A Day With LYLA

So, yesterday I brought home the first dog I have ever owned. Her name is Lyla, and this lovely girl is more than just a cute face! She is a fully trained medical alert and response dog. A black german shepherd, she has been trained to detect changes in the body that indicate certain processes, and alert her person to those changes. In my case, this means alerting when I am hypertensive or hypotensive and need to lie down and rest or take my medication. She can open doors, get drinks out of the refridgerator, bring the phone to get help, pick things up when they are dropped (great for those orthostatic moments), push elevator buttons, and all sorts of handy things. She is also great company! I mention this because I want disabled nurses to consider both the possibility of using a service dog, even for things other than seeing and hearing impairments. I also want other nurses to think about the use of service dogs in the hospital and offices. How would you feel if you came to work and your co-worker had a 70lb dog with them all day? Or if you entered a patient room and saw the dog there in bed with the patient. Would you know what to do? For instance, nobody but the dog's owner should touch a service dog. That means no petting, no offering treats, and no sweet talk (because this leads to petting). Why? The smell of too many people can confuse the dog from the scent they are waiting to smell on their person and alert with. It is also because the dog MUST be focused on their person and only on their person. Think of it like a heart monitor. You would not want your patient sharing their heart monitor with their friends, family, and caregivers! Same thing. Only my heart monitor has the sweetest brown eyes.