June 28th 2009 9:44 pm
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Faye Shank gives her seizure alert dog Dreyfus a kiss while at their Hanover home. Shank frequently has grand mal seizures caused by lupus, and through a natural ability, Dreyfus is able to sense seizure activity 45 to 47 minutes in advance. (Evening Sun Photo by Shane Dunlap )
On the surface, Faye Shank's tall white poodle Dreyfus looks like a normal dog.
He sprawled calmly at Shank's feet in her Hanover home last Wednesday, rolling over every so often and taking in the quiet afternoon.
But if Shank was about to have one of her frequent grand mal seizures that are brought on because of lupus, Dreyfus' extraordinary talent would come to life.
As a seizure alert dog, Dreyfus can alert Shank 45 to 47 minutes in advance of a seizure.
How he senses a seizure is still somewhat of a mystery, but doctors and dog trainers believe seizure alert dogs smell either a chemical or electrical change as a seizure approaches. It is an instinct some dogs are born with, and is encouraged and developed
Dreyfus, a seizure alert dog, lies under a table while Faye Shank and her husband Bill enjoy their lunch at Railside Restaurant in Hanover. Dreyfus advanced seizure alerts have given Shank the ability to live her life without fear of injuries from seizures. (Evening Sun Photo by Shane Dunlap )
through training.
When Shank is approaching a seizure, Dreyfus will become anxious and start to mildly tremble, she said.
Then he usually jumps up on her shoulders - his way of telling her to find a safe place to lie down. He won't leave her alone until she finds that safe place, and once she's there, he'll lie across her to prevent her from getting up and hurting herself.
In the seven months she's had Dreyfus, Shank said he hasn't been wrong about a seizure yet.
His instinct is so reliable, that Faye Shank's husband Bill said you can set your watch to his alerts.
To Faye Shank, Dreyfus is more than a highly skilled animal. He is a life-changing animal, she said, who gave her back her independence when constant seizures
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made her afraid to leave home.
No warning
Shank, 44, has always been a social person. She loves to go shopping, to the movies and out to eat with her husband of 24 years. But her social life came to a halt a little more than three years ago when her seizures became more frequent.
Shank was 19 years old when she was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissue. Her condition got progressively worse and she developed neurological impairment, which causes her to have frequent grand mal seizures. Doctors tried medicine and other treatments, but nothing helped.
Depending on how active Shank is, the seizures can come anywhere from a few times a month to several in one day. They typically last about 35 to 40 seconds, Shank said, but cause her to lose consciousness and put such a strain on her muscles that she is fatigued for hours after.
Shank can handle the aftermath of a seizure, she said, but the problem was not having any warning before a seizure would come.
And as her seizures progressed to three times a week, they would strike her anywhere at any time - when she was working in her yard, when she was taking a bath or walking down steps.
Once, she had a seizure while preparing food on her stove, and had to be treated for third-degree burns. Another time, her teeth were knocked loose from a bad fall. She became used to cuts and bruises from falling down so often.
Many of her seizures occurred while she was out of the house, which was not only dangerous, but also embarrassing, Shank said.
"I would be embarrassed if I would have a seizure somewhere and people would be gawking at me or not know what it was or I'd wake up and find myself in an ambulance," she said. "It scares a lot of people, because they look worse than they are."
For a while, she tried to keep living a normal life, but like her doctors and family, she became concerned that one day a fall would result in a fatal head injury.
"I'm stubborn, and I never like to stop for anything," she said with a smile. "I would tell everybody, 'Oh, I'm OK,' and still try to have a normal life, and it became progressively harder to do that, to the point where I was getting depressed because I couldn't be normal anymore."
She never imagined that relief and her return to a normal life would come from getting a poodle.
"He's always on"
About three years ago, her neurologist recommended getting a seizure alert dog from Canine Partners for Life, a nonprofit organization based in Cochranville, Pa.
Faye Shank was placed on a waiting list for about three years before Dreyfus became available.
Even at that point, she and her husband were skeptical a service dog would help.
"Then to tell us we're going to get a poodle yet, we thought, 'Yeah, OK,'" Bill recalled.
