DALLAS: Lexus, a black labrador, helps keep Ann Dredge from wandering. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s three years ago.
When Ann Dredge was told she wouldn’t have long to go before she “lost her marbles”, she told the doctor to sod off.
“She said there’s not much we can do and I thought, well, that’s silly.”
Ann was diagnosed with atypical Alzheimer’s four years ago. Before the diagnosis, she and her husband, Peter Dredge, owned an insurance company.
“It cost us our house, basically, and our business. We had the Auckland dream of the fancy beach house apartment,” Peter said.
“One of the curses I’ve got is that I can make really good money, but we decided that’s not an option because Ann needs me around the whole time pretty much. The whole world just caved.”
Wanting to tackle the disease head-on, the Dredges approached the Assistance Dogs Trust, which trains dogs for a variety of disabilities.
They met Lexus, a black Labrador, nearly a year ago.
“With Ann, we’re attacking it with diet and mineral supplements. I wouldn’t say we’re beating it, but we’ve certainly slowed everything right down,” Peter said.
“Lexus is part of that, too – she’s made a huge difference. One of our biggest issues is that Ann’s parietal lobe is damaged, so she loses sight of me really easy when we’re out and about.”
“So that’s Lexus’s main role, apart from being a companion: keeping us together if Ann goes wandering.”
Peter said they realised the important role Lexus plays during a recent outing.
“We needed to go to the supermarket to get supplies and we thought, well, we’ll leave Lexus behind. We’re only nipping in.”
“Well, that was a nightmare – never again.”
“I’m shopping away there and then I think, oh sh*t, where’s Ann?”
Peter and Ann are now living in a campervan in Paeroa while Peter works part-time.
“One of the things that happens with Alzheimer’s is that your world gets taken away from you and you lose control,” Peter said.
Instructor Julie Hancox said assistance dogs benefit the whole family.
“It doesn’t matter what the diagnosed label is, if we can see that a dog can actually help that person with a disability and basically mitigate the impact of that in the public arena, then that’s what we will train the dog to do,” Hancox said.
“For something like Alzheimer’s we look at similar things to what a guide dog will do, we are wanting the dog to have very strong destination work and to be able to take a leadership role should the person get a bit confused and may be unsure about where they’re going”…
