Service dogs are necessary pleasures

By MEGAN SWEENEY
For The Stafford County Sun
Published: November 19, 2008

STAFFORD — Imagine you have epilepsy. You are plagued with seizures, maybe not all of the time, but enough that the condition has drastically changed your life.

The seizures come suddenly at times, putting you in danger of other injuries, such as falling over, hitting your head and potentially harming yourself in various ways. If you live alone, you simply can’t take care of yourself the way you would like to. 

This is a reality that Woodbridge resident Kira Clark has to deal with every day.

Clark, who said she spends a lot of time in Stafford, recently had some trouble with some area businesses’ understanding of the need for her service dog, Sassi, to accompany her. Although she said the situation has been resolved, she wants people to know that these dogs are necessary to the health and well-being of the people they serve.

Clark moved on after finding that her epilepsy was getting worse after four years in the intelligence branch of the United States Army.

Epilepsy is a medical disorder involving episodes of irregular electrical discharge in the brain, characterized by periodic sudden loss or impairment of consciousness, often accompanied by convulsions usually called seizures, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.

In 2002 the Department of Veterans’ Affairs program contacted Clark and told her about a program in which veterans were able to receive assistance with the help of dogs. The program, called AIM HI, and stood for Animals in the Military Helping Individuals.

AIM HI was based out of Fort Knox, and helped to train both animals and humans. Each would learn how to accept commands. It took Clark one year to get approved, and then she had to go through two weeks of training with her dog.

An individual with a dog trained for epilepsy reaction is able to live a more independent lifestyle than before, according to Clark. The dog is taught to recognize his or her owner’s seizure triggers, and is then able to get help, usually by contacting an emergency response team.

In March 2003, Clark was finally able to attend two weeks of training with Sassi, the canine that would ultimately become her service dog.

Sassi’s training and temperament proved useful very quickly, according to Clark.

Clark spoke of the night after her graduation from George Mason University, when she was quite sick. Someone was in the other room, but at that point Clark’s throat hurt too much to call for help. She looked over at Sassi, and decided to see if she could use one of the training techniques that they’d worked on but had yet to find a use for.

A command and a gesture were supposed to be used in conjunction to get Sassi to bark, but Clark couldn’t call out. She decided to see if only the gesture would work. Clark made the gesture and Sassi barked. The person from the other room hurried in to see what was wrong, Clark said, because Sassi both was not a very talkative animal by nature, and was trained not to bark often. 

Clark also noticed how helpful Sassi was when Sassi began to pick up on facets that even Clark wasn’t aware of that implied a coming seizure. Every once in a while Sassi would sit down and stare at Clark, avoiding moving and doing her best to attract Clark’s attention until Clark sat or laid down. Twenty to 45 minutes later Clark would be beset with a huge headache or another symptom for the beginning of a seizure. 

After the first time Sassi picked up on that, Clark turned to her and said, “Got it. Message received. You know everything.”

Sassi can pick up on Clark’s symptoms, and in her own way, convince her to take a break.

When Clark heads out into public, there can be other difficulties.

Many employees and even many managers at companies are unaware that guide and hearing dogs are not the only type of assistance dog, according to Clark.

Clark has had a few issues with this, as she’ll come into a store with Sassi and occasionally be harassed by people who simply don’t know that Sassi is there in case of an emergency and is impressively well-trained, she noted. 

She said she knows that “it’s not their fault” that they aren’t familiar with assistance dogs.

Clark commented that a lot of people with assistance dogs have begun carrying around fliers, but also said she feels that “I’m not here to do a PSA [Public Service Announcement]. I’m just here for my bread and milk, like any other paying customer.”

Clark said she has been encouraged to leave stores, made to feel unwelcome, asked for identification — even though it is against the law — and screamed at, even though Sassi wears her cape every time she leaves the house.

Instead of giving up or getting even, however, Clark decided to make a difference.

“If I don’t do anything, I’m just part of the problem,” she said.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “service animals are animals that are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks. Service animals are working animals, not pets.”

The dogs are trained to assist their owners toward greater independence. They spend about one year in training, depending on which specialty they are chosen for. There are several different types of assistance dogs.

Guide dogs are trained to assist people who are blind or nearly blind to safely navigate their environment. Teamwork allows these assistance dog partners to avoid collision with obstacles in their path, to detect a sudden change in ground level such as a curb so they won’t stumble and to increase their safety and self sufficiency in other respects as well, according to the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners.

Hearing dogs are trained to alert a deaf or hard of hearing individual to specific sounds that otherwise would go unnoticed. The association states that such teamwork enables the assistance dog partner to respond promptly if, for example, the baby cries, the stove timer buzzes, the doorbell rings, a smoke alarm goes off or if an ambulance siren is warning drivers to get out of the way.

Service dogs are adult dogs trained to assist people who have other kinds of disabilities such as mobility impairment or a seizure disorder. By working cooperatively with a highly trained service dog, many of these assistance dog partners report they have been able to substantially increase their independence, safety and mobility, according to the association.

Assistance dogs are recognizable in several different ways. The dogs usually wear some form of red cape, vest, backpack, special collar or harness, and these items will usually state “assistance dog” somewhere on the garment. However, assistance dogs are not required to wear these garments.

The red cape holds, in Sassi’s case, one of two forms of ID and used grocery bags, because although she is incredibly well-trained, she hasn’t yet mastered the porcelain throne.

Most service dogs will have at least one form of ID, although according to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, “you may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability.”

Only in cases in which the animal is out of control and the animal’s owner does not take effective action to control it (for example, a dog that barks repeatedly during a movie) or the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others nay a person with a disability be asked to remove his service animal from the premises of a building or place of business which serves the public, the U.S. Department of Justice notes.

The Department of Justice also states that allergies and fears of animals are generally not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people with service animals.

Violators of the Americans with Disabilities Act may be required to pay monetary penalties. Store owners or managers can explain to customers who complain that the service dog is medically necessary and that federal law permits people with service animals to have access to public places.

There’s no reason to be afraid, Clark said.

“If she does anything, she’ll likely lick you to death,” Clark joked, referring to Sassi. 

She added: “My dog is doing a lot more than just playing ball.”

Sassi trains every day so that when necessity calls for it, she can save Clark’s life.

Megan Sweeney is a contributing writer at The Stafford County Sun. Reach her at .