Training Migraine Alert

 Migraine alert is a useful task where a dog can be trained to give you a warning before you get a migraine. This is a task, not every dog will be able to do as it is scent based. Some dogs naturally alert, some will need specific training and some will never be able to pick it up. It can be harder for brachy breeds such as boxers as they may have lessened senses of smell. 

You will first need to have a queue task down. This can be whatever indicator you want as long as it adequately gets your attention and your dog can do it consistently. I will refer to this command as touch from here on out for simplicity. 

First, you will need to decide if you want this task to be based on sweat or saliva. Both work and your dog may respond better to one than the other. Also, masks can make it slightly more difficult for a dog to detect migraines. Grimm often alerts as soon as I get in the car and demask. This can make sweat a better option but I have always had more luck with saliva. 

While having a migraine, soak a cotton ball in your chosen fluid. For spit suck on the cotton ball and for sweat press it into a high sweat area such as the armpit. You will then seal this cotton ball in a plastic bag and label it. Label it with what sample it is and what date it was taken. Try to not use any one sample for more than a few months. Hopefully, your dog will catch on by then anyway. 

Now that you have your sample you need to approach your dog and let them get a good sniff of it. As soon as they have gotten a good whiff, command them to touch. Repeat this a few times, sniff - touch, sniff - touch, sniff - touch. 

The next step in this training will be tapering off indicating to touch. You should reach a point where as soon as the dog sniffs and touches without you commanding them to you can move on to the next step. 

Freeze the sample, this will keep it usable for longer. 

Start randomly bringing the sample out. As soon as your dog notices the smell they should touch you. Reward this in excess. It’s possible you will need to queue them to touch you again. If this happens start by rewarding them for noticing the scent then start queuing them to touch you again as they notice the scent. 

Keep repeating this process until it “clicks.” For some dogs this can happen very quickly. My first dog(who washed at the public access phase) was never able to pick it up. My second dog picked it up after living with me for several months, and my current service dog picked it up in a matter of weeks. 

It is also possible for a dog to “naturally” alert. This doesn’t mean they will walk up to you and touch you as soon as you start getting a migraine. It means they will notice without training. Pay attention to your dog's behavior around your migraines. If they seem more playful, stressed, etc. this may be them noticing. When they get like this try queuing them to touch you. 

This method seems a little shaky but scent-based alerts rely so much on the dog that there is only so much you can do to help them along the way.