Parkinson’s Walker Dog Program

Prior to founding The Gift of Sunshine in November 2002, President and Executive Director, Julie E. Van Vliet worked as Master Trainer at Independence Dogs in Chadds Ford, PA. During that time she helped to implement the first program in the country to train service dogs specifically to assist individuals with Parkinson’s disease. This initial pilot program was a joint effort by Independence Dogs, Inc., Dr. Matthew Stern, a neurologist at the Parkinson’s disease and Movement Disorders Center at Pennsylvania Hospital, and SmithKline Beecham.

Parkinson’s disease is an incurable neurological disease that affects a person’s ability to walk. Common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include rigidity of the muscles, loss of balance, tremors, and “freezing”. “Freezing” can best be described as a sudden inability to move one’s feet. This phenomenon can, and does, occur when a Parkinsonian is walking through narrow aisles, doorways or approaching stairs. The cause of this manifestation of the disease is unknown, but if a Parkinsonian attempts to take a step while “frozen” a fall will most likely occur. Parkinson’s walker dogs are trained to “break” a “freeze” by touching the person’s foot with their paw and waiting until the person is able to start walking.

Parkinson’s walker dogs are also trained to act as a counter-balance if the person should lose their balance while walking. For example, if the person tends to fall forward the dog will automatically shift his weight backwards to prevent a fall. If the Parkinsonian should happen to fall, the dogs are trained to position themselves in front of the person to allow the person to place their hands in the proper position and “brace” themselves to an upright position. The dogs are also trained to assist a person from a sitting position in much the same manner.

If you have any questions or would like more information on the Parkinson’s Walker Dog Program please contact us.