I've recently developed quite the interest in dog training last month.  Today, while searching through Youtube and watching videos about dogs and training, I came across a video about a seizure detection dog. The thought struck me suddenly, would it be possible to train a dog to detect CH before it happens and what would the benefits of doing so be?  (My boyfriend suffers from CH)
I've done a little bit of research, although, the only thing I could find that seemed to be helpful was from this link: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE
Now, of course, teaching something like that would be a pretty great feat for someone with as little experience as I have.  I doubt his boston terrier would even be a good candidate to try to train to detect a CH attack, however, it's an idea I would like to keep in mind for the future.
So, to those of you who have the unfortunate experience and knowledge of CH, would there be a point in attempting to train a dog to detect CH?  What are the benefits of doing so or why wouldn't it be worth it?
Thank you for reading!

Actually, I think it's an interesting idea.  I was talking to another clusterhead on the phone yesterday, who swears up and down that his dog can detect when he's going to get hit before he does. 

I believe it.

Although I have a young dog (who's never seen me in cycle--I'm episodic) my own experience involves the household's cats.  Their reaction is more like disappearance than empathy, however.  Hit comes on, and suddenly there are no cats around.   ;)

Maybe I smell different or something.  Could be simple behavior, or the oxygen tank. however...  Cats don't like anything weird.

Best,

George

I trained my wife to do the same thing ;)

Seriously though, it is common for those that live with us to know something is coming before we do.  Andrea will suggest I get closer to the Oxygen. 

My dogs usually find some other place to be  :o 

-Dennis-

Whether it;s earthquakes, tsunamis, burglars or seizures. Animals are keyed into a lot of wavelengths that we are not! Imagine getting on the 02 5 minutes BEFORE any CH symptoms start. It'd never even reach a KIP2.

Joe

To answer the question, it would be ridiculously beneficial, if it was possible.  Timing in getting to an abortive is crucial.  Any warning time would be awesome.  With that said, I know nothing about dogs, so this sound impossible to me.

My cats always know when someone is sick and go lie down near them.  It's probably the most endearing thing about my cats.

I like it! I think it's possible, but difficult to say the least.
My wife knows when I'm going into a cycle by my behavior. I become more active and my senses are sharper to name a few. Sometimes my attacks are more of a spiral effect than absolute. By that I mean that a little pain causes physical and psychological alterations which in turn cause more pain. So I'm not so sure that catching an attack prior to any real pain wouldn't actually cause a headache that may have been nothing more than a shadow.

john

Hey!, we already have this sign system working (well, some folks do) and we don't have to clean up any poop!
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Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2001 Feb;5(1):55-9. 


Premonitory symptoms in cluster headache.

Raimondi E.

Catedra de Neurologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, 9 de Julio 3826, Rosario 2002 PKP, Argentina. raimondi@cablenet.com.ar

Cluster headache is one of the most excruciating headaches affecting human beings--especially the male sex. Most of the cluster headache cases are of episodic nature, with active cluster periods lasting generally between a few weeks and 2 or 3 months. A still undetermined percentage of patients report nonpainful sensations preceding the onset of the pain attack for a variable period of time. If occurring only a few minutes or a few hours before the onset of pain, such symptoms are called prodromal. When occurring for several days, weeks, or months before the pain, they are termed premonitory symptoms. The author believes that premonitory symptoms have not been properly diagnosed and emphasizes the need to investigate their presence, because by knowing them advances can be made in the understanding of the physiopathology of this particular cephalalgia. Furthermore, it can also allow the physician to be ahead, by giving preventive treatment and stopping or diminishing the intensity and duration of the pain attacks.

Publication Types:
Review

PMID: 11252138 

I really wish Pomeranians were good for something like that.  I got 2.  They are practically untrainable, but definitely the most lovable guys in the entire doggie world!!

My dog actually tried to lick my face during an attack (went for the ear as well) .... believe me, it doesn't bring relief !  But I thought it was amazingly intuitive of her to know why I was rolloing all over the bed screaming.  Hmmmmmmm. 

angela.lambert wrote on Apr 5^th, 2010 at 1:07am:

I really wish Pomeranians were good for something like that.  I got 2.  They are practically untrainable, but definitely the most lovable guys in the entire doggie world!!

Said in a loving and life giving fashion.......but I wish Pomeranians were good for ANYTHING!!! ;D ;D

Luv ya Angie, can I still come up to fish??? ;)

Joe

My old Beagle Mildred used to get up and leave the room a couple of minutes before I'd get hit.

When she left the room I'd reach for the imitrex.

