At La Vanguardia we have praised dogs that fight against wildlife trafficking, against covid and other pandemics, that help emergency services, that save lives at sea and that are the eyes of blind people. But the wonders of these superheroes without capes are inexhaustible, as Montse Aguiló has discovered thanks to an Andalusian water dog or Turk, as this breed is also known.
Montse, an incredible 58 years old, suffered a stroke ten two years ago as a result of a thrombus and a cerebral hemorrhage that left scars on her brain and soul. She was left with serious sequelae that made her mobility difficult. Today, watching her practice classical ballet, one of her great passions, no one would say it. But her strokes left her with other types of sequelae and cognitive difficulties that she has not been able to overcome so easily.
Since the strokes, he has suffered frequent epileptic seizures. She had to stop working at a branch of the Institut Català de la Salut in Lleida, where she lives, due to the reiteration of these attacks and because her numbers stopped making sense to her. “You’re great,” her friends repeat. And it’s true, she’s great. But they don’t know the anguish she feels living with a sword of Damocles, pending when her next relapse will be.
Or when you don’t know if a loaf of bread is worth a euro or a thousand. When you lose consciousness and wake up not knowing where you are or what happened. When you’re on the street and you don’t know how to return home. She had been living this nightmare for two years when spring finally returned to her life. She came in the form of a huge black fluffy ball, a whirlwind of energy. He was Myke, a very special assistance dog.
Montse and Myke form an indissoluble whole. They would no longer know or be able to separate. Dogs don’t see the world, they smell it. Comparing our sense of smell with theirs is like comparing a flashlight with the sun. Myke can anticipate epileptic seizures and warn her. This allows Montse to reduce the injuries and gives her the opportunity to receive the emergency drugs that she needs in these cases, as well as to recover her independence.
Before epilepsy breaks out, patients release neurohormones, imperceptible chemical messages that are captured by the incredible sense of smell of these animals. If that happens with Montse at home, Myke stares at her and starts barking for her to get ready. Then she licks her continuously so that she does not lose consciousness of her and even brings her the medicines and the bottle of water that she has ready for emergencies.
If, on the contrary, the crisis suddenly occurs when they are on the street, Myke begins to circle around Montse so that she stops walking. So she sits down and seeks help or takes steps to minimize the consequences of the impending attack. It’s a miracle, of course. But for miracles like this to exist, there must be excellent professionals like Ramón Pampin, Myke’s trainer.
The water specimens are also unbeatable working and herding dogs. Electrical in nature, they have quick reactions. The adaptation between Montse and Myke, who came to her house when she was two years old (she is eight today) was not easy. She must take life easy. The problem is not her leisurely pace (she has a way of speaking that cradles her interlocutors), but the rush of others. And Myke was a hot rod.
Ramón Pampin, who is linked to institutions such as the Canine Association for Humanitarian Work, among others, even proposed to replace Myke with Gaia, who is of the same breed, but calmer (there are also labradors trained for these tasks). Then Myke looked at Montse as only he knows how to do and she understood that she could not go back. “It was one of the best decisions of my entire life.”
Together with her two daughters, Montse has devised an ingenious plan to avoid unnecessary expenses and surprises with money, as happened before. Almost everything else is taken care of by the dog. For obvious reasons, they go everywhere together. There are still locals who try to veto his entry, despite the bib that certifies his work. “Ma’am, the dog can’t come in,” they tell her before finding out and rectifying. And she is tempted to answer: “What dog? He is not just a dog. He is a part of me “.
