Brilliantly: Youngster on out when he is in danger
have a day watching movies. There was no consistency in activity, which makes his sugar levels hard to control.
“I would get up constantly. I would go to bed with him at 7pm and then get up again at 10pm, 1am, 3am and then finally 6am. About six weeks after we brought Noble home I realised she was doing the job for me, so I could finally sleep more soundly.”
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She added: “The target blood sugar for a normal person should be between 3.9 to 6.9, and when it gets to below 3.6 there seems to be a chemical change which only dogs can smell. German Shepherds, Border Collies, Beagles, really any working dogs, have so many receptors in their nose that they can easily smell the change.
“Noble doesn’t tend to alert me during the day – it’s almost like she knows she’s off duty, and night-time is her responsibility.
“She’s just so consistent with waking me up as soon as Jacob has a drop. Although it’s not the most pleasant way to wake up, with a dog’s tongue in your ear.”
With 220 million olfactory receptors in their nose, it is thought dogs have a unique ability to detect minor changes in their owner’s chemical balance, sniffing out everything from dropping blood sugar levels to cancer.
For that reason, certain canines can be trained to become “alert dogs”, assisting with everyday tasks and providing lifesaving warnings.
“It’s great to hear that Sarah and her family are benefitting from Noble’s presence at home,” said a Diabetes UK spokesperson.
“We are aware that medical assistance dogs can be specifically trained to detect low blood glucose levels, and evidence suggests that medically trained dogs can support a person living with Type 1 diabetes by increasing detection of low glucose levels, therefore enabling a greater sense of freedom and offering improvements in their quality of life.
“But research into their value is sparse and the individual performance of dogs can be variable. Results show that optimal performance of glycaemic alert dogs depends not only on good initial and ongoing training, but also careful selection of dogs for the conditions in which they will be working.”
Jacob describes Noble as his “best friend with a magic nose” and the pair are never far apart, with Sarah even describing them as acting like siblings.
She said: “Before Noble came along, I was constantly on alert. Now, I don’t have to worry. She’s lifesaving for both of us.”