NEED TO LOOK INTO GETTING A DOG ASAP. PLEASE HELP IN ANY WAY . THANKS
We too are looking for a dog since Richard doesn’t feel his lows. He can be 38 and no symptoms. Anyhow we met this guy Angel in Florida and he had a dog. He said he got it from Liz Norris. You can facebook her. We haven’t had any luck getting a response from her. There is a web site called pawsitilities and you can apply to get one for $75.00 and then it costs $5,000 for training and about $2,000 for a dog. I am looking to get in touch with families that have a dog - do you know any? I would love to contact them before we apply for one.
Here is another resource for you all:
http://www.hsdm.org/home/index.asp
I can tell you the names of several people who have diabetes alert dogs through Pawsibilities Unleashed in KY, if you are interested. I have a dog trained to do a different job, so I can give you information about what to expect about life with a service dog and what kinds of questions you should ask before you commit to any trainer or organization. Let me know if you want more information. 
Hi, I desperately wanted an alert dog because I’ve had some scary hypo experiences in recent years. So, I contacted the only large, reliable diabetic dog company, Dogs4Diabetics. Unfortunately, they are still in their early stages and don’t put out many dogs at a time. When I visited in May, they had only put out 30 dogs total. This is good in that they are trying to grow the company intelligently–they have now developed a reliable method for training the dogs, matching them with the best candidates, and providing great follow up. But, that also means that there is a huge population of us who can’t aquire a dog yet. They get over 50+ email requests a day! So, I decided to make it my life’s work to train diabetic alert dogs, as well. I went to a great dog training academy down in Texas and am now training my own dogs to alert. It is a long process and I’m learning as I go. Non-dog trainers can’t train their own because it’s complex and different for every dog. I am in the process of contacting hospitals to see if any of them would be willing to fund a dog program. I’d like to include anaphalactic shock dogs who detect peanuts, etc. It would be unbelievable press for a hospital–both in volume and in positivity. If anyone has any contacts in hospitals or other walks of life that they think could help in this cause, please let me know! Contact: Jessica Sweep10exp@aol.com
Hi all. This is a good topic. There is an incredible need for diabetic alert dogs. These dogs truly can help a person live a healthier life. It is sad that there are so few individuals or organizations that are training reliable alert dogs. You can take a look on a Google search and find a few that training.
If you do look for one though, I would caution you to be very careful when searching for a trainer. There are some trainers that are trying to mass produce these dogs and that is not the best way to go about it. In order to effectively train a dog to do this type of work it is very important that they are well socialized and fully obedience trained first or any other work that is done with them is of no value.
This training takes time and for best results should be started when the dog is a puppy. That means that it should take 18 months to 2 years to develop a properly trained animal. I know, that is a long time, but it is important to the long term effectiveness of the service dog.
If you have looked on the internet you have probably found www.diabeticalertdog.com It is a site strictly devoted to information about diabetic alert dogs and the issues surrounding them.
I have some questions that you should ask a trainer while searching for someone to train one for you. That address is www.alertdogsfordiabetics.com
If you are looking for a trained Diabetic Alert Dog rather than one you train yourself BE CAREFUL. Through personal experience I can advise you NOT to purchase a dog from Betheden Kennels, Ann Pulliam, or her daughter Jeri Samuel. They are not dog trainers, have no credentials or formal training program, and place dogs that bite, are not house trained, alert inconsistentantly, and have weak obedience skills. There are a few people who have gotten dogs from them who are satisified but even these people have had issues with house breaking, obedience and scenting…they just don’t seem to mind the problems or the personal expense involved in correcting them. It is the inconsistent alerts that are the real danger. Some one is going to die while one of Betheden’s dogs sleeps near by if this they continue mass producing these dogs. They have placed more than 50 dogs in the last 6 months. There is NO WAY 2 adults and 2 children (the Samuel family of trainers mentioned on the website) can train that many dogs in obedience and scent to a level that can be trusted to save a life. Several dogs placed in June have failed the public access test when the test was administered by another trainer and have also failed basic obedience. These dogs and the independant trainers hired by their owners are all from different states. Be careful about this place. They ARE NOT reputable.
For those in Australia check out www.pfd.org.au they work with many different breeds large and small. For anyone that would like to chat my sone has a diabetic alert dog and I help train and place them.
Tracey
Those is Australia check out www.pfd.org.au I would be happy to chat to any one who might like a little more info.
