Yesterday I had an insulin pumpers meeting and met a very wonderful and knowledgable gentleman. His name was Joel Shiflet (it's on the website below) and he has had diabetes for 48 years. I won't go in depth into his complications as he has them on his story on the site, but he had a kidney transplant and pretty much a complete eye transplant (multiple surgeries over time for different problems) due to complications. Joel also had hypoglycemic unawareness.
Due to this and his request from his wife (she would wake at night to test him alot) they looked at getting a Diabetes Alert Service Dog. Let me first say, they are not foolproof and are far from cheap. As many users attest though, they can work about 90% of the time in picking up lows and highs.
The dog travels everywhere with Joel and by law that is allowed. Service dogs have special benefits that users should not abuse. One thing Joel mentioned was he had two dogs. His first dog he had for a year and had to send it back. It would either pick up his highs and lows or it would be very obedient in public, but it would not do both.
The cost of a diabetes alert dog is extremely high. Many insurance companies will cover the initial costs but that is about it. The one Joel had now costs $6000 for a dog (Another facility charges $14,000 for the same thing). With that cost you also have to be able to take 3 weeks off work to go to the training center so they can do the final training with you in person (and you alone, no family members allowed). For some people, that may be extremely hard to do.
You are then responsible for the food, medical care, additional supplies (vests, etc.) for the dog. Now, keeping in mind this is a life saving dog possibly, you don't want to give it poor care. So food and medical for it may run higher than a normal dog.
Now, how does the dog work? Keep in mind a dog's scent of smell is 100,000 times that of a humans. And when we run high, we all know we can breath different vapors. The same applies when we run low. The dogs are able to pick up on these vapors that we exhale and can then warn us by getting our attention. That is partially why these kind of dogs should not be family pets. You don't want your dog forgetting what it's purpose is when he comes to you. The entire time the guy was doing his hour long lecture last night the dog layed on the floor by his side. Only when he called it did it to show it off did it come. He said at work he takes the dog everywhere with him and when he goes into an office the dog immediately lays down to do his work.
So can you train your own dog? The simple answer is yes, but you have to realize it may not work. Depending on the dog breed it may not pick up both air and ground scents, which is vital to it's success. The dog also has to be easily obedient trained and not something that wants to play all day. This makes training the dog young hard, but training young is the key, generally less than 2 years old max.
If you want more info just check out the three major agencies in the United States. There are a handful or so other ones but not as highly rated.
Welcome to Heaven Scent Paws! (The location Joel got his K9 from)
Dogs4Diabetics http://www.allpurposecanines.com/alert.html
If I missed anything, let me know and I'll see if I can remember if Joel mentioned it last night.
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●Blue Ash, Ohio Police Dispatcher
●Type 1 diabetic for 25 years (11 months old)
●Animas pumper since December of 2002
~IR 1000 (Dec. 2002-Jan. 2005)
~IR 1200 (Jan. 2005 - ?)
●LifeScan OneTouch UltraSmart
Diabetes is an Art, NOT a Science. You must master the control by skills and not by knowledge alone.
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