Jazzy the labrador aids epileptic owner

The epilepsy-response dog opens doors and retrieves dropped items.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In many ways, Jazzy is a typical 20-month-old black Labrador retriever. She greets people with a friendly but thorough check for new smells, and if you get in the way of her wagging tail, she'll beat you like a drum.
But Jazzy, who was paired up two months ago with 21-year-old Tom A. Pugh as his epilepsy response dog-in-training, is anything but typical.
For Pugh, of Youngstown, whose seizures occur without warning, the arrival of Jazzy opened the door to a sense of freedom that he and his family had not experienced since he was diagnosed with epilepsy at 13.
Epilepsy is a disorder that briefly interrupts the brain's normal electrical activity. The cause of 70 percent of epilepsy cases is unknown.
The other cases are most frequently caused by head injuries, strokes, brain tumors, infections, lead poisoning and injuries during childbirth, says the Epilepsy Association.
The electrical disturbances cause seizures, which manifest themselves in the form of convulsions, short periods of unconsciousness, distortion of senses and loss of control over movement.
Pugh is not a candidate for brain surgery that can, in some patients, stop seizures. He has undergone Vagus nerve stimulation, in which a battery-operated device was implanted in his chest. Wires run from the device to his Vagus nerve in the left side of his neck.
But, like the medicine Pugh takes, Vagus nerve therapy reduces the frequency and duration of his seizures, but does not stop them.
As a result, before Jazzy came on the scene, Tom could not be alone, which limited his freedom of movement and that of his mother and father, Tom M. and Lori Pugh. He needs medicine and help during a seizure.
Now, when a seizure occurs, the dog pulls a strap on a signaling device, attached to Tom's belt, that is loud enough to hear throughout the house or wherever Tom is. Then, the dog stands by until human help arrives.
Jazzy's other skills
Pulling an alarm strap is just one of Jazzy's skills. She literally can open many doors -- the refrigerator, too.
Upon command, she will bring the telephone, retrieve things off the floor, open many car doors and push an elevator button, Tom said.
Jazzy has been trained since she was a puppy by Paws With A Cause, a charitable nonprofit organization, based in Wayland, Mich., that provides assistance dogs nationally for people with disabilities.
The group's literature says only about 2 percent of the dogs that enter training have what it takes to become seizure-response dogs.
It isn't only the dog that is screened. The Pugh family had to pass muster, too.
Tom's father said Paws With A Cause interviewed everybody in the family. The organization made sure that Jazzy and the Pughs' 18-year-old German shepherd, Trixie, were compatible. The group videotaped the entire property to make sure Jazzy would be safe.
The Pughs are required to feed Jazzy a specific diet, that includes fruits and vegetables for snacks and absolutely no table scraps, Tom's father said. Jazzy weighs 55 pounds, but if her weight varies 5 pounds either way, Paws With A Cause issues a warning. If the problem is not corrected within a month, the dog is removed, Tom said.
Also, if the dog is unable to do its job, for health or other reasons, it will be removed. After 10 years, Jazzy will be retired as an epilepsy response dog, and the Pughs will have the option of keeping her, the elder Pugh said.
But, at this point, Jazzy is as billed, a seizure response dog, who, according to Tom and his father, has performed "beyond all expectations" during the five seizures Tom has had since Jazzy arrived.
"Jazzy has amazed us with her exact, dead-on responses," Tom said.
Helping out
During one of Tom's seizures, the elder Pugh said his wife asked him to go to the refrigerator and get their son's medicine. When he got to the refrigerator, he said Jazzy was already there and had gotten the medicine out and had the bag in her mouth.
At this point in her training, Jazzy still is being tuned up once a week by a Paws With A Cause trainer, and is just now beginning to accompany Tom outside his home.
They recently went to a restaurant, and Tom said the dog will go with him to classes next semester at Youngstown State University, where he is a sophomore studying to be a high school English teacher.
While seeing-eye dogs are well known to the public, Janet Mau, director of the Mahoning Valley Epilepsy Fund Agency, believes Jazzy is the first epilepsy response dog placed in Ohio by Paws With A Cause. Other organizations also train dogs to help people with disabilities, she added.
Mau said November is national Epilepsy Awareness Month, and she urged people with questions about epilepsy or the response dogs to call her office at (330) 270-8037.
The Pughs learned about epilepsy response dogs about two years ago, when Tom's grandmother, Pat Lettau of Austintown, saw a segment about Paws With A Cause on the "Oprah" television show.
The family immediately researched the Internet for more information. Then Tom's mother e-mailed Paws With A Cause, beginning the process that brought Jazzy to Tom this fall.
Tom's father said the cost of training the dog was offset by donations to Paws With A Cause.
"They ask us to be active in fund-raising activities," the elder Pugh said.
Thankful for help
His wife said the family is grateful for the help it received with the cost of fencing from the St. Michael Church Altar Guild in Canfield, Roth Bros. and its employees, and neighbors and friends.
Tom is the only boy among five Pugh children. His siblings are Katie Cline of Niles, Amy Pugh of New York City, Kristen Weaver of Cleveland, and Lizzy Pugh, a student at St. Mary's College in South Bend, Ind.
Despite his handicap, Tom, a 2004 graduate of Ursuline High School, has an active social life.
He is a junior adviser for the Celebrate program for high school seniors at St. Christine Church, tutors students at Frank Ohl Middle School in Austintown, and is a member of the Penguin Story Tellers, who read to autistic children. He also participates in intramural ultimate Frisbee at YSU, and likes movies and video games and hanging out with his friends.
"He has a wonderful group of friends who go out with him," his dad said.
Now, with Jazzy, he has another friend, one who never leaves his side.
alcorn@vindy.com