What do you do when your guide dog loses its sight? You get your faithful companion and helper a guide dog, that’s what:

Edward and Opal.

A Suffolk man was devastated when his faithful guide dog lost his sight — so he got a new dog to act as eyes for both of them.

Edward had given Graham Waspe, 60, six years of loyal service until he had to have both eyes removed after developing inoperable cataracts.

Mr Waspe, from Stowmarket, couldn’t bear to be parted from his canine companion — so he got a new guide dog to look after them both.

[Via Guide dog gets a guide dog | Orange UK.]

[Photo from original article.]

A study at Loyola University Health System found that:

Painkillers. Photo by Yersinia.

Adults who use pet therapy while recovering from total joint-replacement surgery require 50 percent less pain medication than those who do not.

That’s a pretty amazing finding, but not entirely surprising news to a dog lover.

We know our pets can cheer us up, give us a smile or a laugh, make the world weigh a little less heavy.

The article goes on to describe 4 different classes of assistance dog:

Service dogs are trained to assist with physical tasks and provide social support to their partners. These dogs learn 40 commands to enhance the independence of people with ailments ranging from spinal cord injuries to multiple sclerosis.

Facility dogs are trained to work with a professional in a visitation, education or health-care setting. They can perform more than 40 commands designed to motivate, rehabilitate or soothe clients with special needs.

Skilled companion dogs are trained to work with an adult or child with a disability under the guidance of a facilitator. Disabilities served include cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, autism and Down’s syndrome. A skilled companion also can serve as a social bridge to people who are not used to relating to a person with disabilities.

Hearing dogs are trained to recognize and alert partners to various sounds, such as a doorbell, alarm clock or smoke alarm. The average service life of each dog is eight years. After that time, the dog retires to live out its golden years as a pet.

[Via : News Release Detail.]

Have you had any experience of dogs reducing pain — physical or emotional? It would be interesting to hear your experiences.

How do you hear a timer or a fire alarm if you’re totally deaf? Maybe your dog can do it for you:

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People NZ.

Elvis is Northland’s first official hearing dog and alerts Leanne Platjes to important noises like alarms or people knocking at the door.

Leanne, who is almost 100 percent deaf, says Elvis gives her confidence, companionship and security.

…Elvis responds to sounds like someone at the door or timers by pawing Leanne on the leg.

When she asks where is it? he leads her to the source of the noise.

[Via : Elvis is no hound dog | Stuff.co.nz.]

What is a Hearing Dog?

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People NZ is a charitable trust which rescues young dogs of any breed and trains them to be hearing dogs:

… most Hearing Dogs are rescued from Animal Rescue Centres as pups or young dogs. …

Fortunately pedigree isn’t important — but being friendly, intelligent and responsive to sounds is. Which is why Hearing Dogs come in all shapes and sizes and almost every breed and cross-breed you could think of.

[Via : What is a Hearing Dog - Hearing Dogs.]

Training costs $11,500 for each dog, which is then matched to a deaf person for free.

The dogs are approved by the government to go anywhere with their deaf owner.

It’s quite a problem, that we have homeless people in our cities. It’s a problem in cities all over the world, though many groups provide shelters for the people needing them.

It’s not an easy thing though, as some of the homeless have extra needs, such as also needing shelter for their assistance dogs:

Shawnine Mackay, who often sleeps on the street near Hollywood Boulevard by lowering herself out of her wheelchair onto the ground, said she would love to be able bed down in one of Los Angeles County’s dozens of homeless shelters.

But shelter workers have repeatedly turned her away because of her dog, Molly, who is trained to help her detect and cope with seizures.

[Via : Shelters sued over ban on aid dogs - Los Angeles Times.]

The shelters are turning them away because of problems housing the dog. Some have areas for pet dogs, but the dogs may be housed some distance away, for example on another floor of the building.

Obviously that doesn’t work with assistance dogs.

On the other hand, other people in the shelter may be allergic to dogs, or afraid of them.

It’s a tricky problem, and one you’d think could be resolved, perhaps by discussing the problems and rearranging accommodation options.

However in Los Angeles:

the Housing Rights Center and the Disability Rights Legal Center filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and several shelters it funds, alleging that such bans by homeless shelters are against the law.

The Americans With Disabilities Act and fair housing laws do not allow discrimination against people just because they rely on service animals, the suit said.

This will be one to watch.

We’re all familiar with guide dogs that help blind people, and maybe dogs for the hearing impaired, or assistance dogs who help people with mobility problems.

Those dogs, they’re very versatile. Now the Wall Street Journal alerts us to a new kind of assistance dog:

Tuesday is a so-called psychiatric-service dog, a new generation of animals trained to help people whose suffering is not physical, but emotional. They are, effectively, Seeing Eye dogs for the mind.

Tuesday is with Mr. Montalvan at all hours. Taught to recognize changes in a person’s breathing, perspiration or scent that can indicate an imminent panic attack, Tuesday can keep Mr. Montalvan buffered from crowds or deliver a calming nuzzle. Other dogs, typically golden retrievers, Labradors or Labrador retriever blends, are trained to wake masters from debilitating nightmares and to help patients differentiate between hallucinations and reality by barking if a real person is nearby.

[Via : 'Sit! Stay! Snuggle!': An Iraq Vet Finds His Dog Tuesday - WSJ.com.]

It costs around US$26,000 to train each dog — that’s a fair chunk of money — so there aren’t very many of the dogs yet. But a dog like that can totally transform a person’s life.

Take the case of the young lad who’s deathly allergic to peanuts, and not just eating them. He need only touch something that peanuts have touched and he’s in trouble. His dog has been trained to sniff out the scent of peanuts and protect his owner’s life.

So many dogs, in so many ways, bring good health and calm to our lives. From the regular ‘best friend’ to highly trained workers.

We have a lot to be thankful for with dogs.

Has your dog changed your life? tell us about it in the Comments.