Showing posts with label alert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alert. Show all posts
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Doing Dog Sports with an Alert Service Dog can be Exciting and Challenging!
Doing Dog Sports with an Alert Service Dog can be Exciting and Challenging!
I know this is my blog about raising service dog candidates from the time they are puppies until they are working service dogs (and can successfully pass a public access test). Im using my experiences raising my young chocolate Lab, Hardy, to show the different things that you will need to do, the problems that will occur, the different experiences you will share as well as the tremendous bond that forms between you and your canine partner.
At the same time, I also have Laurel, my soon-to-be five year old working service dog. And having her while raising and training my next service dog has had a huge impact on that experience. Laurel has been a wonderful teacher for Hardy - she was an amazing puppy trainer, taught him two of her natural alerts, helps with teaching him tasks and generally continues to keep his behavior in check. I learned so much from working with her and I have consciously attempted to improve things for him by using what I have learned. I asked my service dog trainer, Sue Alexander, to come down and temperament test litters of puppies so that I could get a puppy better suited to the job because I see how hard it is for Laurel. But maybe the most important impact having a working service dog has had on my experience raising Hardy is that I have been able to enjoy Hardys puppy-hood with much less stress and temptations to rush him to grow up and begin working. For me, thats particularly important because I am very competitive and dont need much encouragement to act like an idiot!
Having expressed all of the above yet again, Im also going to share an experience I had with Laurel at agility trials over the weekend. As Ive shared before, Laurel does 3 different medical alerts for me - all of which began naturally (Laurel taught them to me instead of the other way around). She taught Hardy two of the alerts when he was still a puppy and she has alerted to other people. Shes alerted to our daughters anxiety and her severe muscle spasms; shes also alerted to several friends anxiety and she alerted to a friends pain disorder. But these were all people she knows and has spent time with.
Normally, at any type of trials, Laurel relaxes or sleeps when shes in her crate. Yesterday, when I came to get her for one of our agility runs, my husband mentioned that she had barked at a stranger who had walked past her. It caused me to pause for a moment because she has never ever done anything like that before ... she was socialized to everything and more as a puppy and shes been successfully working as a service dog for about 3 1/2 years now. But we had to run (literally) so I didnt have time to think much more about it - we went and warmed up and did our run. I noticed that Laurel was much more distracted than she had been but didnt think much about it. When I came back to our crating area, I put Laurel away and then observed her very intently and deliberately watching the same stranger. If someone got in her way, she would move in her crate so that she could see him again and occasionally, she would look at me and "woof" once. I quickly began thinking that there was something going on and that maybe Laurel was alerting. I took her out of her crate to see what would happen and she continued to very deliberately get me to look at the man and then "woofed" at me to let me know that something was going on with him. I had no idea what "protocol" was in this situation - do I go up to him and say that I have an alerting dog who seems to think something is going on with him? I saw that he was with someone I know casually from the trials so I approached her. I asked if she knew him and when she said yes, I told her about Laurel and that she was alerting to him. The woman looked startled and then said that the man had just had surgery and had a tube draining blood from an incision and that he had diabetes and with the surgery (which hadnt gone well), his blood sugar was very high and out of control. Im not sure which Laurel was alerting to but I was sure that she was alerting to something. I went back to Laurel in her crate, thanked her for alerting, gave her a jackpot of treats, told her that her job was done and five minutes later, looked over and saw that she was sound asleep once again. After that, our weekend went on as usual - Laurel had done her job as she believes it to be and then went on taking care of me and playing agility together! I have to admit that I was amazed by my awesome girl and the gift she shares with the people she comes in contact with!
Hardy had a wonderful time at the trials - he didnt alert to any strangers but he visited and watched teams compete and we worked on some obedience things together!
