D*g Calls 911

I wish there were kitty service animals who could do things like
this... Are there? Or are felines too independent to make good
service animals? (though the Power of Purr is a pretty good service in
and of itself)


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/29/can....ap/index.html


Dog saves woman's life by calling 911
Friday, October 29, 2004 Posted: 7:26 AM EDT (1126 GMT)


RICHLAND, Washington (AP) -- Leana Beasley has faith that a dog is
man's best friend.

Faith, a 4-year-old Rottweiler, phoned 911 when Beasley fell out of
her wheelchair and barked urgently into the receiver until a
dispatcher sent help. Then the service dog unlocked the front door for
the police officer.

"I sensed there was a problem on the other end of the 911 call," said
dispatcher Jenny Buchanan. "The dog was too persistent in barking
directly into the phone receiver. I knew she was trying to tell me
something."

Faith is trained to summon help by pushing a speed-dial button on the
phone with her nose after taking the receiver off the hook, said her
owner, Beasley, 45, who suffers grand mal seizures.

Guided by experts at the Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound, Beasley
helped train Faith herself.

The day of the fall, Faith "had been acting very clingy, wanting to be
touching me all day long," Beasley said Thursday.

The dog, whose sensitive nose can detect changes in Beasley's body
chemistry, is trained to alert her owner to impending seizures.

But that wasn't what was happening on September 7, and Faith
apparently wasn't sure how to communicate the problem. During
Beasley's three-week hospital stay, doctors determined her liver was
not properly processing her seizure medication.






Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

============
http://www.jhedge.com

Jeanne Hedge wrote:
I wish there were kitty service animals who could do things like
this... Are there? Or are felines too independent to make good
service animals? (though the Power of Purr is a pretty good service in
and of itself)

(snippage)

I commend the dog, and the owner who trained the dog. However, I thought
all 911 calls have to be responded to regardless of who places them? I'm
not saying television is a good example, but what if, for example, I'd been
shot during a robbery and could drag myself to the phone but then couldn't
speak to the 911 operator? They are supposed to send help - police,
ambulance, whatever.

Persia doesn't know squat about a telephone. Others here talk about their
cats messing with their computers, erasing messages on the answering
machine, etc. Persia couldn't care less. She loves me, sure. But I doubt
seriously she'd pick up the phone if I were to collapse. She'd definitely
tap at me and lick my face or hands but that's about it (I think).

Jill

Jeanne Hedge wrote:
I wish there were kitty service animals who could do things like
this... Are there? Or are felines too independent to make good
service animals? (though the Power of Purr is a pretty good service in
and of itself)

(snippage)

I commend the dog, and the owner who trained the dog. However, I thought
all 911 calls have to be responded to regardless of who places them? I'm
not saying television is a good example, but what if, for example, I'd been
shot during a robbery and could drag myself to the phone but then couldn't
speak to the 911 operator? They are supposed to send help - police,
ambulance, whatever.

Persia doesn't know squat about a telephone. Others here talk about their
cats messing with their computers, erasing messages on the answering
machine, etc. Persia couldn't care less. She loves me, sure. But I doubt
seriously she'd pick up the phone if I were to collapse. She'd definitely
tap at me and lick my face or hands but that's about it (I think).

Jill

Jeanne Hedge wrote:
I wish there were kitty service animals who could do things like
this... Are there? Or are felines too independent to make good
service animals? (though the Power of Purr is a pretty good service in
and of itself)

(snippage)

I commend the dog, and the owner who trained the dog. However, I thought
all 911 calls have to be responded to regardless of who places them? I'm
not saying television is a good example, but what if, for example, I'd been
shot during a robbery and could drag myself to the phone but then couldn't
speak to the 911 operator? They are supposed to send help - police,
ambulance, whatever.

Persia doesn't know squat about a telephone. Others here talk about their
cats messing with their computers, erasing messages on the answering
machine, etc. Persia couldn't care less. She loves me, sure. But I doubt
seriously she'd pick up the phone if I were to collapse. She'd definitely
tap at me and lick my face or hands but that's about it (I think).

Jill

"jmcquown" had some very interesting things
to say about D*g Calls 911:

I commend the dog, and the owner who trained the dog. However, I thought
all 911 calls have to be responded to regardless of who places them? I'm
not saying television is a good example, but what if, for example, I'd been
shot during a robbery and could drag myself to the phone but then couldn't
speak to the 911 operator? They are supposed to send help - police,
ambulance, whatever.

I'm not an expert [Bob M?], but I'm pretty sure that's the usual
practice, that police do respond to a 911 call where the caller either
hangs up suddenly or doesn't say anything.

Persia doesn't know squat about a telephone. Others here talk about their
cats messing with their computers, erasing messages on the answering
machine, etc. Persia couldn't care less. She loves me, sure. But I doubt
seriously she'd pick up the phone if I were to collapse. She'd definitely
tap at me and lick my face or hands but that's about it (I think).

