Getting a Therapy Dog/Goldendoodle for parent with disability

[Jess & Stewart]

Hi, 

It's been a long time no see here for me & Stew! He's doing well, same old crazy Stew, periodically guarding. He only does this once every few months now since I manage him enough that he has no opportunity to guard unless I drop something on the ground that rolls away from me quicker than I can grab it (pesky bottle caps!). He also has earned nylabones back & I can take them away from him when he is doing chewing. Separation anxiety is almost completely gone & he's better with greeting manners. 

Anyway, I'm sure there have been discussions on this but I wanted to start a specific one. My stepdad has recently been diagnosed with early Parkinson's disease. He has prior nerve damage so he doesn't have full use of his hands, he doesn't have full grip strength but can still use his hands. 

My mom & I are curious about a therapy/service dog -- I know they train for specific disabilities but wasn;t sure if one would work for him. He is a bit unsteady & has some rigidity/freezing episodes, I thought a service dog could be beneficial as support to steady him/give him momentum during rigidity. I've read of dogs being trained to stand in front or to the side of a person with balance issues and either be used to help the person up or keep from falling. The dog could also do easy tasks, like grabbing/bringing something to him; turning on & off lights etc, accompany them on flights up to NJ

I thought it might be worthwhile to look into this now before his symptoms start to progress.A goldendoodle/standard poodle I think would be ideal as they wouldn't shed, which would relieve my mom from a portion of dog maintenance. They do have a dog now living with them (my sister's) 7 years old, a boxer/beagle/pit mix from a shelter. Easiest dog  in the world, does nothing except lay around all day & go on walks. 

Any advice on organizations to look into, specific requirements, applications?. I am in the PA/NJ/MD/DE area & they are in FL but have a house in NJ, travel here frequently as snowbirds. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

Hi, glad to hear Stew is doing much better. I would be interested in this as well. I may be dealing with this one of these days with my husband. He has had polyneuropathy for at least 20 years now, and it is slowly getting worse. I want to be prepared for it, for if or when he is immobile.

[Stella]

Where I live, the only reliably trained and recognized service dogs are trained by Dog Guides through the Lions Club - they train seeing eye dogs, autism dogs, seizure alert dogs etc. Maybe there is a similar organisations where you are? A true service dog needs to be ridiculously well trained, by an experienced trainer. If you are looking for a physical support dog, I'd suspect you want something sturdier than a standard poodle, I'm not saying poodles aren't strong, but you might want a stronger / heavier set dog that is capable of taking body weight, again the dogs need to be really well trained and in physical top shape to do this job. Service dogs are permitted to go with their handlers to restaurants, stores and other places dogs are usually not allowed.

A therapy dog is totally different, these are the dogs that have been temperament tested and certified to do visits to hospitals, hospice, schools etc. Therapy dogs are not allowed to go into stores, restaurants etc.

[Jess & Stewart]

Typically, placements take 1-2 years which is why I'd want to start looking into this now. I said therapy dog because I wasn't sure if dogs can be trained to help those with balance/mobility disorders like Parkinson's since the symptoms can be so varied & progress along with the disease. If a service could not be trained to do those things, I think he would still benefit from a therapy dog, especially depending on how the disease will progress in the next 5-10 years.  

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Jess,

I am in NJ, right on the border of Bucks County PA.  We had a service dog, Ellie, a smallish lab, who was trained to help my special needs daughter in various ways, including to block her when she started to run into the street. As an added benefit, I later discovered that Ellie could provide stability when an inner ear problem created balance issues for me. I'm not sure if we are allowed to recommend specific organizations in the open forum, but if you want to friend me, I will be happy to provide you with information about the organization in western PA that bred and trained her. They mostly use labs and goldens, and I suspect they would happily use a goldendoodle if asked. They would also be able to tell you if a poodle would be able to provide the type of assistance your stepdad will need. Each service dog is specifically selected and trained to provide the assistance needed by the individual owner. I can't begin to tell you the many ways in which Ellie contributed to the well-being of our family.

[Jess & Stewart]

Andrea -- I will PM you. I live in Philaelphia & my parents 2nd home is in Southern NJ, so this sounds like it would be a great organization/location. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I don't know the name of the organization, but they train dogs to help with mobility and stability for MS patients. I know this is not what your step dad has, but you could reach out to one of the MS foundations and see if they have any contact info and see where that takes you. I will try to see if I can find the group or at least find were I remember reading the article.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Check out these links... They are just different links in a article about the different uses of dogs for MS related to balance issues. The last one is a link to a balance harness the MS Society recommends. Hope some of this helps!


http://www.iaadp.org/ I think a training organization... Maybe they can help?

http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/ I think this is a proffessional organization for non fraudulent groups who train dogs.... I could be wrong though, I haven't read through these in a while now.

http://www.boldleaddesigns.bigcartel.com/product/mobility-support-h...
And that is for the harness

[M Kol]

Welcome back! Interesting thread.