Siezure Response Dogs Available

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Hi Angel, I had to edit out your email address. It's against the forum rules to post email addresses. Anyone who is interested can visit your web site (is that the right address? It doesn't seem to work) or send you a PM.

Did you see our other thread on seizure response dogs?
 
From what you are describing, these are response dogs and not alert dogs. Are you working independantly or are these dogs housed at Midwest Assistance Dogs?

Who is the president of Midwest Assistance Dogs? I would like to contact them for more details on the dogs and their service dog programs. Especially since your link doesn't seem to be working.
 
Detect, Alert, Respond, and Resolve

Sorry about the email adress,.... different forums have different rules. I work for www.midwestassistancedogs.org/ . For some reason or another, their website appears to be down at te moment.
Never the less, you may look them up on the net to see the work that they have done. Also, my name is Angel Cauffman, if you would like to call and ask about me as a trainer, feel free. Mark Halasz, is the director. Bobbie Bishop is the Founder.

I have had a great problem with Midwest Assistance Dogs placing my dogs in a timely manner. I am more interested in actually getting them into a home, where they can have just one person to care for. Therefore I will be placing them as an independant trainer.

I am the only one at Midwest that places dogs in seizure assistance homes. I also train hearing dogs.My dogs cover all 4 phases of assistance. They detect at onset, alert available help, respond by means of aid, and resolve by comforting.

If anyone needs to contact me, they can send me a PM here.

**Also just a reminder, but anyone in the midwest who has seizures, I need sitters for any amount of time you feel you could benifit from the assistance. This keeps them sharp, and could help you as well.
 
Well, sweetie, not only is the website down, but the phone has been disconnected. Got any other varifiable sources?
 
Midwest Assistance Dogs INC info

The number for Midwest Assistance Dogs Inc., is 574-272-7677. They will not be open again until Monday morning. Mark is usually in at 11am.
 
OnQSiberians said:
I raise Siberian Huskies, who are from proven seizure alert dogs. I train my dogs to respond naturally, to onset seizures. Each dog has his/her own distinct reaction to seizures, which is nurtured. When the puppy stays with an effected person over night, the puppy’s Sire or Dam stay too it stays . The parent helps the puppy not to fear the onset seizure, and the puppy learns to be confident in helping from its parent.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understood you here. Are you saying that prospective clients spend one night with the dog and the dog's parent?

OnQSiberians said:
We currently have 2 seizure alert dogs that are ready, but have not passed their public access test. These dogs can be sold now, to homes where the dog is not required to be in public, and is just used at home.
Click to expand...

As mentioned in the other seizure response dogs thread, Canine Assistants provides assistance dogs at no cost. If you are having difficulties placing dogs with Midwest Assistance Dogs, perhaps these folks can help you find them a home.
 
raise Siberian Huskies, who are from proven seizure alert dogs
Click to expand...

When you say this, do you mean the breed or these dogs as individuals.


They detect at onset, alert available help, respond by means of aid, and resolve by comforting
Click to expand...

So you are saying they RESPOND at onset at the first clinical signs of a seizure, not a predicting an oncoming seizure prior to any signs.

This brings me to ask, since each person's seizure is different, how do your dogs know how to respond to a person or are you only talking about GTCs.

but have not passed their public access test.
Click to expand...

why is this, most folks with epilepsy want to be able to go into public places with their service dog. This is what makes a service dog able to have public access, since a seizure dog needs to be able to go into public places, such as school, restraunts and the workplace.

Your feedback here would be very helpful.
 
Since we are in the US I felt I would check this organisation out for the members.
What I have found is this organisation is no longer in biseness.
Website is down, phone number is disconnected. Emails are not found


