MEET SUNSHINE
It's so nice to meet you!!
While I make look like a cuddly teddy bear, I'm actually a task-trained multipurpose service dog for my mom, Lorin! She has seizures and balance problems, but she also has an Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm, which is a life-threatening condition. (Learn more about it here.) When she has high blood pressure spikes (which is pretty often), I let her know that it's too high the minute it's out of range so she can take measures to bring it down. Mom calls me her own personal life-saving Superhero! The story about how I came to become a service dog is pretty interesting!
Sunshine's Work
My mom, Lorin, originally planned to train me to alert her to her seizures, and help with balance and walking, which are caused by Functional Neurological Disorder, or FND. FND can be caused by different things, but my mom's FND is caused by Complex PTSD. This means that when she is under lots of stress, her symptoms get worse and she could have a seizure. That's why she works hard to keep her stress down. When I sense that she is having these types of symptoms, I let her know, and help her with balance.
While I do detect her seizure activity, they don't happen nearly as often as her high blood pressure spikes. Because I love to alert, and her heart condition is life threatening (whereas the seizures are painful but not physically harmful), Mom decided to focus my training more on cardiac alerting once I showed her I knew how. That's why you see photos and videos of me helping mom with both her heart and her FND! I'm just that smart! Mouse over or click the photos below to learn more about my special talents!
In Action
Click the photos below to see me in action!