Faye Shank laughed as she remembered thinking that she would end up carrying around a little poodle in her purse.
"I just couldn't picture a dog reliably being able to alert me and changing my life," she said.
But on their first week of a three-week training course with Dreyfus, he silenced their skepticism. He alerted Shank of a seizure 35 minutes before it came, and gave advanced warning to each of the 11 seizures she had the next day.
As Shank and Dreyfus developed a stronger bond, he gave her even longer notice.
Shank is so grateful to Dreyfus and impressed by his abilities that she nominated him for the American Kennel Club's Canine Excellence Award, and is holding a "Dog's Day Off" fundraiser to support Canine Partners for Life.
As a full-service dog trained to help people with disabilities, Dreyfus was trained by Canine Partners for Life to respond to about 120 verbal commands and can do everyday things - like turn on a light switch, open a door, and even pay for and transport items from stores. Some of those service abilities are particularly useful when Shank is tired after a seizure, she said.
Others are just fun to watch, she said.
Shank likes to give store cashiers a laugh when she shops, and has Dreyfus do "go pays," in which he carries a credit card up to a cash register and pays for her purchases.
"I always like to have a man pay for my things," she joked.
Her husband is only too happy to find the nearest bench and let Dreyfus practice his skills, he added.
When the three of them go out together, Faye Shank no longer worries about people gawking at her during a seizure.
"Now when she has a seizure, they're looking at the dog and not her," Bill Shank said. "They don't look at your disability, they look at the dog and his ability."
Dreyfus draws attention while in his "uniform," which consists of a 6-pound vest with several pockets and a handle on the back. He wears a badge to show his certification as a service dog, and has a small patch on his back that says Shank only needs medical attention if her seizure results in injury or lasts longer than five minutes.
He gets recertified every year and goes to six "graduate" classes per year to make sure his skills stay sharp.
So far, Dreyfus has never let his owners down, Faye and Bill Shank said.
"I haven't been hurt since I've had him, outside of maybe a little bruise because I didn't choose the safest place to lay," Faye Shank said.
But Dreyfus has given her more than a lowered threat of injury, she added.
"I feel like I have my independence back. I feel like I have my dignity back," she said. "I can take him anywhere and know that I'm safe. And he's never ever missed one. He's always on."
hfaulhefer@eveningsun.com
Seizure alert dogs
According to Canine Partners for Life, seizure alert dogs are able to predict seizure activity anywhere from several minutes to an hour before the seizure occurs.
This is a natural instinct, or ability, that some dogs are born with. Canine Partners for Life selects those dogs in its service dog program who demonstrate seizure alert abilities.
The actual ability to detect seizures is not trained, but is instead positively reinforced when the Canine Partners for Life staff sees the dog exhibiting awareness to upcoming seizures.
How seizure alert dogs know a seizure is approaching is still somewhat of a mystery, but it is likely that, through sense of smell, the dogs detect the chemical and electrical changes within a person's body caused by seizure activity, according to Canine Partners for Life.
Seizure alert dogs trained by the organization also provide balance and stability to their owner after a seizure, and can retrieve the telephone or operate a medic line, and assist with other tasks as needed.
For about 20 years, Canine Partners for Life, a nonprofit organization located in Cochranville, Pa., has been training service dogs, home companion dogs and residential companion dogs to assist people who have a wide range of physical and cognitive disabilities.
For more information on the organization, visit www.k94life.org
Dog's Day Off fundraiser
Faye Shank is raising money for Canine Partners for Life, the service dog training organization that provided her with Dreyfus, her seizure alert dog.
If she reaches her goal of $1,000 for Canine Partners for Life, Dreyfus will receive a day off from wearing his service dog uniform, and will be treated to a pet spa day and grooming, and will have a play date with his favorite dog friend and an afternoon party with dog treats.
To contribute to the fundraiser, checks can be made out to Canine Partners for Life and memoed to Dreyfus, and sent to the organization at P.O. Box 170, Cochranville, Pa., 19330. Donations can also be made online at www.k94life.org or by calling (610) 869-4902.
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