http://www.whois.sc/midwestassistancedogs.org

Website Title: Midwest Assistance Dogs, Inc.
Response Code: 200
SSL Cert: No valid SSL on this Host, Get Secure
Alexa Trend/Rank: Not Ranked
Server Type: Apache/1.3.27 (Unix) (Red-Hat/Linux) mod_fastcgi/2.2.10 Chili!Soft-ASP/3.6.2 mod_perl/1.24_01 PHP/4.2.2 FrontPage/5.0.2 mod_ssl/2.8.12 OpenSSL/0.9.6b
(Spry.com also uses Apache)
IP Address: 65.18.137.10 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: - Olm Llc
Blacklist Status: Clear
Cached Whois: Cached today
Record Type: Domain Name
Monitor: Monitor or Backorder
Wildcard search: 'midwestassistancedogs' or 'midwest assistance dogs' in all domains.
Other TLDs: .com .net .org .info .biz .us
X [5 available domains]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Domain ID:D88034617-LROR
Domain Name:MIDWESTASSISTANCEDOGS.ORG
Created On:01-Jul-2002 21:15:03 UTC
Last Updated On:12-Dec-2005 22:14:07 UTC
Expiration Date:01-Jul-2007 21:20:28 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:CORE Internet Council of Registrars (R23-LROR)
Status:OK
Registrant ID:R23-1294586-PIR
Registrant Name:Michelle Stancati
Registrant Organization:Midwest Assistance Dogs
Registrant Street1:57785 Crumstown
Registrant Street2:51591 Us Route 31
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:South Bend
Registrant State/Province:IN
Registrant Postal Code:46619
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+31.90
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:
Admin ID:R23-1294586-PIR
Admin Name:Michelle Stancati
Admin Organization:Midwest Assistance Dogs
Admin Street1:57785 Crumstown
Admin Street2:51591 Us Route 31
Admin Street3:
Admin City:South Bend
Admin State/Province:IN
Admin Postal Code:46619
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+31.90
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:
Tech ID:R23-68844-PIR
Tech Name:Fast DNS
Tech Organization:FastDNS
Tech Street1:4 trefoil drive
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Trumbull
Tech State/Province:CT
Tech Postal Code:06611
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.2034457770
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:
Name Server:NS1.FASTDNS.NET
Name Server:NS2.FASTDNS.NET
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:


Midwest Assistance Dogs
3702 West Sample Street Suite 205
South Bend, IN 46619
(219) 287-7677 (Voice/TTY)
MidwestAD1987@cs.com
http://www.MidwestAssistanceDogs.org
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:
Name Server:


The two emails associated with this company are below.
mastan7@aol.com
MidwestAD1987@cs.com

I have emailed them both and got this reply for both.

Reporting-MTA: dns; rly-yi01.mx.aol.com
Arrival-Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 11:23:16 -0500 (EST)

Final-Recipient: RFC822; midwestad1987@cs.com
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.1
Remote-MTA: DNS; air-yi01.mail.aol.com
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 MAILBOX NOT FOUND
Last-Attempt-Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 11:23:34 -0500 (EST)

Reporting-MTA: dns; rly-ya05.mx.aol.com
Arrival-Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 11:23:15 -0500 (EST)

Final-Recipient: RFC822; mastan7@aol.com
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.1
Remote-MTA: DNS; air-ya04.mail.aol.com
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 MAILBOX NOT FOUND
Last-Attempt-Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 11:23:35 -0500 (EST)


I did receive an email from the original poster and her IP address does NOT match the one of the owner of this company.

I have just emailed the BBB(Better Biseness Bureau) which this company is not a member of and they have received the following complaint
http://www.michiana.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=25032

You will also note... addresses do not match up so we have 2 differant locations of this company.

The reason for posting this is because we have had a person in the US posting on many many sites trying to sell dogs this person using multiple user names and is from IN.

This person gets caught under one name and jumps to another.
They are a member on this site under a differant name as well

Very interesting that when you look up this member the email account was just made on 1/20/06
http://profiles.yahoo.com/onqandable?intl=us&os=win&ver=7,0,0,437

I am not saying this company at one time did not exsist all I ask is if you are looking for a service dog to protect you or a loved ones do NOT be taken by someone on the internet. PLEASE contact a reliable company who trains these dogs. Check with the local BBB to see if the company is legitament before spending money on a dog that is just a dog you can get at your local pet store.
I would hate to see someone put out thousands of dollars(which this person is asking for) thinking they have purchased a dog to save a loved one and not have the dog work.
Keep in mind in the US a private sale is just that a private sale and could take years and thousands in court if need be
_________________
 
Negitive people.......

What you are doing right now is defamation of character.... ever hear of that? The address and phone number you are using, is 4 years old. The current number of Midwest Assistance Dogs Inc is 574-272-7677. The address is currently 227 N. Dixie Way South Bend, In. If you would like to call on Monday morning and check my qualifications,... please do. Mark Halasz is the director.

I will encourage you not to tell Mark that I am selling my dogs privately. The fact of the matter is, that Midwest Assistance Dogs Inc, would like to sell each of my dogs for $8,000. Yes, they do help people get the assistance to raise the money, but it is a long process.... A process in which my dogs, who want someone to take care of, sit and wait, while new dogs are trained, so that they too can sit and wait. People suffer,... and the dogs just sit here, with no one to watch over...... So that they can charge $8,000 to someone who needs the dog. You will also find, that when you go through one of these places,... there is NO GUARENTEE MADE ON THE HEALTH OF THE DOG, and most of the time a very limited or no guarantee on the training. The last dog that they placed for me, I did not feel even went to a correctly fitting home.

