A canine skilled to assist folks with dementia is in search of a brand new household it might probably help.
The Dementia Dog challenge is hoping to match a young Labrador with somebody who’s at a gentle stage of dementia and residing at home with a full-time unpaid carer in larger Glasgow.
The collaboration between two charities – Alzheimer Scotland and Dogs for Good – has existed for a decade and goals to deliver pleasure and firm for folks affected by dementia, in addition to boosting confidence and independence.
Dementia help dogs are extremely skilled and in a position to assist their household with duties corresponding to fetching remedy or reminding their proprietor to finish their each day routine – and organisers hope to place one with a household this spring.
The dogs reside at home as a relentless companion, and create a way of function and playfulness.
But additionally they have full public access rights, in contrast to pet dogs, to supply reassurance and help in busy and unfamiliar environments.
It would be the tenth time the challenge group has placed a canine in a Scottish home because the scheme was launched 10 years in the past.
Some have gone onto retrain as “activity dogs” in Alzheimer Scotland’s Dementia Resource Centres and locally the place they participate in a spread of occasions corresponding to doggy bingo – the place dogs “call out” the numbers – in addition to scavenger hunts and art-themed periods.
Black Labrador Lenny, who was matched with Jon and Jeannette King, of Dunbar, East Lothian, is now an “activity dog”, almost six years after he was matched with the couple in August 2018.
Lenny introduced pleasure to the couple’s lives earlier than Mr King handed away in January 2021, having been recognized with dementia in August 2016.
He now takes half in neighborhood occasions, as Mrs King wished to share the canine’s uncommon skillset with different households who’ve been hit by dementia, which impacts greater than 90,000 folks in Scotland.
Mrs King stated: “It wasn’t a lot the practical issues that Lenny did for Jon – it was the sunshine he introduced into our lives as we launched into this new expertise collectively. Lenny made us giggle and smile, offering companionship and luxury when Jon was alone or feeling low.
“Friends commented on how sociable Jon had become after years of preferring solitude. Those years were filled with unexpected happiness, instead of the downward spiral we’d dreaded.”
She added: “Lenny is ready and able to bring pleasure to people living with dementia – I see it as a very small way of giving thanks for the blessings Dementia Dogs gave us.”
Lenny just isn’t the canine in search of a brand new household it might probably help. That canine is a young newly skilled Labrador.
Project group dementia specialist Nadia Sutherland stated: “It’s superb to see the distinction these dogs could make for households.
“If you love dogs and meet our criteria, we’d love you to get in touch.”
The challenge group additionally provides workshops for households affected by dementia with possession of pet dogs, and to assist folks with dementia obtain particular targets via a structured programme.
People can apply on the Dementia Dog web site. Interested households may discover out extra at an open data session in Alzheimer Scotland’s Glasgow workplace on February 14 from 10.30am-3pm.
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