It’s estimated that more than 60 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy. There are more than three million cases of epilepsy in the United States and more than 100,000 new diagnoses of epilepsy on an annual basis.

For those who suffer from epilepsy, seizure response service dogs can be invaluable. For folks living with any sort of disability, service dogs allow them more independence and the ability to live their lives with less fear and more peace of mind. Service dogs begin their training at around 16 weeks old and they have proven invaluable for folks of different needs whether you’re talking about autism service dogs, diabetic service dogs or PTSD service dogs.

Seizure response service dogs can be very beneficial in public places, allowing folks who suffer with epilepsy to have more of a sense of freedom.

If you’re wondering what seizure alert service dogs are there are dogs specifically trained to assist their owners during a seizure and after a seizure. These trained dogs are able to naturally detect when a seizure is imminent and can warn their owners when a seizure may be oncoming.

For anyone with epilepsy, one of the biggest fears that accompanies having epilepsy is an overwhelming fear of having a seizure in public. Seizure alert dogs can alert their owners by making close eye contact, pawing, licking or acting restlessly.

On the other side of that coin, seizure response service dogs have been trained to respond and help folks with epilepsy who have already had a seizure. These highly trained dogs can alert caregivers when a person is having seizure, they can move in ways that alert others that someone with epilepsy is having a seizure or they can activate an alarm to alert someone.

For folks with epilepsy, seizure response service dogs have been trained to alert people when someone, whether a child or an adult, is having a seizure, but they can do so much more than that. They are trained to lie next to people having seizures to prevent injury. They are also trained to put themselves between a person and the floor to help break a person’s fall during a seizure.

If you suffer from epilepsy and think that a seizure response dog can help you, it’s best to talk to a service dog trainer and identify what goals you have for a service dog. It’s also important to be careful in identifying dogs that have been trained for this. This is a very specializing type of training and you may encounter some service dog trainers who make claims that aren’t quite true.

Contacting a national or local epilepsy organization can help get you set up with your own service dog.