SERVICE DOGS ASSISTING PEOPLE WITH DIABETES
Pip is remarkable and this job couldn’t be done by any old dog. Dogs have different capabilities, varying between breeds, but we do have some proof that suggests many dogs could learn this sort of thing.
Academic Linda Gonder Frederick at the University of Virginia did a study with 36 diabeticalert dog owners; 23 of whom were the parents of a child with diabetes, and 13 adult diabetics themselves. The majority – 61 per cent – reported that they worried far less about the incidence of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia in their lives since having a specially trained diabetic alert dog. Seventy-five per cent of these owners said their dogs improved their quality of life. The same percentage said the dogs enhanced their ability to participate in physical activity.
These dogs may be more effective, timely alerts than other traditional medical technology we rely on to tell us whether we’re high or low on blood sugar. A typical blood glucose monitor can detect an abnormality in blood glucose 15 minutes after the level is too low or two high.
Diabetic alert dogs can typically alert a person to that change 30 minutes before it reaches danger point. They can also detect that change before the onset of any symptoms, which is especially important for people who are no longer aware of their own changes in behaviour. Over time, diabetic patients can become unaware of the signs of an episode of hypoglycaemia.
Imagine how much calmer you’d feel having a creature sitting nearby who can identify, before you are aware, that you need to adjust your insulin.
told Christine and David that they could not guarantee her safety during school hours. David had retired by then, so he and Christine took it upon themselves to teach her. Katie could make time during the day, in the evenings and on weekends, then, to spend with Pip, teaching her and coaxing her into being the diabetic alert dog she needed.
Not a lot of people have heard of diabetic alert dogs but that could be changing as we start entertaining the idea that dogs can be extremely helpful, effective and conscientious assistants when they’re trained to do something specific and practical.
As we’ve seen with Katie and Pip, it’s possible to train an ordinary pet dog to do an important job. Pip potentially saves Katie’s life once a week. Pip is also just a delight. She’s a genuine, beloved member of the Gregson family. She now has a best mate, too, a poodle called Coco.
Pip’s sleeping rout ine is a bit unconventional, but she lives a happy, act ive, loving li fe with her humans. She takes her job as a diabetic alert dog very seriously and she does herself very proud. So does Katie, who dreams of opening her own dog-training business one day. We know well enough by now the happiness a dog can bring to a person’s life. And how completely wonderful that they also provide safety, comfort and reassurance.