by Myrna Shiboleth New hope for a more normal life for early stage Alzheimer's patients is now becoming possible due to a revolutionary project being developed in Israel. Service dogs are being trained to return these patients home if they become disoriented and lost, to bring them assistance when they are in distress, and to provide companioship and support 24 hours a day. The project, developed by dog trainer Yariv Ben Yosef and social worker Dafna Golan Shemesh, has already attracted a great deal of attention in many countries.
Alzheimer's sufferers may appear in many cases to be normal, but they can easily forget where they are or what they are doing, become lost, frustrated, angry, and helpless, and find themselves in life threatening situations. The Alzheimer's Aid dog is trained to remain with the patient at all times, and when given the command "Home", will guide his master back home, even over long distances and unfamiliar areas. The dog is also trained to remain at all times with his master, and to attract attention if the patient refuses to accompany him. He is equipped with a special harness with global positioning equipment, that allows family members at home to locate dog and master if they have been away from home for too long.
The dog is also trained to call for help if the patient falls, or shows signs of physical injury or distress.
Perhaps the most important task of the dog is providing support and companionship. Alzheimer's patients are often ashamed and frightened and tend to close themselves in their homes, avoiding contact with other people and suffering from lack of phusical activity. Having a dog can change all of this, making the patient less hesitant about going out and having contact with others. And of course the love and devotion of the dog provides a great deal of emotional support.
The dogs being used for this project are collies, both rough and smooth. After long consideration of the possibilities, it was decided that the collie is the ideal breed - extremely loyal and devoted to its people, highly trainable, non aggressive, and with a very strong drive to serve its master, but with enough independence of nature to be able to make decisions when the patient is unable to do so himself.
The first trained dog has been working with her master for nearly a year, and has been successful much beyond the dreams of the project's initiators. In the words of the patient, "She has enitrely changed my life. I can't imagine being without her." Several more dogs are now in training and will soon be going to their new owners, to provide a new quality of life for those suffering from Alzheimer's.
