There are many moms on Facebook who have DAD’s (Diabetes Alert Dogs) for their T1 kids. From all reports I have read these well trained dogs do their thing amazingly well. Many adults have them too. Two of the adults at the T1 meeting on Sunday, Oct 16, had DAD’s. The dogs were very well behaved.
There was an article in Diabetes Health today about a DAD. Here is the link:
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2011/10/19/7320/life-with-kolumbo-my-hypoglycemia-alert-dog/
Thanks Richard, always good to read an article that makes me smile!
I have 2 friends with them. One got her dog for that purpose. The other took in a rescue dog who turned out to pick up lows. They put her thru the training to get certified as a service dog.
I bet seeing these dogs actually performing their duty would be very inspiring. That would make all of us smile!
Richard - After 27 years with diabetes I teamed up with Norm, my hypoglycemia alert dog. While his low BG alerting provides me with another layer of safety, the “softer” aspects of his service truly comfort me.
Norm is a handsome 55-pound male Yellow Labrador Retriever. His coat is as soft as it looks!
I live alone. Without another person in the house to help me when needed, I pretty much long ago accepted the fact that I was alone in this war with D. Once paired with Norm I realized just how vulnerable I have always felt; I simply denied that vulnerability because there was nothing I could do about it.
Norm has had a great influence on brightening my disposition. I’ve never owned a dog before and I find myself during part of every day in conversation with Norm. I know he doesn’t understand my words but he does get the emotional gist of things.
I know that one of the most important ongoing conversations that people conduct is the one they have with themselves everyday. Most of us don’t vocalize these conversations, of course. I find that having a dog prompts me to vocalize ideas that would never otherwise be heard. In the end I find that my emotional and mental health has improved while living with Norm.
And it doesn’t hurt that he can wake me up, like he did at 1:30 this morning, to get me to check my sugar. I was at 73 and dropping. Norm got his favorite treat – peanut butter. It was a lip smacking good time!
If there’s anyone out there wondering about getting a hypoglycemia alert dog, I for one give it a resounding thumbs up!
This is Norm giving me an alert. The item he has in his mouth is called a bringsel. It’s just a cloth covered tube about six inches long that dangles from his neck. When he smells a low he puts it in his mouth and gets my attention. If he’s right he gets a treat.
Terry, thanks so much for this reply. I have read several replies like this given by moms of T1 kids. They feel safe while their children sleep, for the first time since the children were diagnosed.
Why aren’t DAD’s covered by insurance? Some of the moms have had to raise thousands of dollars to pay for the dogs.
Wow! Norm sounds awesome!! My dog Izzy gives me the same look almost 100% of the time. It either means “give me food” “let me out” “oops” or “your BG is whacked out”. I get a sense she can tell but I haven’t figured out a signal.
Richard - In a just and sensible world these dogs would be covered by medical insurance. On the other hand, there are not-for-profit agencies that train these dogs and give them to qualified diabetics free of charge. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of the board of directors of one such agency, Early Alert Canines.)
We are new as of this year and we intend to train “skilled companion” hypo-alert dogs to work in the homes of young child diabetics. Once a child reaches the age of 12, they usually reach sufficient emotional, physical, and social maturity to take a full public access service dog out into their everyday world, school included.
Good looking dog. I’m guessing that Izzy can smell your lows. Norm sometimes signals a low with “looking thru you” stares. There are a few other behaviors in Norm that I associate with my lows and they’re pretty dependable.
All of the training uses positive reinforcement for desired behavior. Knowing what I know now, if I had an agreeable pet, I would try to get them to sense and alert to hypos.
Raising dogs for service starts just after weaning and focuses on obedience and socialization. This is a critical edge that dogs raised for service have over middle-aged pets.
There have been, however, countless success stories of pets turned into medical alert dogs. An interesting challenge?
Maybe I’ll start “treating” her when I’m “treating” myself and see if I can get her to give me something I can differentiate more readily? I’m sure she won’t mind! She’s not quite two and seems pretty clever, having broken out of all 3 cages we got her.
We have a Group here for DADs
Thanks for all your wonderful replies.
Marie, I appreciate seeing there is a group for DADs. I have just finished posting there. Thanks!
Thank you Richard for posting this last week, because of your post I searched the web and found a non-profit organization near my house that train DADs. Well see how it goes when I can get more info from them.
Take care,
Gina
One of the reasons I love TU …great sharing of info , just around the corner so to speak …and besides I am a lover of dogs .I volunteer ar the local SPCA ; sometimes dogs end up with the RCMP as duty dogs at the airport watching/smelling the BAD Gals and Guys …I love the pics shown here so far 
Thanks for telling me this, Gina. There are people who are paying thousands of $ for DAD’s. It is good to know that there are non-profit organizations out there.
http://www.dogs4diabetics.com/ Is another non-profit helping to place dogs for free. I’m pretty sure I learned about them from a TuD thread here somewhere. I donated to them this year once already! I am fortunate to have really really good medical insurance right now so i have cgm already, but there are nights still where i sleep through 1-2 hrs of alerts of less than 70 readings, sometimes down to 30’s (according to cgm logs later) and i’ve been fortunate enough to make it through each time, but it makes me wonder and consider the possibility of getting a dog.
Yes, that is why I surprised to see that they are “free”!!! (I saw DAD’s from $10,000 to $25,000).
My old dog would just wake me up when I had low sugar, he passed away in June. I looked into getting my other dog trained to be a DAD but everywhere near me says you have to get rid of your current dog and use ones that they have trained already. They are also big dogs and I rent so they A) are not allowed and B) too big for my apartment. My old dog was a Boston terrier and my other dog I have now is also a Boston terrier they said she couldn't be one because she has a short nose also. I also just adopted a 6yr old pug so there is no way I am willing to give them both up. Dogs are forever in my book. They are not going anywhere :(
We have a bichon also. They have a very high play drive. As well as a very high food drive. Not sure if they can be trained as alert dogs, but I have heard of poodles being trained. As well as the bichon being used in the past as seeing eye dogs believe it or not.
I don't see why not. At the Walmart I always go to there's a woman who I see often and she has a hearing dog that is a pug. I am sure some people think that a little dog like that can't really hear everything and alert her. But he does.