What changes with a Pawsitivity seizure service dog
A Pawsitivity seizure service dog helps veterans live with greater safety, independence, and confidence. Veterans partnered with seizure service dogs are better able to manage daily life knowing they have trained support before, during, and after a seizure.
For many veterans, this support reduces fear, increases independence, and allows them to participate more fully in work, home, and community life.
By staying close during public activities, a seizure response service dog can assist quickly if its handler experiences a seizure.
Living with seizures
Epilepsy and other seizure disorders can affect veterans in unpredictable ways. Seizures may occur without warning and vary widely in frequency and severity. Beyond the medical risks, the uncertainty surrounding seizures can limit independence and increase anxiety.
Veterans living with seizures may avoid being alone, limit activities outside the home, or rely heavily on others out of concern for personal safety.
Three Ways Service Dogs Help Veterans with Seizures
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Respond: Service dogs can be trained to respond when a seizure occurs. Depending on the veteran’s needs, this may include staying with the handler, positioning their body to reduce injury, alerting another person for help, or remaining calm and present as the veteran regains awareness. These response tasks are trained intentionally and form the foundation of seizure service dog work.
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Alert (in some cases): Some seizure response dogs develop the ability to alert their handler before certain seizures. Research suggests that physiological changes prior to some seizures may produce subtle scent or behavioral cues that dogs can learn to recognize over time. Not all dogs alert, and alerts are not guaranteed, but when they do occur, they can give the veteran valuable time to move to a safer place or prepare for a seizure.
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Quality of life: In addition to safety-related tasks, studies show that the presence of a service dog can improve quality of life for people with seizure disorders. For veterans, this may include reduced anxiety, increased confidence in public settings, improved routines, and greater participation in daily activities. The dog’s consistent presence can help counter the isolation and stress that often accompany seizure conditions.
Seizure response dogs are trained to remain close, monitor for changes, and provide steady support throughout daily life.
Our Philosophy: A Safer, Evidence-Based Approach to Training
Some dogs may learn to detect subtle changes that occur before certain seizures. However, seizure alerts are not consistent across all teams and cannot be promised. Because of that, our program prioritizes tasks we can train reliably and safely.
We focus on seizure response skills that protect the handler and support recovery. We also build strong routines and teamwork so the dog stays close, remains calm, and responds appropriately in public settings.
We never ask clients to change medications or medical care for training purposes. If a dog develops natural alerting over time, we support it. If not, the dog can still provide meaningful safety support and improve quality of life.
Scientific evidence: Dogs can detect seizure-related scent changesA peer-reviewed study in Scientific Reports found that trained dogs could distinguish samples associated with epileptic seizures from control samples. Catala A, Grandgeorge M, Schaff J, et al. Scientific Reports. 2019;9:4103. Link: Dogs demonstrate the existence of an epileptic seizure odor in humans Abstract: "Although different studies have shown that diseases such as breast or lung cancer are associated with specific bodily odours, no study has yet tested the possibility that epileptic seizures may be reflected in an olfactory profile, probably because there is a large variety of seizure types. The question is whether a 'seizure-odour', that would be transversal to individuals and types of seizures, exists. This would be a prerequisite for potential anticipation, either by electronic systems (e.g., e-noses) or trained dogs. The aim of the present study therefore was to test whether trained dogs, as demonstrated for cancer or diabetes, may discriminate a general epileptic seizure odor (different from body odours of the same person in other contexts and common to different persons). The results were very clear: all dogs discriminated the seizure odour. The sensitivity and specificity obtained were amongst the highest shown up to now for discrimination of diseases. This constitutes a first proof that, despite the variety of seizures and individual odours, seizures are associated with olfactory characteristics." |
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“The dog picked up a lot of care I was giving. [Before,] I was always there beside him. I was there to help him soothe—help him through his episodes. The dog took my place for those things.” -Spouse of Pawsitivity client, quoted in our independent, third-party Impact Evaluation. |
Why this matters
Seizure service dogs do not replace medical care. They provide practical, day-to-day support that helps veterans live with greater independence and reduced fear.
For many veterans, the presence of a trained seizure service dog restores confidence and the ability to engage more fully in daily life.
Help train a seizure service dog
Training a seizure service dog requires specialized training, veterinary care, and long-term follow-up. Your support helps ensure veterans receive reliable, well-prepared partners who can provide meaningful safety and independence.