What we do...

And how we do it....

• First, we are here to serve our Military Veterans. Whether you come from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or the National Guard, we are here for you. We are a Navy family ourselves and understand the challenges of being a disabled veteran and being a caregiver.
• We also support additional communities that often find themselves in need of an epilepsy service dog but have no financial means to do such. We specifically support our Native American communities and those on medicaid.
• We train Giant breed rescue dogs to serve as epilepsy service dogs, specifically Great Danes and Great Pyrenees. Some of our Pyrenees come to us as Goldie Pyrs or as Lab Pyrs. Depending on the dog this can mean either detection or recovery assistance. This is our sole purpose here at TBI Seizure Alert and Recovery GIANTS.
• We train ONLY with positive reinforcement training and training happens every day. Training a service dog is like no other, so training is intensive and takes approximately 2 years.
• Training starts at our Ranch (AG Ranch) with initial intake where we evaluate and see to the new pups needs. This always starts with a trip to the vet. We have a strong relationship with North Topeka Animal Hospital. All of our dogs are then placed on preventatives for fleas and heart worm. Once our pups get a clean bill of health then decompression, exposure and socializaion begins.
• Decompression: This is where our pups start. This is the first stage of our pups coming into our program and on to the Ranch. We usually have 3 to 4 dogs training at some level at any given time. Initially this begins with getting on a proper diet and making good introductions with our other service dogs. This is imperative to becoming a good service dog. Health both in mental and physical well being are our most important initial task for our pups. Decompression is all about getting used to their new environments. We use the Rule of 3. Three days to initially decompress, 3 weeks to settle in and 3 month to feel like part of the household!
• Next comes socialization and exposure: This is a stage where we encourage lots of interaction with our pups. We want them to have lots of experiences and meet lots of people. We want them to see different things, hear different sounds and be exposed to the world at large, especially the human spaces. We are fortunate at TBI Seizure Alert and Recovery GIANTS in that we have lots of community partnerships so we can take our young pups into the traditionally human only spaces. This includes churches, grocery stores, Walmart, Target, hospitals, hardware stores and so many other partners we have established. This has been a labor of love but we enjoy these community partnerships and know we couldn't do it without them!

• On to obedience and Canine Good Citizen: This is where the real work begins. Each of our dogs participate in Canine Good Citizen or a program that we follow called the "7 basic commands". We really like Canine Good Citizen for our pups and encourage all who are new dog owners to complete their training program. While our pups have Saturday classes, all week long they practice what they learn. Its kind of like homework for us and them! Each week they learn a new skill and master a new skill. Between all of this is potty training as well and with some Giant breeds this can take a bit! Great Pyrenees can take up to 6 months! So alongside all their training comes lots and lots of love and always lots of positive reinforcement training.
• Public Access Training: This is all about how to go the human places! Lot of manners get taught here and learning how to enter into places, where to lay down and how to ignore all the crazy things going on in the human world and staying tight to their trainers. Sometimes during this phase "belly bands" to prevent a potty accident is occasionally used but for the most part, by 6 months our pups are on their game! Public access training is a great time to reinforce leash training, service dog gear and using those great instincts when out in public spaces. Lots of hand signal training happens here too!
• Tasking (Service Dog Training): This is where the real service dog training takes place. While up till about a year we work on lots of basic training including all of the training above, right around a year, we begin to work on task. Now this is different for all dogs and depends on their new handlers needs. This can be mobility assistance, blocking, bracing and even learning how to get help or alerting a handler or a person who is about to get ill. This is where Gary plays a key role. Having epilepsy himself, we keep things around that smell like him when's he's had a seizure. Its a little complicated, but the training works!
• As our Service Dogs get closer to becoming adults, we begin to get their new handlers involved! Sometimes it means coming to us, sometimes its going to them! Training at this point is really about training the humans! The dogs really know a lot at this point and are ready to work with their new handlers. By this point, our dogs know a lot about our handlers lives and learn how to experience it by going to their handlers work, school or other daily activities. We talk a lot about the daily needs of our dogs and what our handlers responsibilities are as well. We make sure of a final home check and that all veterinary and maintenance costs of the dog are understood and available.
• See you soon, rather than goodbye: We hate goodbyes and like any good military family, we like to think we will see you at a future duty station or ship! We are always here for our clients and ask them to call us day or night. We maintain constant dialogue to make sure everything is going well and will even act as advocates if the need arises! In the end we know that the impact our dogs have is life changing for them and their handlers!