Despite their drooling tongues and dirty paws, man’s best friend may be smarter than some think, and Helena’s own dog whisperer knows as well as anyone how to apply that intelligence for human benefit.
The level-one class teaches etiquette, obedience and positive reinforcement, and helps the owner understand the twists and turns of the canine mind.
Level-two dogs are further trained for emergencies, such as alerting their handlers to seizures before they strike. Brownlee said epileptics often experience a myoclonic twitch first — a tremble so slight the patient may not even realize it’s happening.
Dogs can detect the slightest tremble and shift of eye. They can also smell the rush of glucose and epinephrine on a victim’s breath that precedes a seizure. By alerting the patient to the impending seizure, dogs are able to tell their handlers to find a safe place or make a call for help.
“He’s so in tune with the dogs,” Chari said. “He’s gifted when it comes to communicating with the dogs and training them. He can tell them to go down into the den and pick up the remote and they’ll do it.”
While people use language to express their needs, dogs communicate primarily through body language. A good trainer can learn as much from a dog as the dog can from its owner.
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