She has a four-legged weapon against seizures
Calipari the dog is training to help Manchester teen with rare epilepsy disorder
Manchester has a new resident. His name is Calipari, he has four legs and is covered in fur.
But for the Sichelstiel family, Calipari, a golden retriever-Labrador mix, is more than just a family dog.
Calipari has been trained to detect seizures, a common occurrence for Hannah Sichelstiel, who has a rare epilepsy disorder known as Dravet syndrome.
Hannah, who attends North Carroll Middle School, has an average of 14 seizures a month, her mother, Lisa Sichelstiel, said. Eventually, Calipari will be able to alert when he senses that Hannah is about to have a seizure, as much as four hours ahead of time.
After the Sichelstiels raised $15,000 — with the help of community groups — to get the dog, Calipari joined the family Jan. 23.
“He’s really starting to bond with her, to follow her everywhere,” Sichelstiel said.
Right now, Calipari is able to detect that Hannah is having a seizure and comfort her. When she begins to seize, the dog jumps onto her and licks her, Sichelstiel said.
To detect the seizures, 4 Paws for Ability, the organization that trains and provides the dogs, trained Calipari with Hannah’s scent during her seizure, said Kelly Camm, spokeswoman for the company.
People give off a scent, and medical emergencies cause a person to excrete a different scent, which a dog can detect, Camm said.
“They just have an extra set of eyes and ears, and in this case a nose, to help them handle the disability,” she said.
And to get to the point that the dog can detect and pre-alert a coming seizure requires a lot of training, Camm said.
“A lot of practice between the scent you’re supposed to alert to versus the scent you’re not supposed to alert to,” she said.
It also meant a lot of training for Sichelstiel, who is the dog’s official handler, including a test. She had to go to the mall with Calipari and perform commands, including making sure the dog heeled and that he followed commands when he was around kids, Sichelstiel said, among other exercises.
“Every day, I’ve had to train with him,” she said.
Calipari can go out in public with Hannah, whose speech capability is limited, Sichelstiel said, and after three or four months, he will likely be able to attend class with her too.
Having Calipari has been a relief to Sichelstiel because it means she doesn’t have to be right next to Hannah all the time. It will be better when the dog can pre-alert because it will allow Sichelstiel to prepare for Hannah’s next seizure.
But the dog didn’t come cheap. To purchase Calipari, the Sichelstiel family had to raise $15,000, a project that took some time.
Sichelstiel said she had the idea three years ago, and contacted 4 Paws in March 2015 to discuss getting a dog for Hannah.
It was a community effort, Sichelstiel said, adding that many local businesses, including Manchester Valley High School, helped raise the money to purchase Hannah’s dog.
Although the dog was expensive, Sichelstiel said it was worth it, noting that Hannah won’t be able to do many of the activities most people would be able to do, like drive.
So far, Hannah and the dog have gotten along great, Sichelstiel said. That’s what 4 Paws wants, Camm said. “It’s that constant best friend,” she said. “The non-judgmental, always-excited-tosee-you best friend.”