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| Laurel coming out of a tunnel at an agility trial |
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| Laurel & I playing at agility together |
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| Hitting that contact on the teeter totter |
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| What Laurel does at agility trials when shes not alerting |
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Tuesday, November 22, 2016
HAN Archive 00391 Health Alert Network HAN
HAN Archive 00391 Health Alert Network HAN
HAN Archive - 00391|Health Alert Network (HAN)
Best Practices for Using PCR to Diagnose Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis and Identify Serotype or Serogroup
Distributed via the CDC Health Alert Network
June 17, 2016, 13:30 EDT (1:30 PM EDT)
CDCHAN-00391
June 17, 2016, 13:30 EDT (1:30 PM EDT)
CDCHAN-00391
Summary
Determining serotype for Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) and serogroup for Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) is crucial for identifying potential outbreaks and determining appropriate public health responses. Several new commercial multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays capable of simultaneously testing a single specimen for an array of pathogens that cause blood infections, meningitis, or encephalitis are available. These assays can rapidly identify Hi and Nm species, but most do not determine serotype or serogroup. Laboratories should continue to perform culture and use validated, specific real-time PCR assays capable of detecting and differentiating all six serotypes (a-f) of Hi and six serogroups (A, B, C, W, X, and Y) of Nm; otherwise, additional steps need to be taken including performing a reflex culture or at a minimum retaining a clinical sample for further testing.
Determining serotype for Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) and serogroup for Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) is crucial for identifying potential outbreaks and determining appropriate public health responses. Several new commercial multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays capable of simultaneously testing a single specimen for an array of pathogens that cause blood infections, meningitis, or encephalitis are available. These assays can rapidly identify Hi and Nm species, but most do not determine serotype or serogroup. Laboratories should continue to perform culture and use validated, specific real-time PCR assays capable of detecting and differentiating all six serotypes (a-f) of Hi and six serogroups (A, B, C, W, X, and Y) of Nm; otherwise, additional steps need to be taken including performing a reflex culture or at a minimum retaining a clinical sample for further testing.
Background
CDC is aware of recent instances in which it was not possible to determine whether cases of Nm were part of a cluster due to the lack of serogroup data. For these cases, multiplex PCR assays capable of simultaneously testing a single specimen for an array of pathogens that cause blood infections, meningitis, or encephalitis were used. While such assays can rapidly identify Hi and Nm species, most do not determine serotype or serogroup. Detecting serotype and serogroup are important for identifying potential outbreaks and determining appropriate public health responses.
CDC is aware of recent instances in which it was not possible to determine whether cases of Nm were part of a cluster due to the lack of serogroup data. For these cases, multiplex PCR assays capable of simultaneously testing a single specimen for an array of pathogens that cause blood infections, meningitis, or encephalitis were used. While such assays can rapidly identify Hi and Nm species, most do not determine serotype or serogroup. Detecting serotype and serogroup are important for identifying potential outbreaks and determining appropriate public health responses.
Recommendations
Clinical, commercial, and state public health laboratories considering PCR for Hi and Nm should select assays capable of detecting and differentiating all Hi serotypes (serotypes a-f) and all Nm serogroups common in the United States (serogroups B, C, W, and Y). If a public health laboratory is not able to perform serotyping or serogrouping by PCR and a culture isolate is not available, the laboratory should send specimens to the CDC Bacterial Meningitis laboratory or one of the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Vaccine Preventable Diseases Reference Laboratories for serotype/serogroup testing (see links in the For More Information section).
Clinical, commercial, and state public health laboratories considering PCR for Hi and Nm should select assays capable of detecting and differentiating all Hi serotypes (serotypes a-f) and all Nm serogroups common in the United States (serogroups B, C, W, and Y). If a public health laboratory is not able to perform serotyping or serogrouping by PCR and a culture isolate is not available, the laboratory should send specimens to the CDC Bacterial Meningitis laboratory or one of the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Vaccine Preventable Diseases Reference Laboratories for serotype/serogroup testing (see links in the For More Information section).