I don't think Felix would even do that much unless I were blocking his
access to his dishes. :-)

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

"jmcquown" had some very interesting things
to say about D*g Calls 911:

I commend the dog, and the owner who trained the dog. However, I thought
all 911 calls have to be responded to regardless of who places them? I'm
not saying television is a good example, but what if, for example, I'd been
shot during a robbery and could drag myself to the phone but then couldn't
speak to the 911 operator? They are supposed to send help - police,
ambulance, whatever.

I'm not an expert [Bob M?], but I'm pretty sure that's the usual
practice, that police do respond to a 911 call where the caller either
hangs up suddenly or doesn't say anything.

Persia doesn't know squat about a telephone. Others here talk about their
cats messing with their computers, erasing messages on the answering
machine, etc. Persia couldn't care less. She loves me, sure. But I doubt
seriously she'd pick up the phone if I were to collapse. She'd definitely
tap at me and lick my face or hands but that's about it (I think).

I don't think Felix would even do that much unless I were blocking his
access to his dishes. :-)

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

"jmcquown" had some very interesting things
to say about D*g Calls 911:

I commend the dog, and the owner who trained the dog. However, I thought
all 911 calls have to be responded to regardless of who places them? I'm
not saying television is a good example, but what if, for example, I'd been
shot during a robbery and could drag myself to the phone but then couldn't
speak to the 911 operator? They are supposed to send help - police,
ambulance, whatever.

I'm not an expert [Bob M?], but I'm pretty sure that's the usual
practice, that police do respond to a 911 call where the caller either
hangs up suddenly or doesn't say anything.

Persia doesn't know squat about a telephone. Others here talk about their
cats messing with their computers, erasing messages on the answering
machine, etc. Persia couldn't care less. She loves me, sure. But I doubt
seriously she'd pick up the phone if I were to collapse. She'd definitely
tap at me and lick my face or hands but that's about it (I think).

I don't think Felix would even do that much unless I were blocking his
access to his dishes. :-)

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

Jeanne Hedge wrote:

I wish there were kitty service animals who could do things like
this... Are there? Or are felines too independent to make good
service animals? (though the Power of Purr is a pretty good service in
and of itself)

Cats may not be able to be trained to dial 911 in an emergency, but they
can definitely be trained as service animals. I have two that are
trained as emotional assist service animals and one that I am training.
The training involves being crate trained, leash trained, learning to
tolerate being held as much as *I* want to hold them and not squirming
to get down when they want, playing games to entertain me like fetch and
chase the pretty dot, being accustomed to strangers since I take them
with me to the hospital when I need to go in, sleeping where *I* want
them to sleep on the bed, not running out of ANY open door - so if I put
one of my cats in the bedroom and went in and out of the door with it
opening and closing, they would not try to get through the door unless I
left it open.

Obviously not every cat would be able to do all of these things. It
requires the right temperament as well as a fair amount of intelligence.
My first cat ended up trained just because he was there and was
perfect. I didn't choose him for the purpose, he was given to me five
years before I ever used him. But when I needed him he was just perfect
already so I knew what I needed any other cat to do. My second cat I
picked based on temperament as a 12 week old kitten - it was a bit iffy,
but I did okay. He was trusting enough to let me hold him on his back
and rub his belly, he was playful and seemed bright. Without some of
the training he probably would have been a bit more aloof than he is,
but he had enough of the right characteristics that it worked out okay.

The newest addition to the family was older when I got her - 8 or 9
months and so her personality was more developed and hence I could tell
more. Right now I am working on teaching her her name and the concept
that the closer she is to me, the better off she is. She loves to be
held, but is just as happy laying around by herself. I am trying to
condition her to come up and ask to be held by holding her as much as
possible so that she comes to want it. I figure she'll be trained in
about 8 or 9 months. She already has some of the things I want like not
going though a door I don't want her to go through and not having a fear
of strangers.

So cats can be service animals, it just depends on what you want them to
do. Some cats can be trained to help the deaf in their homes to alert
them to sounds like the phone and the door and fire alarms. Mine are
accorded all the rights a seeing eye dog has. I can take them in
public, I can take them into the hospital with me (one at a time), if I
really wanted to deal with it and train them for it, I could take them
into restaurants with me, I can take them onto planes and not have to
keep them in a carrier or pay extra to have them with me - done that, it
was really nice.

Lest you think my cats do nothing but work their butts off, all of mine
are asleep in their hidey holes after a hard mornings work of playing
with pompom balls and fake mice. They wouldn't know what to do if they
couldn't crowd me out of the bed and they fight with each other to see
who will win the right to be held the longest. They just don't see it
as work. They see it as they trained me, I think.

