Myrtle Beach Sun News, February 15, 2005
http://www.homeagainid.com/news/article.cf...m?storyid=16544

TERRY MASSEY SPORTS COLUMNIST

Don't be alarmed if you see Rick Kaplan, a golf buddy and their four-legged foursome partners playing at a Grand Strand-area golf course.

They are Fred and Ginger, Kaplan's 4-year-old chocolate Labrador retrievers, who are much more than this man's best friends. In addition to being his favorite golf partners, they also happen to be his lifesavers.

"People are always doing a double take because there are dogs somewhere that you don't normally see them," said Kaplan, 58, a retired jeweler who spends winters on the Grand Strand. "I don't have them on a leash because they're trained to heel at all times, except when I'm on the green or in a bunker. They're trained to stay off of those, too."

But the most impressive training the two service dogs have received is the ability to warn Kaplan at the onset of seizures, the result of an automobile wreck he was in two years ago when leaving the Grand Strand for his summer home in Carmel, N.Y.

Fred, the male, can detect minor changes in Kaplan's electrical field and notifies his owner with the nudge of the nose; Ginger, the female, can smell differences in his body chemistry and lets him know with a high-pitched bark. It's an amazing array of talents for two dogs born of the same litter.

"Before any kind of blackout, a lot of changes take place in the body before the actual event," Kaplan said. "They are able to detect them through different methods and let me know. Both have natural gifts, but they're different gifts, so having two is a real good backup system.

"I've only had two events [on the golf course], and neither turned out to be serious because they gave me a warning, I took a pill, and that was the end of it. I was able to finish my round."

What's even more astounding is that Kaplan has had the dogs since they were pups, before their special talents were either known or needed.

Kaplan says he has trained hundreds of therapy dogs, which are used to lift the spirits of children with various disorders and the elderly, and Fred and Ginger were just two dogs in training when they displayed their special talents.

"How did I find out? They showed me," Kaplan said. "They showed they had a certain facility to detect a seizure, and I just nurtured it along. I've always trained dogs to do different things to help their owners, but the irony is that my own dogs were able to help me. You want to talk about miracles; now there's a miracle."

Kaplan not only uses Fred and Ginger to help himself but also to help others.

As certified therapy dogs, they visit local hospitals, schools and assisted living facilities daily.

"Part of our daily schedule is to visit hospitals, schools and nursing homes," Kaplan said. "We have a program at the local library where kids read to the dogs and pet them. It gives them a nonjudgmental audience - no teachers or parents, just the dogs. They love it."

Kaplan says he has witnessed some heartwarming moments between patients and his pets, including a 90-year-old woman speaking for the first time in years while cuddling Ginger.

"That's their occupation now, so we go every day," Kaplan said. "I love it, the dogs love it, and the patients love it. For folks who are suffering, it takes their mind off it for a while."

A local group called Comfort Keepers, which serves in-home patients, has enlisted the dogs to help with some of its clients.

A 94-year-old retired surgeon looks forward to occasional visits from Fred and Ginger.

"They visited a client of ours who is elderly and remains in his own home, and they had a grand visit," said Marcie Jay, who operates Comfort Keepers.

Myrtle Beach Manor Activities Coordinator Jennifer Zinnel says her patients look forward to visits from the dogs.

"In my experience, animal therapy has been very positive," Zinnel said. "A lot of elderly patients have had a favorable pet in the past, and it really seems to have a calming effect."

The same appears to be true of Kaplan's golf game.

It took some time for him to recover enough to return to the links, but he now has a 10-

handicap, thanks to some help from his four-legged playing partners.

"They play every day I'm down here, and they love it," Kaplan said. "They're really good sports, and they have a great life. I'll give them a break every once in a while and let them run through the woods, but then it's back to business.

"They wear these jackets not just to show people that they're working dogs, but it also means something to the dogs. When I put that jacket on them, they know that they have to stay in control. But when I take the jacket off, it's playtime."

And when they return home from a hard day of work, Fred and Ginger easily shift from working dogs to lovable pets.

"They're different from Seeing Eye dogs that you can't give love and affection," Kaplan said. "They're like my babies.

"Hopefully, in a year or two, I won't need them to be service dogs anymore; then they can just be pets and therapy dogs."

And two of the best playing partners a golfer could ask for.

Contact TERRY MASSEY at (843) 626-0371 or at tmassey@thesunnews.com.

Dog detectives

Scientists don't know for sure how dogs sense that humans are about to have a seizure, but Canadian researchers at the Division of Pediatric Neurology at Alberta Childrens Hospital surveyed families of epileptic children with dogs in the family. They found that 40 percent of 268 families surveyed owned a dog, and

40 percent of those dogs displayed the ability to recognize an epileptic seizure. Furthermore, about

15 percent of the families said their dog was able to give advance warning of a seizure.

Source: WebMd.com

Rick Kaplan's therapy dogs, Fred and Ginger, will be at HealthFinders at 6 p.m. today at Coastal Grand Myrtle Beach mall for a free demonstration.

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