All laboratories with Hi and Nm PCR capacity are strongly encouraged to continue performing culture or to save clinical specimens for further testing and submission to state health departments and CDC. Hi and Nm culture isolates are valuable not only for serotyping or serogrouping but also for monitoring antimicrobial susceptibility and for conducting whole genome sequencing, which is necessary for strain comparisons during outbreak investigations and to monitor vaccine effectiveness over time.
All laboratories that use assays that do not determine serotype or serogroup should perform either a simultaneous culture or a reflex culture if Hi or Nm is identified. At a minimum, adequate clinical sample for further testing at a laboratory with a PCR assay that can detect serotype or serogroup should be maintained.
For More Information
- Best Practices for Use of PCR for Diagnosing Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis and Importance of Identifying Serotype/Serogroup(http://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/laboratory/pcr-guidance-mening-hflu.html)
- CDC Bacterial Meningitis Laboratory (http://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/laboratory.html)
- Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Vaccine Preventable Diseases Reference Laboratories(http://www.aphl.org/programs/infectious_disease/Pages/VPD.aspx)
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Monday, October 31, 2016
Hardy proves the alert wasnt just a fluke
Hardy proves the alert wasnt just a fluke
So, the bad news is that Im still having issues with rheumatoid in my chest wall! The great news is that, apparently this morning, Hardy decided to show me that his alerting yesterday hadnt been a fluke. After hed eaten breakfast, he asked to come up on the bed with me and alerted before Laurel did! She confirmed it minutes later and another party was had by all! He was very proud of himself and was telling Laurel all about it!
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Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Laurel and Hardy are working together to alert and perform tasks
Laurel and Hardy are working together to alert and perform tasks
Laurel and Hardy have been working together to teach him to alert for severe muscle spasms and also to perform various tasks. With the change in temperature Ive been having more muscle spasms than usual and Laurel has been alerting to them. Whats interesting is that she works to get Hardys attention when she alerts and actively encourages him to mimic her. Laurel knows what body part is going to spasm and it seems that Hardy is catching on to that as well. A couple times now he has alerted before Laurel and he has nudged the correct spot. Since I feel more confident in my ability to teach him to do the diabetes alert, Im thrilled that Laurel is teaching him the other two.
Over the past couple days, my two goofy Labs have also been tag-teaming picking things up for me. Laurel will find something under a table or tangled in cords and will get it out into the open. Then, she shows it to Hardy and will step aside so that he can come and pick it up to bring to me. I have some old credit and gift cards that I use for training so Hardy has gotten very good at picking them up off our hardwood floor. Of course, when he brings the object to me, we all have a big party involving dog treats or toys!
I was concerned that I was going to have to crate Laurel or in some other way discourage her from doing all the tasks in order for Hardy to learn them. One time when Hardy was much younger, he went to pick up my shoe and Laurel pushed him away so she could bring it to me so I am thrilled that Laurel has now taken on the role of teacher. And Im not sure which one of them is prouder when Hardy brings me something!
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Monday, October 10, 2016
Hardy mimicked Laurels alert!
Hardy mimicked Laurels alert!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Im having a flair of rheumatoid in my chest wall this summer. Laurel, who alerts to that, has been watching me carefully and has been more serious than usual. The other day (Tuesday, the 13th), Hardy came running up to Laurel while she was alerting. To my and Hardys amazement, she let him know in no uncertain terms that alerting was serious business, not playtime. That really got his attention and I noticed that he was watching Laurels alerting much more than he had been before. Then, this morning (Saturday, the 17th), Laurel was alerting and Hardy asked to come up on the bed to snuggle with me. That is not something he normally does so I helped him up and he started mimicking Laurels alert behavior (which is to lick me at the bottom of my neck). I told them both how wonderful they were; liberally gave out treats and then let them watch me take my meds. You can see Laurel visibly relax then and after a couple minutes, Laurel invited Hardy to chew on her ears. Im feeling pretty excited that Laurel will be able to teach Hardy to do the alerts!
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