Just thought the perspective would be interesting.

Bridget

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/29/can....ap/index.html


Dog saves woman's life by calling 911
Friday, October 29, 2004 Posted: 7:26 AM EDT (1126 GMT)


RICHLAND, Washington (AP) -- Leana Beasley has faith that a dog is
man's best friend.

Faith, a 4-year-old Rottweiler, phoned 911 when Beasley fell out of
her wheelchair and barked urgently into the receiver until a
dispatcher sent help. Then the service dog unlocked the front door for
the police officer.

"I sensed there was a problem on the other end of the 911 call," said
dispatcher Jenny Buchanan. "The dog was too persistent in barking
directly into the phone receiver. I knew she was trying to tell me
something."

Faith is trained to summon help by pushing a speed-dial button on the
phone with her nose after taking the receiver off the hook, said her
owner, Beasley, 45, who suffers grand mal seizures.

Guided by experts at the Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound, Beasley
helped train Faith herself.

The day of the fall, Faith "had been acting very clingy, wanting to be
touching me all day long," Beasley said Thursday.

The dog, whose sensitive nose can detect changes in Beasley's body
chemistry, is trained to alert her owner to impending seizures.

But that wasn't what was happening on September 7, and Faith
apparently wasn't sure how to communicate the problem. During
Beasley's three-week hospital stay, doctors determined her liver was
not properly processing her seizure medication.






Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

============
http://www.jhedge.com

Jeanne Hedge wrote:

I wish there were kitty service animals who could do things like
this... Are there? Or are felines too independent to make good
service animals? (though the Power of Purr is a pretty good service in
and of itself)

Cats may not be able to be trained to dial 911 in an emergency, but they
can definitely be trained as service animals. I have two that are
trained as emotional assist service animals and one that I am training.
The training involves being crate trained, leash trained, learning to
tolerate being held as much as *I* want to hold them and not squirming
to get down when they want, playing games to entertain me like fetch and
chase the pretty dot, being accustomed to strangers since I take them
with me to the hospital when I need to go in, sleeping where *I* want
them to sleep on the bed, not running out of ANY open door - so if I put
one of my cats in the bedroom and went in and out of the door with it
opening and closing, they would not try to get through the door unless I
left it open.

Obviously not every cat would be able to do all of these things. It
requires the right temperament as well as a fair amount of intelligence.
My first cat ended up trained just because he was there and was
perfect. I didn't choose him for the purpose, he was given to me five
years before I ever used him. But when I needed him he was just perfect
already so I knew what I needed any other cat to do. My second cat I
picked based on temperament as a 12 week old kitten - it was a bit iffy,
but I did okay. He was trusting enough to let me hold him on his back
and rub his belly, he was playful and seemed bright. Without some of
the training he probably would have been a bit more aloof than he is,
but he had enough of the right characteristics that it worked out okay.

The newest addition to the family was older when I got her - 8 or 9
months and so her personality was more developed and hence I could tell
more. Right now I am working on teaching her her name and the concept
that the closer she is to me, the better off she is. She loves to be
held, but is just as happy laying around by herself. I am trying to
condition her to come up and ask to be held by holding her as much as
possible so that she comes to want it. I figure she'll be trained in
about 8 or 9 months. She already has some of the things I want like not
going though a door I don't want her to go through and not having a fear
of strangers.

So cats can be service animals, it just depends on what you want them to
do. Some cats can be trained to help the deaf in their homes to alert
them to sounds like the phone and the door and fire alarms. Mine are
accorded all the rights a seeing eye dog has. I can take them in
public, I can take them into the hospital with me (one at a time), if I
really wanted to deal with it and train them for it, I could take them
into restaurants with me, I can take them onto planes and not have to
keep them in a carrier or pay extra to have them with me - done that, it
was really nice.

Lest you think my cats do nothing but work their butts off, all of mine
are asleep in their hidey holes after a hard mornings work of playing
with pompom balls and fake mice. They wouldn't know what to do if they
couldn't crowd me out of the bed and they fight with each other to see
who will win the right to be held the longest. They just don't see it
as work. They see it as they trained me, I think.

Just thought the perspective would be interesting.

Bridget

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/29/can....ap/index.html


Dog saves woman's life by calling 911
Friday, October 29, 2004 Posted: 7:26 AM EDT (1126 GMT)


RICHLAND, Washington (AP) -- Leana Beasley has faith that a dog is
man's best friend.

Faith, a 4-year-old Rottweiler, phoned 911 when Beasley fell out of
her wheelchair and barked urgently into the receiver until a
dispatcher sent help. Then the service dog unlocked the front door for
the police officer.

"I sensed there was a problem on the other end of the 911 call," said
dispatcher Jenny Buchanan. "The dog was too persistent in barking
directly into the phone receiver. I knew she was trying to tell me
something."

