Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
Support Dogs
  • Search
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Contact Us Donate
Menu
  • Home
  • About us
    • What we do
    • Welfare & our work with rescue dogs
    • Trustees & Patrons
    • Impact stories
    • Job vacancies
    • FAQ
    • Talks and publications
    • News and events
      • News
      • Events
  • Apply for help
    • Autism assistance
    • Epilepsy seizure alert
    • Disability assistance
  • Volunteer
    • Volunteering with our dogs
    • Volunteering at our centre
    • Volunteering at events
  • Sponsor a dog
  • Support us
    • Donate
    • Virtual events & fundraising
    • In memory giving
    • Wills and legacy
    • Fundraising ideas
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Challenge events
    • Where your money goes
  • Shop
  • Admin
    • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • Epilepsy seizure alert

Epilepsy seizure alert




Epilepsy is the most common neurological illness, with over 600,000 cases in the UK. Thirty per cent of people with epilepsy are unable to control their seizures through medication. Instead they live with the fear of an oncoming seizure which can occur at any time. This fear affects everything they do, limiting their independence and ability to live an active life.

Seizure alert dogs are trained to provide a 100% reliable warning up to 50 minutes prior to an oncoming seizure. They give time for their owner to find a place of safety and privacy as they have their seizure.

Around 1,000 people with epilepsy die each year and research suggests that most of these deaths are sudden and unexpected. The warning provided by a seizure alert dog means that a client can remove themselves from any danger and have a seizure in a safe environment.

With the confidence that they will be alerted in advance of any seizure, our clients are able to live more independently. Day-to-day tasks, including going to the shops, cooking, ironing and having a bath, which would previously have been hazardous, are now manageable on their own and in safety.

Support Dogs is the only organisation in the UK to provide and train seizure alert dogs.

How to apply

Please download and read our information pack


This provides information to enable you to assess whether you are suitable for a seizure alert dog. To apply for this programme you must first check that you meet the criteria in the info pack.

Once you have done this and feel you meet criteria please click here to register your interest in applying for this programme.

If you meet the criteria you will then be invited to attend an information day at our training centre in Sheffield. Information days are held only once or twice per year and have a very limited number of spaces. 

Once we have a date confirmed for the next information day you will then receive an email which will enable you to apply for a space at it. These spaces are allocated on a first-come first-served basis for those that meet the programme criteria.

Read stories about our life-changing work.

or 

Watch Brogan and Wadsley's story

Published: 15th March, 2018

Updated: 16th October, 2020

Author:

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • Leading figures from the worlds of business, finance and marketing join Support Dogs’ board of trustees

    Leading figures from the worlds of business, finance and marketing join Support Dogs’ board of trustees

    Three new trustees have joined the board of Support Dogs from the worlds of business, marketing and finance.

  • Are you looking for a charity partner?

    Are you looking for a charity partner?

    Is your business Looking for a new charity to support? Here are a few great reasons to choose Support Dogs

  • Ex-rescue dog Bear gets a second chance to be a life-changing assistance dog

    Ex-rescue dog Bear gets a second chance to be a life-changing assistance dog

    Meet Bear – the unwanted pet with a great future as a life-changing assistance dog. The beautiful fox-red Labrador has been an opportunity to turn his life around.

  • A better life for Brogan

    A better life for Brogan

    Seizure alert dog Wadsley is helping Brogan Evans to get back to the lifestyle she enjoyed before she was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Most read

  • Autism assistance

    Autism assistance

    Our autism assistance dog programme works to increase safety and the ability to have more socially inclusive life for children aged between 3 and 10 years of age with autism and their families.

  • Disability assistance

    Disability assistance

    Our disability assistance dogs are trained to support their owners by carrying out tasks tailored to their needs such as dressing and undressing, loading and unloading the washing machine, and raising the alarm. They also enable clients to lead more sociable, independent lives.

  • Epilepsy seizure alert

    Epilepsy seizure alert

    Our seizure alert dogs are trained to provide a 100% reliable warning up to 50 minutes prior to an oncoming epileptic seizure, enabling clients to get to a place of safety, and enabling them to live more independently.

  • What we do

    What we do

    Support Dogs is a charity training autism assistance dog, epilepsy seizure alert dogs and disability assistance dogs for those affected by a wide range of physical conditions including MS, Cerebral Palsy and fibromyalgia.

  • Job vacancies

    Search here for Support Dogs' jobs' vacancies.

  • Could you be a puppy socialiser?

    Could you be a puppy socialiser?

    Could you do something amazing in 2021? We are looking for volunteer puppy socialisers to join our team in Spring/Summer 2021 to provide a loving home and help us prepare our puppies over their first year in training.

  • Foster Caring - Bed and Breakfast

    Foster Caring - Bed and Breakfast

    As Support Dogs doesn't use kennel facilities for its dogs-in-training, we are always looking for evening and weekend and stay-at-home foster carers to provide a loving home for our canine trainees.

  • Super Stanley the life-saver

    Super Stanley the life-saver

    Specialist seizure response assistance dog Stanley is making a real difference to the life of 24-year-old Amy Williams, who has epilepsy.

  • Sponsor our puppies

    Sponsor our puppies

    Meet our heroes in training! These amazing pups are currently in their first stage of training to become a support dog. Find out more about our puppies.

  • How Minta is making the world accessible  for Jacob

    How Minta is making the world accessible for Jacob

    Autism assistance dog Minta has changed the life of youngster Jacob, opening up his world

Sign up to our newsletter

Sign up to receive our twice yearly charity magazine and very occasional email updates about our Support Dogs campaigns, news, appeals and fundraising.

Sign up


Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & conditions
  • Privacy policy

Find us

Support Dogs
21 Jessops Riverside,
Brightside Lane,
Sheffield, S9 2RX

Registered Charity No. 1088281

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
BBC Children in Need