Major

Major, our almost 7 month male black lab, has been progressing fast in his scent training.  Passionate about food, he loves his training time. Recently, he has begun checking us for the "low" sent.   He will come over to one of his trainers and smell them.  If he finds the scent he will get an excited
expression and begin to paw our thigh.   This checking without being asked is a HUGE part of being a Diabetes Alert Dog (DAD).  The job of a DAD is to constantly be in tune with his diabetic and always on the alert for that "low" scent.  Major's checking in with us often is the beginning of that amazing duty he will one day serve his diabetic.

Recently, our diabetic came up from his room and sat on the couch.  Major jumped up from his "place", went directly to our son and began excitedly smelling him. Then Major alerted him by pawing, just as we have trained him to do.  A quick finger poke revealed that our son's blood sugar was below the safe range.  It was Major's first live alert and a very exciting moment for all.

We are happy to see that Major's training has made sense to him, and he is beginning to apply it practically.   Though he still has a lot of training ahead of him, we are confident he will make an amazing DAD for some fortunate person.

Duty Dogs In The News Again

Praise the Lord, we've been written up in the news again.

 

Click here to be directed Sierra News Online's story written by Kellie Flanagan

Bailey

Baby Bailey

Introducing Bailey!  This lover boy is our eighteen month old yellow lab that we acquired through Chilbrook Kennels in West Virgina. He is an up-and-coming stud dog for our breeding operation.

Our handsome guy

Bailey also functions as a DAD (Diabetes Alert Dog) for our ten-year old Type 1 Diabetic. These two boys go great together! Bailey sleeps with his boy, sits patiently while he is playing football, gets his meter for him, gets a juice for his boy, and best of all, Bailey alerts him when his blood sugar is dropping below a safe level.

One time Bailey alerted his boy with a paw on the knee.  After checking his blood glucose level and finding it to be 140 (the goal being between 80 and 120), he disappointedly told Bailey that he was not low and that it must have been a false alert. About half an hour later, he checked his blood again and was very low, in the 40s! Bailey could smell that his boy was going low and alerted half an hour before the low even occurred! Dogs have an amazing sense of smell.

Waiting

It's hard to imagine life without our mellow fellow Bailey.  We sometimes just sit and stare at this handsome gent, marveling how one dog can be so

I love you

good-looking and easy-going. 

Keeping an eye on you

The boys

Introducing: Duty Dogs

Years ago our 4 year old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  Thus our journey into the Diabetic Community began.

Initially, we were shocked and somewhat dismayed at the thoughts of a life with diabetes management playing a central role.  However while at Children's Hospital we quickly realized the fact that our son's disease was manageable.  This was not necessarily the case for many of the boys and girls who watched prone in their beds as he rode around the halls on the hospital tricycle.  I was struck at the understanding that soon we would be taking our son home and many of these children would not return to their earthly homes.  This acquiescence began the process of God building gratefulness in our hearts for our son's condition of insulin dependency and for the tools used to enhance management.  We thank Jesus for the many tools at our disposal helping overcome the challenges this disease presents.

The most unique tool is a K9 monitor, Bailey.  Known as a Diabetic Alert Dog or more accurately a Diabetes Alert Dog.  We are proud breeders and trainers of these wonderful canine assets.  You can see more about our Duty Dogs by going to www.dutydogs.com.  Diabetes alert dogs help diabetics by smelling their changes in blood glucose or blood sugar.  The dogs can be trained to alert on highs or lows.  Thus helping to mitigate the extreme swings that are found in every T1D's life.  Lowering the peaks and raising the valleys of these extremes will help to lower the A1C results, thus lowering the risk of long term complications consistent with the disease.

This can be especially helpful for diabetics who suffer from hypoglycemic unawareness.  This condition causes one to not realize when their blood sugar levels are dropping dangerously low. Type 1 Diabetics who suffer from this condition are often found in need of support from the wonderful servants tied to the 911 services.

We are delighted to train dogs specifically to serve people with this condition.  A diabetes alert dog can help a diabetic return precious liberty and peace of mind back to their life.  These wonderful K9 monitors often allow the trips to the ER to be dramatically reduced for their diabetic handlers.

For more information on the offerings of DAD dogs visit our Duty Dogs website.