Canine Companions Unveils Innovative Technology to Enhance Service Dog Assistance
Canine Companions, a distinguished service dog company, is poised to introduce groundbreaking technology this week, enabling trained canines to execute various tasks such as alleviating anxiety and interrupting nightmares in response to wireless alerts.
Named CanineAlert, the technology is meticulously crafted to seamlessly integrate with a service dog’s training, aiming to mitigate trauma-induced nightmares, particularly prevalent among military veterans grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as detailed by Canine Companions to TechNewsWorld.
The company emphasizes that beyond mere nightmare interruption, the technology expedites the recovery process. Equipped with this innovation, service dogs proactively engage in tasks to alleviate anxiety and hypervigilance while providing support to the veteran post-nightmare.
Since receiving their service dogs, veterans have reported significant enhancements in their ability to stay asleep, return to sleep, and overall sleep quality, underscoring the device’s effectiveness in improving their sleep patterns and quality of life, added the company.
“Service dogs undergo specific training to aid individuals with disabilities,” explained Kerri Rodriguez, an assistant professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Arizona. “Psychiatric service dogs, in particular, can be trained to assist individuals dealing with mental health conditions like PTSD or autism,” she elaborated to TechNewsWorld. “In the context of PTSD, psychiatric service dogs can be trained to intervene or signal anxiety, provide calming pressure, fetch medication, or awaken individuals from nightmares.”
“Beyond these trained tasks, dogs offer invaluable nonjudgmental support, particularly beneficial for those who have undergone trauma,” Rodriguez added. “For individuals with PTSD, the companionship and comforting presence of a dog can also serve as a therapeutic intervention in itself.”
Empowering Veterans with Enhanced Independence
“We train our service dogs with commands that enable veterans to venture out in public and reclaim a life of independence they may have lacked before acquiring a dog,” noted Lindsay Grayson, Chief Revenue Officer at K9s for Warriors, located in Ponte Vedra, Florida.
These commands include “my lap,” where the dog places its paws on the veteran’s legs to alleviate anxiety or provide a sense of security, and the equivalent of “watch my 6,” where the canine keeps a vigilant eye on potential threats approaching the veteran from behind.
Grayson explained that veterans with PTSD often remain hyper-vigilant and apprehensive about potential threats from behind. “These commands offer them a sense of security and assurance that the dog is monitoring their surroundings and will alert them to any approaching individuals,” she informed TechNewsWorld.
Source – technewsworld.com
