What I am going to say is going to anger a lot of people, so pass on this if this will make you mad. A service dog is the only acceptable dog. A support dog is not. A service dog has had hours and hours of training for service to their owner's disability. You can get a tag off Facebook that says your dog is a service dog - a practice that makes me see red. A service dog has a vest that tells the public what that dog has been trained for, PTSD, hearing impaired, vision impaired, etc. The vests usually also tell the public not to touch the dogs. You should never touch these dogs, not because they are vicious, but because they are doing a JOB. Sorry about the rant. I have seen medium-sized service dogs, especially working dogs at the airport. I would think that smaller breeds that are alerting you to a seizure would be okay, but I would want a larger dog for protection. A Shepard is going to alert a lot more people than a Yorkie. I again apologize for this rant, but I worked in veterinary medicine for over 32 years and this became a growing problem within the field.

I tried getting a service dog a few years back and apparently you can use almost any kind of animal. But I think dogs are the best bet . That goes for small dogs, the only thing that's really important is that he or she is properly trained and that the dog can pick up on your seizures.

@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member
Remember I have had an RNS (Neurostimulator) for 4 years or so if you have any questions. Good luck with the surgery.

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A MyEpile...

Welcome Elizabeth yes I support you on this one all epilpsy dogs schould be a loud

The cost is still rather high so that is always an issue we have to face. The advantage is there are local epilepsy foundations that help get us the dogs with the care and training. My western PA group has a whole group devoted to this matching. Reach out to your local epilepsy foundation.