As most of us become so attuned to the early warning signs I'm, not sure having a dog give me an even earlier warning sign would be that much more helpful. Most of us would be too stubborn to get on the O2 based on a dog giving us a signal anyway.

As for being great "service dogs" when you are actually being hit with a cluster I can vouch for both of my dogs - I'd rather have them with me than my wife when I'm being hit. Having a german shepherd lick your face when you're crying from pain is a sign of love that you don't forget.

my cat that I bottle fed because moma died while she was born , me and her have slept together every night for three years , couple weeks back I brong my o2 home and she was perplexed to say the least , when she got to close to me I'd lift the mask cause so she'd leave me alone , sense then I only wake with her beside me on my good nights maybe she knows when my good nights will be. but my rat dog long after my husband has given up on me , who can blame him , well lets  just say 3:00 am sitting up from a curled position  on the floor feeling alone and exausted I see in the corner of my eye my lil dog just   keeping a  protective eye on me . very sweet , now when I think of it I look for him when I'm hit and he is already sitting there looking at me . wonder how long before I woke ....

I can see the value of a "service dog" for some disabilities, but no for CH's.  When I feel an attack coming on I go into my own world.  It is time for me to ignore everybody else, and I am on a 100% selfish mission.  I don;t want to be bothered with anybody near me, talking to me and certainly do not want some dog who is pre-trained to get me an ice pack, when maybe I would prefer the o2 with non-rebreather mask or maybe I want the trex shot or maybe I don't want to have to be concerned (which is a headache in itself) if the service dog is going to do as he was trained.  Leave the service dogs to the blind and others that have predictable behaviors, cuz I am very unpredictable when I get hit

Heck ya Gesspi!!  It's just about that time up here now!!  We just 60 degrees!! whoo hoo!!

My dog always tries to be right by my side during an attack she can not detect nor stop the pain however knowing she is there and I am loved helps me even if not at that moment.

While I don't think my German Shepherd is trained at all about detecting CH, she does have a tendency to wake me up just about the time I go into the REM pattern telling me she wants out.  And it's when I start to dream that I get my worst hits.
Damn, she just went out to pee an hour and a half before, so I know she really doesn't need to go out and it ticks me off, but I get up whining all the way to the door, stand out in the cool air for a few minutes, then get on my o2 and am back to bed in about 15 minutes.  While I have my mask and tank right beside the bed, it makes me wonder if she has an inkling that it's coming and the hits aren't near the intensity they used to be.  She'll go to her own bed (about 2 feet away from mine) and then when I put the mask down and shut the o2 off, she'll come up and snuggle for a few minutes.  Makes me wonder if she does know.  If I get hit during the day and that doesn't happen very often, she'll leave me alone and snuggle after.  Who knows what goes on in their heads, eh?

Gayle.

its my dog George was talking about, once in the the full hit, he backs off and waits. he is a sh tzu

This is an interesting idea.  My family can typically tell I'm going to get hit about 5 minutes before I can feel the slightest shadow because apparently the flushing/glassy eye look comes before the shadows do.

My cat comes closer and wants to snuggle when I'm in pain, sometimes before the pain.

My kitty knows when I'm about to get hit.  She acts very strangely -- jumps up on my chest if I'm lying down, which she never ever does otherwise, or follows me very, very closely as I walk around, more than usual.  I trust her instincts -- when she acts like this, I make sure my meds are within reach!  I swear that we give off some kind of chemical that tells them that something's up...

this is interesting i am looking to get my daughter a dog to be her support when she is having an attack. as i'm not always about when she has one.
Our cats all sit round her when she is having an attack which is funny because my female cat hates the other 2 cats but will tolerate them sitting near by when my daughter is in pain.   

I'm pretty sure it's possible for animals to know.  They know things we can't ever hope to.  It's said they can see auras around sick people, and smell chemical changes undetectable to us, which is how they have been known to detect the early stages of cancer. They just need to be trained how to tell us.

My dog totally knows, usually right before I do.  Hell he is doing it now (great....here we go), he is a 15 year old poodle and very very tuned in. 

He starts whining and wont leave me alone, its crazy. 

I used to have a black Lab named Bella, she was registered as my service animal; and she was able to warn me of the onset of my clusters & my Hemiplegic Migraines. She would bark, and try to sit on me or get me to sit/lie down, about 10-15 minutes before it hit. I must say it helped to know when it was coming on.

I didn't train her to do that, she did it on her own. Though she had been through service dog training. I had gotten her as a rescue at a kill shelter, and we found out a year later that she had flunked out of training as a dog for the visually impaired because she chased squirrels. (A long story)

Bella passed at the age of 15. But she was my life-saver when I had her. I miss her every day.