These dogs are trained to retrieve medications from drawers or purses and give them to the patient, also they are trained to get a beverage so that the patient can swallow the medication.  They learn to open drawers, refrigerators, and cupboards with a strap. These dogs are trained to pull a door open by use of a strap, to let help come in.  They can also get help and bring help to a patient in distress.  The best and most important task the dogs can learn, is how to bark at a speaker phone that is programmed to call 911.  The training is intense and takes six months or longer, but it works.