OT Narcolepsy SD appropriate in this situation?

[labs4ever]

Hi everyone,
I am asking this question for my step-sister.  Her boyfriend has been diagnosed with narcolepsy and she is interested as to whether she and her boyfrined can train a dog to helping with this.   Here are some exerpts from an e mail with her permission.   I don't know much about narcolepsy response dogs myself but thought someone around here might!     I am honestly not even sure that an SD is the right choice in this case which is why I posted this in this section.  BTW my sister knows next to nothing about SD's.  She lived with me when I had my gudie dogs but wasn't that into it.    Thanks! 

Kerri

exerpts follow

I thought that you might know this. Brad was diagnosed with narcolepsy and he can't stay awake to even drive to work (he can drive just fine if I'm in the car with him but I can't go to work with him, obviously) by himself and we were thinking a service dog might help with that. But we can't afford to pay for one to be professionally trained for us, so we were thinking we might find out what we'd need to know to train it ourselves and so forth.
We think having an SD would help keep him awake because we could train it to bark and/or lick him when he starts to drift off. I'm able to keep him awake when I'm in the car with him 'cause I watch and let him know if he starts to drift off. He seems to have more trouble when I'm not around because I pay attention to his cues that he's about to have a sleep attack and try to help him hold it off until he can get somewhere to have a nap. So I figure a dog that could alert him in some way when he starts to drift off would help. He has trouble at work, too. He's burned himself pretty badly 'cause he'll drift off and put his hands on the grill and not wake up right away. It's really not safe for him to work where he does but he can't find another job due to the way the economy is.

end of exeprt

[Spectrum]

I don't know much about narcolepsy SDs either, but I wanted to say having a dog keep you awake so you can drive does NOT sound like a good idea. Neither does having your wife keep you awake while you drive. Quite honestly, I think if he can't stay awake while he drives, he shouldn't be driving at all.

[Rovingrebel]

Considering that dogs sleep up to 18hrs a day themselves I don't know how practical this would be.

[Kirsten]

Ask yourself is this would be an appropriate job for a toddler.  That's about the mentality we're talking about here.  If he's not safe to drive, I'm surprised his doctor hasn't pulled his license yet.

Narcolepsy dogs that I know of have been trained to respond when the handler is down, not just drifting off.  Think about how hard it would be to define "drifting off" in terms a dog could grasp.  You can send her this handbook, which might make her rethink her ability to owner-train:  http://www.deltasociety.org/Page.aspx?pid=303#MinStds

She mentioned a grill, which I take to mean he works in food service.  A service dog is not going to be permitted in food preparation areas.  In dining areas, yes, but not in food prep areas.  So that's not going to work for the grill issue, plus there's the issue of what to do with the dog while he's at work.

It appears to me they can spend 18-24 months training a dog, with her driving him in the interim and knowing he can't use the dog at this particular job, OR for less than the cost of one bag of quality dog food he can get this instead:  http://www.sav-a-life.com/Doze_intro.htm

Also remember that a diagnosis of narcolepsy does not automatically qualify him as disabled.  That's a question for his doctor, but honestly if he was disabled I'm pretty sure the doctor wouldn't be letting him drive.

[labs4ever]

Thanks for the links Kirsten.  I agree with you all about the driving thing.   I am glad they don't live in the same town I do, I wouldn't want to be on the road with Brad driving.   The grill thing, yes he works in fsat food and I was confused myself on how a dog would help him.  I honestly don't think he would be considered disabled.   Both of them try to take advantage of stuff.   I don't think they have what it takes to owner train a dog anyway.  I'll let you know what she says back!   

[responsiblek9]

  Reminds me of a horrible joke. " I want to go out like grandpa did.... IN HIS SLEEP!
 NOT like all his screaming passengers!"

No you cant depend on a dog to keep ya awake to drive.
But then ya can always encourage them to RALPH.... down the back of your neck for bad driving . I SWEAR that will wake ya RIGHT UP!! .
 

[labs4ever]

is there a story about a dog ralphing down the back of your kneck we need to know about???? 

[responsiblek9]

  yea was years ago when Arrow was a yearling. If he got excited ( usually on the way home)  he would cozy up to me while I was driving and casually poke his head behind my neck and RALPH right down the back of my neck.. Talk about having to have nerves of steel  and not flinch while driving on icy roads.. Couple times of that I was tying him nice and short to the pasenger door arm rest where he could not reach me to do that. So he quit doing it. Problem solved. 

[labs4ever]

Ok well my step sister replied as I thought she would making excuses and saying she doesn't think we know much about narcolepsy dogs, yet she appreciated the links.   She says Brads license hasn't been taken away because he hasn't gotten in any accidents that were his fault.  She also said she can do the basic obedience on a dog and lightswitches (which she says they wouldn't need) and shutting doors.  I doubt this.   At any rate I REALLY hope she does more research.   

[Spectrum]

I find the license thing odd...I mean, they'll take your license away for seizures, even if you don't have any accidents. It's a shame someone has to get hurt before they do anything, since taking action now could potentially save lives.

[Roxie]

It is probably he has fallen through cracks in the DL system.

Dr has to notify DMV. Dr may not know he's driving... may not realize he has to report.

I sure hope he doesn't fall asleep behind the wheel.

Roxie

[labs4ever]

I agree the driving thing sounds a bit fishy to me like she isn't telling me the whole story there.  I wouldn't be surprised if she is embelishing the narcolepsy symptoms a bit.  I loved the ralphing story !  That is funny!   

[Kirsten]

Tell them the doctor has to prescribe the dog as an assistive device for driving.  Might get the doctor's attention on the issue that his patient thinks he needs a dog to keep him from dozing off behind the wheel.

[state_of_nowhere]

Kirsten's suggestion is amazing!

Honestly, if it were me, I would stay out of it. Refer her to the boards here, or tell her he has to talk to his doctor. If you get involved, it might cause more trouble/tension.

[labs4ever]

Well   I did refer to here, but I love Kirstens suggestion too!  I amight try that..   At the moment there is not tension between us.  Until there is I will keep trying to educate her.  She is quite a bit younger than me anyway so....