Tracey
We have a diabetic alert dog and would be happy to answer any questions you have.
I’d be happy to talk to any one about our experience getting a Diabetic Alert Dog…what went wrong and what is now going right. Bottom line…be VERY careful in choosing a kennel/trainer if you are looking for a fully trained dog. Be VERY careful when choosing a puppy as well…make sure the pup has been evaluated for the personality traits, play drive, scenting ability you will need to train a successful DAD. Not all dogs can do this. THAT is one of the hard and expensive lessons I’ve learned.
Diabetic Mom,
I’m so sorry that you had a bad experience. So did we, but we have now ended up with acutally two alert dogs (long sad story) and they are totally awesome. Do you mind me asking what you are doing now that is going right? Have you gotten a dog?
Kristi,
Could you please tell your story about how you came to have a diabetic alert dog. Did you get it through a private trainer/kennel? Was the dog mostly trained or did you have to complete the training? What kind of dog do you have? What percentage of lows does it detect. Do you have any follow-up support from a trainer or other agency?
I am interested in your whole story.
Terry
Rebecca,
You are all over this site - repeatedly. Do you have anything to share about your quest for a diabetic alert dog or are you simply focused on meeting your goal of getting at dog?
Terry
Rebecca -
I’m also looking for a diabetic alert dog so I’ve probably been covering the same territory on the internet as you. In one thread in particular your comment was simply a link to your website. In what I now think was some sort of technical glitch, this comment was repeated three times. I’ve gone back to find that thread and I am unable to find it. The source of my irritation was the appearance (created by what I think was a technical problem) of simply trying to drive people to your website without any effort to further the discussion.
Please accept my apology. I spoke (and judged) too soon.
I would be very interested to read about any experience that you may have with Wildrose. They appear to be a high quality operation. Good luck with finding a diabetic alert dog.
Terry
Terry, I was just wondering the same thing!
Rebecca, I don’t want to assume because I do not even know Terry but I think she might be referring to the fact that, besides the posts you mentioned above, you have at least 4 posts right in a row, one after the other, but in the same time frame on the first page of this site. It just looks strange. I’m new to this site, too, so I’m having a bit of confusion trying to navigate around and may have posted some things in strange places. If so, please let me know and offer suggestions - I’m very technotarded!!
I also feel that I must speak up about things I know because we were clients of HSP and lost over $10,000 without ever getting a dog (long story) so I’ve been there, done that and I see a HUGE red flag on your website that greatly worries me on your behalf. I see that on your website you give tips on checking out the organizations & trainers, etc. which is GREAT advice! However, I would caution you to check out the organization you are involved with very thoroughly. Ask if they have actually ever trained & placed even ONE diabetic alert dog? Know that all three dogs that they feature on their brochure (although two of them were bred from there) were, in fact, trained by a totally different trainer and their “star” was handpicked and trained by a totally different trainer. Ask the trainers how many alert dogs they have actually trained that are out there working full time. I have been to the place where you want to get a dog from, and although it looks impressive at first, I must tell you that I was shocked and appalled at what I saw going on there. I can only catagorize it as animal cruelty. They say they use “positve” training methods but that is far from the truth. My 14 yr. old daughter refused to let them touch her service dog after spending just 15 minutes with their top trainer because her dog had never been treated in such an abusive manner before. I can give you more details privately if you are interested. I hope you will consider what I am saying to you. I would give anything if someone had stepped up and warned me about HSP before we got involved with them!
Oops, Terry! Didn’t see that you had already responded to the multiple posts until after I had posted about it. Sorry!
YIKES! Our whole story would be a novel - way too long. I’ll give you the highlights and you can let me know if you are interested in hearing any more about any part of it. (LOL -this is the short version!)
We collected and sent in over $10,000 to HSP only to be told that we would not be allowed to attend class nor get a dog. No refund. Involved with the Missouri Attorney General at this point. Enough said about that!
We found a FAB trainer who actually flew to my house where I hosted a week long training session for some other wounded former HSP clients from all over the country to start over with training new dogs (all of them puppies, really). She did this free of charge because she was outraged at what had happened to all of us with HSP. Through the generousity of a certain young man who won a monetary award we were able to pay our trainer a small fraction of the trainer’s normal fee. That is all she has ever gotten paid and she has never asked for more. She is definitely not in it for the money.
