Diabetic Alert Dogs

[micah'sister06]

My name is Tricia and I am 16 years old. I have a 7 year old brother who is a type 1 diabetic. He was diagnosed on April 23, 2006 and has been pumping for almost a year now. I am a puppy raiser/trainer for an organazation that trains Mobility Assistance Dogs. I have 2 dogs in training. Frank is almost 2 and Jana is 10 months old. We have noticed that Frank alerts to Micah's high and low blood sugars. Frank usually tries to get Micah's attention by nudging and licking him untill he checks his sugars or Barks untill someone in out house checks his sugars. Frank has let us know when Micah was 36 and passed out and also when he had a seizure. I have been talking with our organazation and we are working on starting a diabetes alert dog program. I was just wondering if any diabetics have any comments or questions? Does anyone have a Diabetic Ditection Dog? Has anyone noticed their pet dog ditecting their high and low blood sugars? Thank you.

[Brensdad]

When I first met my wife, she had a pomeranian named Gucci. She was a very good little dog who was really a one-person kind of dog.

As I slowly developed the symptoms of type 1, we noticed (after the fact) that Gucci paid more attention to me and would often sit in my lap and stare at me. In retrospect, we think she knew that my BG was too high. Maybe she was just waiting to see if some sugary water was going to start pouring out!

[John'sMom]

I am looking for any information on getting a diabetic altert dog for my 8 year old son. I would appreciate names of a reputable company, one that services our area (Northern Nevada), a good trainer or any other tips or suggestions! Last week his blood sugars ranged from 406 to 47 for no known reason. -Even our pediatric endocrinologist couldn't figure out anything to change.

Thanks!

John's Mom

[Sugarless]

Wow! Both my daughter and I are type 1. This is an awesome idea. I would be very interested in finding out more.

[Type1CDE]

You know, my old cat (who ended up "running away" or something- we have seen him around town throughout the winter) was REALLY attentive to my lows. I remember him harrassing me one time when I was in bed and was so tired but he kept trying to sit on my head! I was pregnant at the time too. He never tried to snuggle in bed with me- he loved running around at night-lol- so I KNEW something was up and it alerted me to wake up and check my BG. What a wonderful job your are doing! I would absolutely love a trained pooch for this- esp. a small one (: My hubby would not got for a large animal in the house. Any breeds that are small and are good at this?