dogs

[GlasweJen]

I've promised an elderly neighbour that i'd look into this for her and I figured that here is a good place to start.

 

So she's a "wee auld wumman" (that's what she says when I ask her age), she's recently been widowed and she's finding it hard to cope at home on her own. She doesn't want to go into a care home and she saw a programme recently on dogs that aren't guide dogs but who can apparently do things like unload the washing machine, call for an ambulance and a whole lot of other stuff. She recons that between the dog and the meals on wheels who comes in every day she'll be able to live at home on her own plus she'd love the companionship of the dog. She's got no problems walking so she can exercise the dog, her difficulty is more that she's not got much strength in her upper body due to old age i think. She also has black outs due to her age but her house is on one level so no chance of her injuring herself on the stairs.

 

Now I've looked but I can't find these dogs at all, does anyone know which people train the dogs and if so if they have a branch in scotland that gives dogs to old people (i think they may be aimed more at wheelchair users as the lady on the programme had a wheelchair)?

[mrsc]

Hi,

 

Not sure if this is any help worth a try

Dogs for the Disabled

Support and assistance dogs : Directgov - Disabled people

Support Dogs Online

[GlasweJen]

brilliant thanks mrsc i'll look into those

[poppynurse]

Old age doesn't cause blackouts there is generally a physical cause such as an abnormal heart rhythm or blocked carotid artery - might be worth suggesting that she gets this investigated

[GlasweJen]

it's pooling in the legs causing the black outs. the doctors can't do much except tell her to wear compression socks which has helped a lot.

 

She's had all the heart tests (ECG, echo, stress test) just to be sure and even an EEG to rule out epilepsy.