[nagdu] Fw: Hypoglycemic alert dogs for visually impaired

[Ed Meskys]

----- Original Message ----- 
To: "Ed Meskys" <edmeskys at roadrunner.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2012 9:38 PM
Subject: Hypoglycemic alert dogs for visually impaired


Hypoglycemia Alert Dogs: Saving Lives One Sniff at a Time

Empower Magazine Volume 4 Issue 4 (Fall 2012)
http://www.empoweryourhealth.org/vol4-issue4/hypoglycemia-alert-dogs

Very good article on this recent and upcoming medical service assistance 
animal.  It will  eventually will become popular in the next several years 
with persons with diabetes.  The entire article is below in text.  The 
Empower magazine also has a Facebook page at facebook.com/empowermag

Hypoglycemic alert dogs are trained to sense when blood sugars are reaching 
an unsafe level in people with insulin dependent diabetes.

Like so many dog owners, Becky Hertz’s bond with her 
four-and-a-half-year-old Goldcrest Labrador Retriever runs deep. But in her 
case, it’s a potentially life-saving covenant.

Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 14 years old, Hertz is the proud 
(and grateful) owner of Fuji, a hypoglycemia alert dog.

Medical service assistance animals such as guide dogs for the visually 
impaired, dogs that “hear” for the hearing impaired, or dogs that are 
trained to retrieve items for those who are wheelchair-bound have been 
serving their masters for decades, but dogs like Fuji are relatively new to 
the world of canine service companions. Hypoglycemia alert dogs are trained 
to sense when blood sugars are reaching an unsafe level in people with 
insulin-dependent diabetes and respond to their human partner with a 
specific alerting behavior prior to the onset of a low blood sugar episode.

Although unable to determine exactly how dogs sense low blood sugar, 
scientists believe they pick up on scents created by the chemical changes 
that occur in the person’s body using their powerful sense of smell: while 
humans have five to six million olfactory receptors, a dog has up to 220 
million, producing a scenting skill that is a thousand times more sensitive 
than that of humans.

Becky had served as a puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence 
(CCI) for several years, so she was aware that many of its dogs and those 
from Guide Dogs for the Blind were retrained for diabetic alert work by Dogs 
4 Diabetics (D4D) and submitted an application to be put on its waiting 
list. Once accepted into the program, she says she was unprepared for the 
intensive, two-week classroom and field training she was required to 
complete as part of the placement process, despite her experience with 
medical service dog programs.

“I thought, ‘I’ve puppy raised, so it’s not going to be that hard on me,’ 
but it was a physical and emotional rollercoaster,” Hertz recalls. “You need 
to learn the commands that the dogs know, learn about their body language, 
how to make sure their behavior in public is appropriate and then pass 
rigorous testing. Gosh, we even had one full day of dog first aid training, 
because that dog is precious and you have to be able to protect the dog.”

Clients work with a variety of dogs during training to determine the most 
suitable match, with trainers taking into account the lifestyle, personality 
and abilities of each client. Matches can occur during or after completion 
of the training class under a trial placement agreement, and it can take up 
to a year or more after the dog is placed with a client for the person/dog 
team to graduate from the program.

Originally paired up in July 2010, Fuji and Becky officially graduated from 
the program in November 2011. Since then, the partnership has far exceeded 
expectations.

“She pretty much follows me wherever I go, sleeps next to my bed at night, 
and alerts me both when I am aware and unaware that my blood sugar has 
dropped. But what’s really cool is that she will alert me if my blood sugar 
drops too quickly,” Becky notes.

“Once she alerted me when my blood sugar was a 130, which is a normal range 
for me,” she adds. “What we’re taught is that if your dog alerts and your 
blood sugar is in normal or high range, that you need to recheck 10 to 15 
minutes later, and if there is a 10 percent or greater drop, then it’s a 
valid alert. So she can also catch it while it’s dropping and before it gets 
too low.

” While some alert dogs may be taught to sit and stare at their handler or 
touch the person with their nose, Becky says D4D trains their dogs to 
“bringsel.” The bringsel is a small soft tab type of object that hangs off 
the dog’s collar, and when they alert, they’re supposed to grab their 
bringsel and hold it in their mouth.

Much to Becky’s amusement, Fuji “doesn’t like her bringsel,” she says. 
Instead, “she will put her front paws on me when she alerts, which she does 
at least once a week, if not more.

” Fuji shares the Hertz household with Becky’s husband Reid, son Zach and 
Cody, her adored eight-year-old pit bull, but it’s evident by talking to 
Becky that the “constant companion” has carved a special place in her heart.

“The relationship is different that with other pets,” she says. “It’s a 
symbiotic bond that’s difficult to define. It’s almost like a child in the 
sense of wanting to protect her and that everything is okay with her, 
because of the service she provides me. I was very, very fortunate to get 
her.”

(Editor’s Note: Although Dogs for Diabetics estimates the direct cost 
associated with breeding, raising and training its service dogs at $25,000, 
the non-profit organization places its dogs with clients for a minimal cost, 
currently at $150 for an application fee and training materials. Becky 
recommends that prospective alert dog owner/handlers exercise caution and do 
their research when trying to find a legitimate training service. She 
suggests Assistance Dogs International as a good starting point.)