these dogs act as
her lifeline.
"Maddigan can understand five to 14 minutes before a seizure happens,"
Sutten said.
Maddigan and Zach are seizure alert dogs, trained to react through smell to
the chemical changes in Sutten's body that precede a seizure. The dogs alert
Sutten to find a safe place so she can protect her body from injury. Then,
Sutten can also try to channel what could be a grand mal into a petite mal
seizure.
According to the Mayo Clinic, grand mal seizures are caused by abnormal
electrical activity throughout the brain, resulting in loss of consciousness
and violent muscle contractions. For Sutten, they can last up to 25 minutes.
"I jerk and bite my tongue. I have taken cheek muscle out of my body," she
said.
She's also damaged her spine. She suffers from crippling arthritis, as a
result of the seizures, as well as scoliosis.
But now Maddigan, who has served Sutten for seven years, is retiring.
"I do so much running around," Sutten said. "That's what's tiring her out."
Seizure alert dogs generally have a working life of 10 years before they
need to retire, said Sarah Holbert of Cares, Inc. in Concordia, Kan. "It
depends on what the reason is - if it's arthritis, then they'd retire
earlier," she said.
Sutten bought Maddigan from Cares Inc., a nonprofit organization that trains
service dogs and sells them to persons with disabilities.
Searching for a successor
With Maddigan still at home but on the brink of retirement, Sutten began the
search for her replacement.
"The type of dog that I needed was real expensive and we could not afford
it," she said.
Browsing on Petfinder.com, Sutten found Zach at Dallas Australian Shepherd
and Herding Dog Rescue, a small North Texas rescue.
Australian shepherds have a herding instinct and don't always make good pets
if owners don't know how to handle that instinct, said Sara Shepperd,
founder of DASH Dog Rescue.
"They're nicknamed Velcro dogs. They're often on your heels," Shepperd said.
DASH Dog Rescue only adopts out their rescues to be pets, not working dogs.
But, Shepperd said, Zach is different.
"Zach is an exception because he's a working dog with the person and never
three feet from her," Shepperd said.
Shepperd said the pairing of Sutten and Zach was "miraculous."
"She knew from the way that he sniffed the back of her hand, the way he
nudged her hand out of place," Shepperd said.
Sutten met Zach on Easter Sunday to see if he was the right dog for her. The
connection was instant.
"At the end of two hours, he actually jumped on me and alerted me to a
seizure," Sutten said. Soon after, her husband said: "Buy him."
"Zach had to have had some type of experience in the past," said John
Sutten, Terri's husband. "He picked up on things right away. He understood
hand signals and commands."
Ongoing training
Terri Sutten is continuing Zach's training at Pet Smart in Lewisville.
There, he will learn to pick up things off the floor, to open doors and to
dial 911 via a special telephone button should she suddenly lose
consciousness.
After experiencing 80 to 100 seizures a year, Terri had a vagus nerve
stimulator implanted in 2005. When she's alerted to an impending seizure,
she can send electrical signals that travel along the vagus nerve to her
brain to help prevent bursts in the brain that cause seizures.
Since then, the number of grand mals she's suffered has been reduced, but
still they occur, she said.
For Terri, the dogs not only bring her comfort, but relief.
"It's absolutely a godsend for me," she said. "It's not only that I gained a
good friend - because I'm an animal lover - but I've gained more freedom."
Nancy Matocha is the editor of the Lewisville | Flower Mound neighborsgo.
She can be reached at 214-977-8514.
AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD 101
Aussies are animated, adaptable and agile, intelligent, versatile, obedient
and good herders. Their coats can be black, blue merle, red merle and red
with or without white markings. Their height generally ranges from 18 to 23
inches.
- American Kennel Club, akc.org
Posted by Nancy <http://neighborsgo.com/profile/40611> Matocha /
Neighborsgo Staff on Jul 24, 2012 2:07 PM US/Central
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