Service dog

I would think long and hard before jumping into it. My DW and I are both dog lovers. Our lab died a year ago and this is the first time since the mid 90s that we have been without a dog. My DW is transitioning from stage 5 to stage 6 and I cannot imagine the added responsibility of a dog. A dog is a 10-15 year commitment and your life is going to change dramatically over the next decade.

We got a golden retriever puppy when DH was slipping into stage 5. Best decision ever. She's not a service dog, but was a constant companion for him when he was still home alone during the day. I trained her to "find" DH. That came in handy several times when DH got out of my sight in a later stage. Yes, DH tried to feed her everything, but I was able to manage that. She was a huge support for me when DH was still home and we were having so much trouble with his behaviors. Once I placed DH, she went on visits with me to his memory care and the residents just love her.

I'll add that DH was early 50s when we got our puppy, so both of them were very active. Our son was still in high school and able to help with the dog.

My puppy is now almost 7, and is having some major health problems (she's ruptured tendons in both front paws). It's breaking my heart to see her have this trouble after all she's been through to support DH and me.

@allit

I don't have a service or emotional support dog experience but have been around the concept through my association with autism families for years.

You'd need to decide if you want a service animal or more of an emotional support/companion dog. A service animal is one who performs a specific task(s) for a person with a disability. This might be a dog who guides a blind person, picks up subtle blood sugar issues for a diabetic helps their person with seizures get into a safe position ahead on onset. A friend who is a teacher had a student with severe mobility issues who had a Capuchin monkey trained to assist his student in gathering materials and tech from their backpack and setting up his lunch. Service animals pretty much are allowed anywhere. Other "helper" animals are not.

Training is extensive and expensive, so these service pups are in short supply with significant waiting lists. One consideration is that your wife would need to be able to appropriately manage her assigned animal after training. Given the wait-time to either buy or train one, she's likely progress to a point where she wouldn't be able to reliably do this.

Training does take time. I have a colleague whose family does the initial socialization training for The Seeing Eye organization. They tend to be labs as a rule. The family has the pup for about 18 months before they are graduated to start their person-specific training. About half their pups have failed— either they're do "friendly" or not reliable. Their first girl was highly prized for her petite size, but she was "indiscriminately friendly" and ended up as a breeding bitch for a couple litters before being spayed and adopted out. Those who flunk out often make great companions.

I have another friend who is a professional dog trainer. She left law when it became apparent her son has high functioning autism. She's an accomplished trainer who mostly does Canine Good Citizen, but she's also trained her own labs for the agility circuit. She did attempt to train one of her girls as a service dog for her son— she was specifically to be a guide for safety on stairs, escalators and sidewalks as her son, bright as he is, has major issues with proprioception. It didn't go well for her as the dog she selected didn't seem to trust the son as her person. He's a terrific young man; they just went to Sweden to see him graduate with his Masters Degree but socially the dog was uneasy as he could be unpredictable. I could see this as a problem for a PWD.

In terms of selecting a breed, I would be very cautious around buying a Cobber. There are many unscrupulous breeders passing off doodles as Cobblers. You want to be certain to check the pedigree of any you consider— look for animals bred from Australian dogs within the last couple of generations. Expect to wait for a legitimate Cobber; my cousin bought one and jokes that the wait was over 18 months and that she birthed 2 human babies in less time. Pup was about $15K. Said dog is gorgeous and well-tolerated by her very allergic husband (the goal here) but she is neurotic— she's afraid of cars, other dogs and small children which limits cousin's ability to say, take her for a walk through the neighborhood or at the park. It's always a gamble what a dog's personality will be like. Cobber's are supposed to be chill dogs, but this one didn't get the email.

Since your goal is to make sure she can always have a dog around her, I assume you are considering placement as a potential option as a service animal would have to be accepted if she was. This may limit your ability to place her as MCFs act rather like private schools in that you are accepted into the community at their pleasure. Dad was rejected by mom's first choice of MCF based on his one diagnosis being potentially associated with "certain behaviors".