Most of their dogs are rescues. It is not that I do not agree with rescuing dogs, but most rescues are not mentally secure enough to be asked to take charge in a difficult situation. I have bred Siberian Huskies for RECREATIONAL ONLY mushing from age 11,.. I am now 26. I was a handler for 2x Bear Grease Champion and Iditarod musher Cliff Wang in 2003-2004, but have never raced myself. I found that my dogs had a natural gift, to tell when 2 of my x roommates and some of my friends were going to have a seizure. I cheated in a way, because I have the adults with the best instincts teach the puppies how they let people know, and aid the person in need.

I do not sell my dogs to pet owners. They either live here forever, or go to assistance homes. I do not trust the average person to take proper care of a dog that I have brought into the world. I do not sell "breeding" dogs. It is worth it to me, to keep a dog for one or two years and really make it into something.

I feel that by placing the dogs myself, I have a chance study their progress in their new homes. When a trainer places their dogs through a not for profit, they lose all the rights to their dogs. The second that you let them pay for one vet bill, they can put your dog anywhere, and you have no right to contact the new owner under any circumstance. This makes little sense to me, as the new owner may need your help for any number of reasons. I am interested in documenting as much of my progress as I can, so that one day there might be an abundance of seizure assistance dogs, and places can't get away with charging ungodly amounts of money for animals people need.

Just because I want people to buy a dog from me personally, does not mean that I have ill intent.
My guess is that someone hurt someone that you love or care about by placing a dog with them that was either a bad fit or even a hoax. I am not that person.

So if you are off doing investigation on me. How about instead you help and do some for me.....

***** Please if anyone has information on people in the Midwest who has seizures and would like to be visited and helped by seizure assistance dogs PM me. I have a litter coming, and the more exposure they can have the better. I would ideally like the pups to be with a person with seizures 4 days a week instead of only 3. It can even be just for short visits*****



Also, OnQ and Able Assistance dogs is the 501(c)3 that I have recently started. It is incoperated in the notes of The American Foundation, registered with the state of Michigan est 1994, owned by Lorie King. You can look it up on Michigan.gov.
My other e-mail addy is OnQSiberians at yahoo and hotmail if you care to look those up.
 
Do you have a list of references? Feel free to PM me with these.
 
Angel, please don't get upset if folks are a little skeptical when they try to do some due diligence in researching a vendor who is advertising in this forum and come up with dead ends. I should probably have just pulled this thread from the start as an advertisement from a first time poster, but I didn't (at least not yet) and we'll see where it goes.

I'd advise anyone who is interested in a seizure response dog to fully investigate their options before committing to money out of pocket. There are groups like Canine Assistance that may be able to help you get one for free (sponsored by a pharmaceutical company).
 
I talked with Mark from Midwest Assistance Dogs. He can be reached at the number Angel provided. Their web site is back online again too.

Mark said that basically they did not think Angel's dogs were ready to be sold as seizure response dogs.
 
He would

Mark wants to place them through Midwest. He has had people raising money for these dogs since October. They charge a lot though,... it may take the people another year to raise that much. Meanwhile, I have almost lost my house twice,.... and he doesn't care. He had become upset because I just recently found out that I could sell them to private owners. They Charge 7x or 10x what they pay me, and I breed,feed, and train my own dogs.

I understand the carefulness that people approach getting a dog with. It is just hard to smile when you have a mass of people all standing around you with accusing fingers pointed.
 
Midwest Assistance Dogs

Angel,

I know for a fact that Midwest is open and running. I spoke with Mark 3 days ago at the same phone number you listed in your posts and have sent and received emails from him within the last 3 days as well. I have medical refractory epilepsy and you are probably training my dog Brittany. I agree that Midwest takes way too much time to place the dog. I was approved in August of 2006. They didn't even locate a dog for me for 6 months and that was after many many phone calls and emails pushing Mark to find me a dog. They charged me $6000.00 and even though I was able to pay cash (thanks to my family) I still do not have my dog. Due to unforseen circumstances, I am "supposed" to have Brittany by the end of this month. However, I still have not recieved my fundraising form so that I can raise the money to make the 6 hour trip to South Bend. I am not impressed with Midwest as a business. I feel they are poorly managed. However, they do exist and are operating...all though it is very slowly.

Is there anything I can do to help speed things up so that I can get my dog? It has been close to a year now. They received my deposit of $1500.00 within 3 days of my approval.
 
No longer with Midwest

I am no longer with Midwest Assistance Dogs. You should file to take them to court for a refund of deposit. That would lite a fire under his behind :)
 
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