A recent survey has revealed that 100% of Support Dog clients see a reduction in the their use of NHS and private healthcare.
Support Dogs, located in North Sheffield, help people with epilepsy or other disabilities and children with autism. Dogs are taken in at age 2 or 3 and are trained by a dedicated team to cater to the needs of their clients.
Jancis Taylor, a dog trainer at Support Dogs, explains that the dogs help people with disabilities by fetching items for them, fetching help, or bringing people to assist them over.
She said: “You find that being able to complete those things without having to go to other people for help just gives them that independence of being like ‘I can ask an animal to do this for me and it’s no problem’.”
The survey also shows that 100% of Support Dogs clients have seen a reduction in their NHS and private healthcare services and 82% have seen a decrease in the amount they are spending on carers, medical appointments, and treatments.
95% of Support Dog clients reported increased their confidence in looking after themselves.
Speaking about how the dogs help people with epilepsy, Mrs Taylor said: “Being able to have an alert as to when a seizure is coming means that you can just get about day to day without worrying about whether a seizure is coming.”
Dogs are trained to alert their owner of any seizures, in some cases giving them as much time as 50 minutes to find somewhere safe.
Mrs Taylor added: “We have people that come in and they can’t even make a cup of tea, can’t even make food, can’t have a shower, or a bath or anything like that because of the constant fear of having a seizure or a drop attack or something like that.”
Sophie Bambrook is another dog trainer at Support Dogs. She has been training Mason, pictured above, since 2 October. Mason is due to go out next March or April.
He will be an autism assistance dog and is being trained in deep pressure therapy and to fetch keys.
The autism programme which Mason is part of is for children up to 10, and is aimed at developing their confidence and providing a source of comfort. The autism programme is available for children in South Yorkshire and a 2 hour catchment area is put in place.
