How a Dog’s Life Can Transform

My love for the Irish brings me to their news papers and publications to see how are they doing in the area of Equality. I found today a post about the benefits of having a dog with a true miracle story. I thought you might enjoy reading it. adamfoxie*  
 TOM CLONAN’S   
son Eoghan, who suffers from a rare neuromuscular disease, will soon have a new best friend to help him tackle daily life

EOGHAN’S BIRTH in February 2002 was normal. He was a healthy baby boy and, like his three siblings, Eoghan met all of his developmental milestones in the first year. At around 12 months, however, we began to notice subtle changes. A slight tremor in his little hands. A slight flickering movement in his beautiful blue eyes.

We mentioned these signs to our GP. What followed was a blur of consultations with all kinds of specialists and a series of heart-stopping Cat scans, investigations and tests. This was our introduction to the incredible community of medics, health professionals and carers, from Temple Street Hospital in Dublin and the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) in Clontarf. It was also our introduction to three new words – Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD).

Eoghan is one of a very small number of children worldwide who suffer from this rare neuromuscular disease. As a consequence, Eoghan is a wheelchair user and faces a constellation of challenges requiring constant physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Aged nine, Eoghan is intellectually normal and attends St Mary’s Boys National School in Booterstown. He is fully knitted into a very warm community and enjoys the support of his teacher, special-needs assistant, support teachers and the visiting teacher for the blind.

With two active brothers and a sister to contend with, Eoghan’s personality is robust. His sense of humour is highly developed and he has evolved an uncanny judge of character. He frequently makes pithy judgment calls. Recently, while peering at an image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the news, he remarked: “He’s not able to do his job. And being bold isn’t going to help.” Hillary Clinton – take note.

Eoghan has always had a special affinity with animals. It was through this love of animals – and Eoghan’s constant requests for a dog or “a lion” – that we first became aware of Irish Dogs for the Disabled. Unlike Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, which provides dogs for the visually impaired and families of children with autism, Irish Dogs for the Disabled specialises in providing assistance dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities. Established in 2007, Irish Dogs for the Disabled receives no State funding for its activities.

According to Jennifer Dowler, co-founder of Irish Dogs for the Disabled and its chief dog trainer, it costs approximately €15,000 to train each assistance dog. With six dogs currently in training, the overall cost of €90,000 is daunting. The current climate of austerity is challenging but, according to Dowler, Irish people have been very generous.

The dogs are bred from Labradors and Golden Retrievers. Dowler has carefully sourced two male stud dogs and four breeding females. Each litter produces a range of dogs with in-built traits such as intelligence, tolerance and loyalty. Dowler describes them as “bullet proof”. The pups remain with their mothers and foster families for at least 18 months before formal training begins. There are approximately 50 families or “puppy socialisers” who care for the pups. Their work is entirely voluntary. Throughout the process, from a prolonged period as playful pups to formal training, Dowler analyses each dog’s personality with a view to matching him or her to a potential client.

Just before Christmas, Dowler invited Eoghan to attend an initial assessment for compatibility at the Irish Dogs for the Disabled centre in Blarney, Co Cork. Eoghan’s excitement is hard to describe here. On the journey to Blarney Eoghan sang from the M50 all the way down the M7 to Cork. Dowler, who is a mother of two, carried out an in-depth assessment of Eoghan’s needs and family dynamic in order to make a potential match to one of the dogs in training. Luckily for us, she identified a possible match in a large, “placid” male retriever.

At the end of the session, Eoghan got to meet one of the dogs in training – a chocolate Labrador, and was thoroughly licked and sniffed. Eoghan will attend the Irish Dogs for the Disabled centre in Blarney this summer for an intensive training period with his dog. He will learn to take responsibility for the dog and to instruct and command the dog.

The range of tasks carried out by the dogs includes opening and closing doors, retrieving objects, emptying and filling washing machines, turning on and off lights and other appliances and activating alarms. Often, the dog’s presence allows for independent living. There have been many cases of life-saving interventions on the part of assistance dogs – especially after falls, heart attacks or other medical events. In Eoghan’s case, the dog will accompany him on trips to the shop and other journeys in our neighbourhood.

In Maynooth, Alan Carrigan (11) has had his assistance dog, Brandy – a golden retriever – for just over a year. His mother Frances has found the experience to be an overwhelmingly positive one. Alan, who has Cerebral Palsy, works well with Brandy, and the duo are regularly seen socialising with his friends and neighbours in the Parklands Estate. As I talk to Alan about Brandy, his hands – which can be tightly clenched – are open and relaxed as he strokes the dog’s head. Alan tells me, “I really, really, really like Brandy. He’s my friend.” Frances tells me that Brandy has been a great addition to the family and observes that the dog’s presence in their lives has “boosted Alan’s confidence, lifted everyone’s mood and, most of all, has us out walking twice a day”.

Apart from the invaluable contribution these dogs make towards independent living, they also remove the social isolation that can afflict wheelchair users and children with disabilities. People can be shy about approaching or talking to a wheelchair user. When accompanied by an assistance dog, however, people are drawn into conversation. This dynamic – the magical and magnetic effect of assistance dogs – opens up whole worlds of possibility.