Using a Guide Dog for Diabetes Control

detecting Elizabeth's low blood sugar! 

When I volunteered for the rescue, we often had meetings about special cases that would come in.  We had two dogs that we opted to place in a guide dog program because of their keen sense of play and quick ability to figure things out.  Guide dogs are really special pups; not every dog can become a guide dog. There are specific qualities that are required and then it is a 2-year program once the pups are picked.

Most of us are familiar with guide dogs for the blind, but guide dogs are very versatile: some are called companion dogs and they help people who are wheelchair bound. For example, they can pay a cashier, open doors, turn on light switches, turn their companions in bed, lock footrests of a wheelchair, and drag items like laundry baskets, or wheelchairs to their loved one.  The list of what a dog can do for their companion is really amazing; I've listed just a few.

We call the dogs that can sense seizures, cancer, low blood sugars and anxiety disorders super sniffers.  Of the percentage of dogs that are trained for guide dogs, the super sniffers have to go through an extra training to develop the sense and learn how to alert their companion. Not all dogs have this ability.  Because dogs have an incredible sense of smell, they can actually smell changes in the skin that tell them something is up.  With direction through training, they can learn what this sense means and alert the owners to an oncoming problem.

A dog is much more than a best friend, indeed!

For more information on Guide Dog and Alert Dog programs, here are some links:

http://www.iaadp.org/whoswho.html

http://www.k94life.org/html/training_program.htm

http://www.dogs4diabetics.com/about-d4d.html

http://www.cci.org/site/c.cdKGIRNqEmG/b.3978475/k.BED8/Home.htm