In her book "The 24-Hour Rule: Living with Alzheimer's" Cheryl Levin-Folio writes, "Dogs offer unconditional love...comfort and a calming influence influenced by his emotional support animal training.
The physical contact, we've discovered, is as important and effective as the emotional connection that comes with having dogs in the family. Lack of touch is devastating to anyone, particularly someone suffering with Alzheimer's."
Cheryl and her family worked with Carol Ross, CDBA, to help train Oliver, their English Creme Golden Retriever for his job as an emotional support dog for Cheryl's husband Michael. In Chapter 8, Ross, a certified dog trainer and Director of Training for Canine Dimensions North Chicago region, describes some of the work she did with Oliver:
“I started
working with Oliver when he was about eight weeks old. The window for
socialization runs until they are about five months old. My first goal was to
get Oliver up to American Kennel Club “Canine Good Citizen” standards. I wanted
him to have good manners, be polite, and act appropriately wherever he went, no
matter whom he was with. He had a little more training specific to being an
Emotional Support Animal, so he’d stay close to Michael, literally touching him
much of the time, place his head on Michael’s lap to help keep Michael calm as
needed, and do things like “hold stay” for two hours so he could go on plane
trips.
We were
laying the groundwork for all of this starting at two months old. But the key
piece when he was so young was introducing him to as many people and situations
as possible. While working with me, he was exposed to at least 300 people, 60
friendly dogs, and wide range of environments, medical equipment, and
behaviors. We went to all kinds of dog-friendly events, stores, schools, and
parks, anything I could think of. We spent time downtown. We went to the
airport.
A lot of this
socialization was before we began to work on specific skills with Michael. In
the early days, their job was just to form a strong bond. After that, we started
the more formal “obedience” training. Like humans, dogs learn best when the process is
simple. In this case, keeping it simple meant breaking the process down into
smaller piece, and more repetition of each skill. Consistency is the key.
Through this
process, Oliver and Michael learned the commands “Come,” “Sit,” “Down,” “Stay,”
and “Drop It.” In addition, they mastered “Look” (for Oliver to make eye
contact with Michael), “Touch” (for Oliver to gently touch Michael’s hand).
“Enough” (Stop what you are doing!), and “Away” (give me a little space).
Oliver and Baxter both learned “Go to Your Place” for when someone comes to the
door who doesn’t really need a high-energy canine greeting committee.
This
collection of commands covers most things that come up for most dogs and their
people. Many dogs need additional training in this or that, specific to their
situation and depending on their personalities, behavior and circumstances. A
small dog that lives in an apartment and annoys the neighbors with barking can
be taught to stop barking on command, for example.
Some dogs are
trained specifically as service dogs for people with Alzheimer’s, which is
mainly to help with a person who wanders or gets lost. But Oliver’s job is
different – he’s for company, calming and comfort."