The pup we had was/is truly the most amazing alert dog I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen more than most people ever do. She NEVER missed an alert and she was never wrong. Okay, she did miss one alert when she was still at the vet’s office under anesthesia from being spayed. I’m not kidding about this dog - truly amazing! She went to school everyday with my daughter but we had to retire her about 4 months into the school year because she had severe hip dysplasia. We didn’t have the $4,000 per side for a double hip replacement surgery. You can read about her on my daughter’s website: www.lildotspot.com Our trainer found another dog for us, had him spayed and microchipped and flew him to us. This dog was not yet trained for alerting but the trainer was so impressed with the dog’s personality and temperment that she knew he would be great and she knew that she had taught my daughter all the things she needed to know to train the dog herself.
We picked up “Shots” very late on a Thursday night and he started to school with my daughter the following Monday and has been going with her ever since. It took them a while to jive with each other and learn how to read each other. This was mainly my daughter’s fault because she had such a hard and heartbreaking time letting go of the amazing “Dot”. No other dog could live up to Dot. This new dog didn’t do things the way Dot did. This new dog didn’t feel the way Dot did. Broke my heart! It was horrible for a quite a while. The poor dog was willing but my daughter wasn’t really telling him what she wanted him to do. Within a 10 minute meeting with our trainer, she had them both straightened out and working together and they make a beautiful team.
Yes, we have tremendous support and followup from our trainer. We have traveled to KY for another week of training (and can do so for free whenever we choose to). Our trainer flew here, at her own expense, right before school started to help us work out a few things because my daughter was starting to high school and would be on a new campus. She is always sending us training tips or any new information that she researches about diabetes. I can call her or e-mail her anytime with any questions I have - even if it just has to do with vetting care or questions about our other dogs.
“Shots” goes everywhere with my daughter - restaurants, school, church, movies, football games, cross country practice & races, theatre trips, swimming, tubing, amusement parks, etc. I won’t worry about her when she starts driving in a few months because Shots will be there to keep her bg in range. Oh, the real bonuses? Her A1C is lower and we are all able to sleep at night without those tiresome nighttime checks!
Kristi,
Thanks for your extended response to mt request for your story. Your experience serves as cautionary tale for those of us looking for a diabetic alert dog. It sounds like you could write a book! With this being such a new topic there are many diabetics out there scouring the Internet for good info.
By the way, thanks for piping up about some of Rebecca’s duplicate comments. I shouldn’t have been rude with her. At least she’ll know that others were at least a bit confused with the repeated comments. Your warning to her sounds like it could save her a lot of grief.
I have an application with the non-profit Dogs4Diabetics. I feel very good about the integrity of their organization.
Thanks again for your response. By the way, I am Terry of the male persuasion. I know it’s easily confused with a female name!
Terry
LOL - thanks for setting me straight, Terry of the male persuasion!
I’m very glad to hear that you are looking into D4D. I’ve heard only positive things about them and the people I’ve heard of that have gotten a dog from them seem very happy with their experience.
The only personal experience I have with them is just some correspondence both by phone & email where I was basically begging them to come to us or let us come to them. As you must already know, they only serve in their own surrounding area and I understand their reasons. They were very sympathetic to our plight and wished us well.
There was an article in Diabetic Forecast about 2 yrs. ago in which one or more of their service dog teams were featured. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone living in the California area.
I wish you the best of luck and will be anxiously waiting to hear about your journey with D4D.
I realize that, even though my prior response was quite lenghthy, I did not answer all your questions. The training actually never ends because a service dog is always in a new situation that it’s never experienced before so needs to be constantly trained or reminded of what is expected. (Like if your dog has never been to a rodeo before then you might have to remind him to “leave it” or “quiet” when horses & bulls rush up toward the fence where you are sitting).
My daughter’s dog “Shots” is a black lab, maybe a mix, we aren’t sure. He alerts to both highs & lows. He usually alerts to lows about 15 or so minutes BEFORE the low number shows up on the meter. By that I mean that he will alert to a low, my daughter will check and the meter will say 98. Not really low but if she checks about 15 to 20 minutes later then she will find that she is actually low. Another example is that Shots might alert to a low and the meter shows 78. She may then decide to go ahead & treat with 15 carbs, check again and be 74. So how much lower would she have been if she hadn’t treated? Don’t really know but it seems to save her from having really low lows - if that makes any sense at all.
Hope that helps you know sort of what to expect.
Kristi