“A video of a service dog in action-what a good boy!”
In what started out as a training session to share on TikTok, a seizure alert dog springs into action and it’s all caught on a now viral video that’s been viewed over 2 million times.
TikTok user tina_n_max was making a video to share on the platform when her service dog, a German shepherd named Max, suddenly alerted and brought her safely to the ground. Tina wrote in the caption:
“Trigger warning!
This was supposed to be a training session clip but he alerted to something I didn’t know was coming!”
Tina was in the kitchen doing dishes when suddenly Max gets concerned. He jumps up several times and leads Tina the floor, where he breaks her fall and keeps her safe during her seizure.
According to Tina’s own TikTok account, she has suffered from seizures and “debilitating” migraines since she was 23. In 2018.
She even had a “severe seizure,” leaving her memory “completely gone” when she woke up. “I had lost the first 40 years of my life,” she explained in a video.
“I had no idea who I was or anything about myself. It was terrifying. I didn’t know any of my family or friends,” she continued, adding that she’s unsure if her memory will ever return.
According to Epilepsy.com, “Seizure-alert dogs, as implied by their name, are dogs that can sense and notify their human companions of an oncoming seizure. This alerting behavior has been reported to occur several seconds to 45 minutes or more before the onset of the seizure. The dog does this by exhibiting marked changes in behavior, including close eye contact, circling, pawing, barking, etc.”
Many believe that seizure-alert dogs are able to alert by detecting subtle changes in human behavior. However, others believe a dog’s heightened sense of smell enables it to detect an oncoming seizure.
However, Max knew Tina was going to have a seizure, and we are grateful for his quick actions to help protect her. Good job, Max! We hope you enjoyed watching an actual service dog in action. As always, please feel free to share with your friends.