[nagdu] Sort of OT - Great use of COC dogs from GDB!

[Deanna Lewis]

Hi,
Thank you so much for sharing this. I really enjoyed reading this. I think
it's great that these career changed dogs get a new opportunity for a
working career.
Deanna and Pascal

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Dailyah Patt
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 4:43 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: gdui-friends at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [nagdu] Sort of OT - Great use of COC dogs from GDB!

Hi gang and apologies who get this from both lists -

I was at a Dogs 4 Diabetics event in Concord, CA yesterday and while I
already sort of knew this, having it spelled out for me was pretty cool.
 D4D is getting most of their dogs from GDB in San Rafael!  Basically, GDB
will identify dogs that have been puppyraised and even most have had some of
the guide training but dogs that they're going to release or COC for being
too sniffy or too energetic...sometimes even a a very minor health problem
that would prevent Guide work.  D4D is looking for those exact kinds of
dogs.  They want dogs who are nose-based and energetic so that the dog
spends a lot of time sniffing on their partner...which is how the dog
identifies low blood sugar and sudden changes in sugar levels. The work is
not too physically strenuous (like guide work can be), so very minor health
things are often just fine.  They're also taking those dogs that try to do
things like guide around the puddle rather than walk a straight path.  lol
It's brilliant.  By the time D4D gets the dogs, they've already had so much
love, training, good breeding, etc., so D4D can usually go right to work on
training them diabetic alert.  This allows them to have a fairly quick turn
around time from acquisition to placement.  The dogs have already been
heavily screened.  These are dogs that GDB can't use anyway - just a great
career change for some of these dogs and a wonderful partnership between two
programs.  Too cool!  Great to see folks working together towards life
saving goals!  Also, when the dog eventually graduates with a diabetic, D4D
holds graduation so GDB puppyraisers can come meet the handler of a pup they
raised to work as a guide and then had been told the dog was being released.
 Surprise, puppyraisers!  HAHA!  Bait and Switch - your dog will now be
graduating in Concord, but not as a Guide.  Still awesomeness!  Yeah!!!!!
 Happy, working, helpful dogs!

As a total bonus, apparently something like 30% of GDB's clients are blind
from diabetes or have diabetes and subsequent complications, so not only are
the two programs starting to experiment with a couple of dogs cross-training
them, but by giving released dogs to D4D to become diabetic alert dogs GDB
is helping diabetics BEFORE they'd possibly go blind in the first place.
 People with D4D dogs usually have about the best controlled diabetes of
anyone diabetic.  The dogs will alert to a low 10-15 minutes EARLIER than a
glucometer will read that you're low and as a result, diabetics who used to
cruise at higher glucose levels feel safer running on the lower end because
they've got a trusty four-foot to let them know before they get into real
trouble.  80-120 is normal for most humans, but type 1 diabetics can have
numbers all over the place because they're constantly juggling carbs they've
eaten, levels of exercise, stress and then trying to figure  out how much
insulin to take.  It's tough.  (One of my best friends is a type 1 and has
applied to D4D.)  Anything over 200 starts to permanently damage the kidneys
and eventually the heart and other systems, but it's "safe" in that they
know they aren't going to run too low, slip into a coma and die in their
sleep.  Lows aren't all that damaging, but are very scary - ESPECIALLY when
there's nobody around.  In less than an hour a person can go from normal and
fine to so incapacitated that they aren't thinking clearly enough to get
themselves help.  The dogs kind of "allow" these folks to run at the lower
and safer numbers because they can rest assured that their dog isn't going
to let them get TOO low and out of it.

Too cool not to share!  Go D4D and go GDB!

Dailyah
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