Faith is trained to summon help by pushing a speed-dial button on the
phone with her nose after taking the receiver off the hook, said her
owner, Beasley, 45, who suffers grand mal seizures.

Guided by experts at the Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound, Beasley
helped train Faith herself.

The day of the fall, Faith "had been acting very clingy, wanting to be
touching me all day long," Beasley said Thursday.

The dog, whose sensitive nose can detect changes in Beasley's body
chemistry, is trained to alert her owner to impending seizures.

But that wasn't what was happening on September 7, and Faith
apparently wasn't sure how to communicate the problem. During
Beasley's three-week hospital stay, doctors determined her liver was
not properly processing her seizure medication.






Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

============
http://www.jhedge.com

Jeanne Hedge wrote:

I wish there were kitty service animals who could do things like
this... Are there? Or are felines too independent to make good
service animals? (though the Power of Purr is a pretty good service in
and of itself)

Cats may not be able to be trained to dial 911 in an emergency, but they
can definitely be trained as service animals. I have two that are
trained as emotional assist service animals and one that I am training.
The training involves being crate trained, leash trained, learning to
tolerate being held as much as *I* want to hold them and not squirming
to get down when they want, playing games to entertain me like fetch and
chase the pretty dot, being accustomed to strangers since I take them
with me to the hospital when I need to go in, sleeping where *I* want
them to sleep on the bed, not running out of ANY open door - so if I put
one of my cats in the bedroom and went in and out of the door with it
opening and closing, they would not try to get through the door unless I
left it open.

Obviously not every cat would be able to do all of these things. It
requires the right temperament as well as a fair amount of intelligence.
My first cat ended up trained just because he was there and was
perfect. I didn't choose him for the purpose, he was given to me five
years before I ever used him. But when I needed him he was just perfect
already so I knew what I needed any other cat to do. My second cat I
picked based on temperament as a 12 week old kitten - it was a bit iffy,
but I did okay. He was trusting enough to let me hold him on his back
and rub his belly, he was playful and seemed bright. Without some of
the training he probably would have been a bit more aloof than he is,
but he had enough of the right characteristics that it worked out okay.

The newest addition to the family was older when I got her - 8 or 9
months and so her personality was more developed and hence I could tell
more. Right now I am working on teaching her her name and the concept
that the closer she is to me, the better off she is. She loves to be
held, but is just as happy laying around by herself. I am trying to
condition her to come up and ask to be held by holding her as much as
possible so that she comes to want it. I figure she'll be trained in
about 8 or 9 months. She already has some of the things I want like not
going though a door I don't want her to go through and not having a fear
of strangers.

So cats can be service animals, it just depends on what you want them to
do. Some cats can be trained to help the deaf in their homes to alert
them to sounds like the phone and the door and fire alarms. Mine are
accorded all the rights a seeing eye dog has. I can take them in
public, I can take them into the hospital with me (one at a time), if I
really wanted to deal with it and train them for it, I could take them
into restaurants with me, I can take them onto planes and not have to
keep them in a carrier or pay extra to have them with me - done that, it
was really nice.

Lest you think my cats do nothing but work their butts off, all of mine
are asleep in their hidey holes after a hard mornings work of playing
with pompom balls and fake mice. They wouldn't know what to do if they
couldn't crowd me out of the bed and they fight with each other to see
who will win the right to be held the longest. They just don't see it
as work. They see it as they trained me, I think.

Just thought the perspective would be interesting.

Bridget

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/29/can....ap/index.html


Dog saves woman's life by calling 911
Friday, October 29, 2004 Posted: 7:26 AM EDT (1126 GMT)


RICHLAND, Washington (AP) -- Leana Beasley has faith that a dog is
man's best friend.

Faith, a 4-year-old Rottweiler, phoned 911 when Beasley fell out of
her wheelchair and barked urgently into the receiver until a
dispatcher sent help. Then the service dog unlocked the front door for
the police officer.

"I sensed there was a problem on the other end of the 911 call," said
dispatcher Jenny Buchanan. "The dog was too persistent in barking
directly into the phone receiver. I knew she was trying to tell me
something."

Faith is trained to summon help by pushing a speed-dial button on the
phone with her nose after taking the receiver off the hook, said her
owner, Beasley, 45, who suffers grand mal seizures.

Guided by experts at the Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound, Beasley
helped train Faith herself.

The day of the fall, Faith "had been acting very clingy, wanting to be
touching me all day long," Beasley said Thursday.

The dog, whose sensitive nose can detect changes in Beasley's body
chemistry, is trained to alert her owner to impending seizures.

But that wasn't what was happening on September 7, and Faith
apparently wasn't sure how to communicate the problem. During
Beasley's three-week hospital stay, doctors determined her liver was
not properly processing her seizure medication.






Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

============
http://www.jhedge.com