Talented Chihuahua alerts his owner to seizures

June 27, 11:21 AMPet Life ExaminerSharon Sakson

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Sandy Barnett and Little Ben

When it comes to the healing power of dogs, even a little Chihuahua can be a big help for a sick owner. Sandy Barnett of Phoenix, Arizona, feels that her dog, Little Ben, has radically improved her life by his ability to alert her to frequent seizures.

Sandy has had seven brain surgeries to remove an oligodendroglioma tumor that keeps growing back in her left temporal lobe. A meningioma tumor hides behind itThe tumors have made her an epileptic subject to many different kinds of seizures, including grand mal and petit mal.

A seizure hits without warning. Sandy says, “I only know a seizure is on the way when I’m already having it.”

Seizures are so disruptive to her life that she had to quit her job. For many years, she was afraid to go anywhere on her own. One day, a woman told her that she also suffered from seizures, but her Shih Tzu alerted her when one was coming. She was able to get to a safe place.

Sandy said, “I took my time looking around for a dog. I knew that not every dog would be able to alert. I had to find the right one. I looked at Rat Terriers and Shih Tzus and Pomeranians and Poodles. I just didn’t go out and pick a dog. You have to let the dog pick you.

“After five months, I found a photo of a black and tan Chihuahua on the Arizona Chihuahua Rescue site. He was eight and a half pounds. When I saw him, I felt I just had to meet him. The woman who runs rescue brought him over. She said she’d taken him to adoption fairs for three weeks in a row, and was surprised that no one wanted him. But he was very sensitive and reserved. He didn’t jump up to see everybody.

“She handed him to me and we got attached right away. I put him down beside me and he climbed right back up in my lap. I said, ‘He’s the one.’

Five months after Little Ben arrived, Sandy’s brain had some kind of disturbance while she was sleeping. Suddenly she felt a little muzzle poking her arm and trying to lift it up. “I woke up, and his face was three inches from my face. He stayed right there until he saw that I was okay. Then he crawled back under the covers.

“I was very emotional after that. I kept crying and crying and thanking the Lord. It was too wonderful to believe, that this little dog would react like that to my seizures.

“The next time, he jumped in my lap and looked in my face very urgently. Then he started pawing me. Then I understood. He was right, I had a seizure.”

“Before, I was afraid to go out, but now, I go everywhere. He travels in a stroller or a belly pouch with me.

“Now I know that whenever he is with me, I’m safe. I’m not going to be knocked out, hurt myself, and fall down in a strange place. He won’t let that happen.

“This little guy has been such an asset to me and such an asset to the family. We all feel safer because of him. That’s a pretty good deal to get in only eight and a half pounds.”