Perhaps if and when it's time to consider placement, you should look for a place that has a resident pet or therapy animals who visit regularly. My aunt's MCF had a miniature poodle in addition to a couple of mellow cats who came and went between the AL and MC wings. Early in her stay, the poodle hung with her a lot but she lost interest (and so did he) in the later stages. Dad's MCF had weekly therapy dog visits and many families brought their family pets to visit.

HB

I’m unsure exactly what specific ‘service’ the dog would be doing for you DW to actually qualify as a service dog. As your DW progresses, you would be the one directing and handling the dog, probably 100%. At a certain point, you have to decide whether the added responsibilities of a dog will outweigh its benefits…only you can determine this.

My mom had a well loved dog that during her time in stage four, we had to rehome with a relative. She fed it constantly, til it was seriously overweight, could not read the dog’s desire to go outside anymore + could not maintain proper hygiene with the dog, not washing her hands after handling him, she managed to have an e. coli problem which was not a pleasant time.

I gave her one of those mechanical cats that she liked for quite some time.

I can kind of see doing it early in the disease, to end up with a well trained dog in the middle stages who can handle things better than a regular pet. However, know that training might be harder than you think (her dementia may get in the way of consistency) and you may not have as long as you think before she cannot be trusted to care for it, or even left alone in the same room with it. Many PWD get to the point where it's dangerous to the animal. Over feeding or feeding stuff that could make them sick, not petting or treating it appropriately, leaving the door open for them to run off, a change in personality/attitudes and having anger towards it etc. It being a trained service animal will not change the trajectory of dementia, and at a certain point it won't be fair to the dog to be with her alone. My mother was a cat person and it became a real problem when she was still at home. She made that cat so sick, putting weird foods in her bowl when we weren't looking. And she wanted to care for it and do things like scoop the litter box but no longer had the skills and judgement and made it so much harder. I also can't see a MC facility taking this on if you need to place her eventually, as I don't think it would fall under the ADA for services it performs for her like a seeing eye dog. The aides in facilities don't have time to care for pets. So just be sure you are ready to be the full time caretaker for the dog from beginning to end.

@allit said: Regarding my wife declining and not being able to manage a service dog, we've thought about that too. I'm wondering, if in a case like a service dog for dementia, if that's taken into consideration. I would essentially be the handler responsible for the service dog when it gets to the point where my wife couldn't handle the dog.

That's not how this works. TBH, I would be surprised if any legitimate service dog organization would even consider a PWD for one of their dogs. The model is that the service animal takes its orders from their person— this requires a level of cognitive ability and maturity which is why kids don't get matched until about middle school for the most part. With Seeing Eye, those getting a first dog spend 4 weeks training with it; previous clients spend 3 weeks training on campus with their new dog.

These animals are a valuable resource, and the priority would be given to a person for whom the dog offers independence. Is that your wife? In reading your initial post, it seems more like you want your wife to be able to have a dog with her as a companion which isn't the intention of a service animal. If I recall correctly, she would need a physician's order stating her diagnosis and that the animal is going to provide a service specific to that diagnosis.

I guess that wouldn't really work out if she goes to a MCF. At that point, I suppose, the service dog would just be more like a therapy dog who comes with me when I visit her.

Then maybe get a therapy dog. Or just a good natured pet. That might be an easier project and wouldn't require any special breed. DS's 2nd grade teacher's therapy dog won recognition as "dog of the year" for her work in the aftermath of 9/11. The pup had been surrendered as too energetic and her brother the vet suggested the dog to his sister. Her other therapy dog at the time was a breeding Pug from a mill who was all personality. When it's time for a new trainee— she lets her current dog(s) pick for temperament. One difference with a therapy dog vs a service animal is that a therapy dog would eventually take orders from you whereas the service dog would be trained not to.

HB

Wow! Your service to the animals is wonderful. It broke my heart to go into the shelter and see all of those dogs scared and wanting love. It sounds like you have both the experience and dedication to make the service dog work. I will you all the best.