Dog Dials 911 to Save Owner
Service Dog Trained to Retrieve the Phone for Disabled Owner
Sep 15, 2008
Dogs aren't just pets for many people - they're service dogs for the handicapped and disabled, partners for work in fields like policing, airport security and protection, while others still are loving family members that act as companions, and in the case of Buddy, as a personal assistant for his disabled owner.
For one German Shepherd dog named Buddy, the term "man's best friend" is a very accurate statement. Buddy's training and instincts were paired together to create a dog who was trained to serve as a guardian for his seizure-prone owner and in September 2008, this dog became a hero for his owner when he dialed 911 to summon help.
Buddy the Service Dog Comes to the Rescue
This story begins ten years ago, when Joe Stalnaker sustained a serious head injury during training with the United States military. The injury left Stalnaker prone to experiencing potentially deadly seizures, so as a result, he obtained a service dog named Buddy.
The pair first met when Buddy was just an eight-week-old puppy and with the expert assistance of service dog trainers, the German Shepherd puppy was trained to assist his disabled owner.
According to the Associated Press, Buddy was trained to retrieve a telephone In the event that Stalknaker experiences a seizure. But Buddy's training doesn't stop there - he's also been trained to dial 911.
On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, Buddy had an opportunity to showcase his training as an assistance dog when his owner began experiencing a seizure.
Just as he was trained to do, Buddy retrieved the telephone for Stalnaker. And the 18-month-old German Shepherd then proceeded to dial 911 by nosing a pre-programmed button. Buddy is trained to keep hitting the button until he hears a person speaking on the phone line. On publicly released 911 tapes released shortly after the incident, Buddy can be heard whimpering and barking in response to the dispatcher's repeated inquiries as to whether someone at the location was in need of assistance. As is routine, authorities were sent to Stalnaker's home since police were unable to speak with anyone at the home.
Technology also played a role in this rescue. Buddy's phone call to 911 triggered a computerized look-up of the address of origin for the call. The address information popped up on the dispatcher's computer screen, along with a notation that indicated that the resident of the address has a service dog who is trained to dial 911.
Authorities say they were on-scene at Stalnaker's home within three minutes.
Stalnaker was hospitalized for two days following his seizure and he's expected to make a full recovery. Notably, this isn't the first time that Buddy has come to the rescue by dialing 911 - the dog has summoned help for his owner on two other occasions.
Service Dog Training for Epileptic Dog Owners
According to longtime dog trainer and behaviorist Michael Schwartz, Buddy's lifesaving actions are heroic, but not all that surprising.
"Dogs are pack animals - it's natural and instinctual for dogs to bond with other dogs, with humans. Like the most successful working dogs, service dogs are trained in a way that taps into their natural instincts to protect and help fellow 'pack' members. And anytime you use instinct as a basis for training a new skill, there's a very good chance the training will prove very successful. A dog's instincts are incredibly powerful and harnessing that power in a constructive way is what dog training is all about," Schwartz explained.
Man's "best friend" doesn't go far enough for Buddy -- a German shepherd who remembered his training and saved his owner's life by calling 911 when the man had a seizure.
It seems that Buddy may have had an added advantage in the situation: it's likely he was able to sense his owner's impending seizure shortly before it actually occurred. In recent years, trainers have started training puppies to act as seizure detection dogs.
"Seizure detection dogs came about after trainers learned of normal 'pet' dogs who started acting in a strange manner shortly before their epileptic owner experienced a seizure. It seems that the dog is sensing some sort of physical change in the epileptic owner. We're not sure precisely what they're sensing, but it was discovered that many untrained dogs were alerting their owners by acting in an unusual and concerned manner. So trainers have since harnessed that natural seizure detection ability and select dogs have been trained as service dogs who alert their owner shortly before a seizure occurs," Schwartz explained.
Seizure detection dogs play an important role when it comes to ensuring the safety of an epileptic owner. Many people who experience seizures are prone to injury and even death due to secondary injuries that occur when a seizure strikes unexpectedly. A person with a seizure detection dog will have a warning between 30 seconds and five minutes, which allows them to stop any activities and move to a safe location before the seizure strikes.
Related Reading
Dog owners may also enjoy Suite101's article on dog training and dog phobia rehabilitation methods using Pavlov's conditioning methods.
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