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How Diabetic Service Dogs Save Lives

There are 34 million Americans living with diabetes who check their blood sugar regularly. A stable blood sugar level can even save a life. Symptoms of low blood sugar include fever, anxiety, slurred speech, seizures, and even coma.

Diabetes alert dogs can help people with diabetes get ahead of their symptoms and avoid worsening their condition.

What can a diabetic service dog do for you?

Approximately 10% of Americans live with diabetes. Your doctor suggests checking your blood sugar between one and ten times a day. Monitoring your blood sugar, eating healthy, and taking medication as prescribed will help you maintain a stable level.

Imagine your blood sugar dropping (or rising) to dangerous levels. That’s when your DAD steps in. Detecting subtle shifts in scent that may indicate a problem is your diabetic service dog’s job. When you need glucose tablets, juice, or insulin to stabilize your blood sugar, the dog paws you and runs to get them.

Those are diabetic alert dogs at work. Diabetes affects roughly 1 in 10 Americans, making early detection essential for preventing medical emergencies.

Emergency calls for diabetic patients are frequent, according to the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. For diabetic patients already suffering from serious illnesses, diabetes only complicates matters. Many older diabetics are at risk for cardiovascular disease and other health problems.

Service dogs for diabetics are specialized

Diabetes alert dogs serve a similar purpose to seeing-eye dogs. Prior to being matched with a client, all service dogs undergo extensive training.

Their job is to detect specific scents coming from or on people. These scents are caused by chemicals in the body, but are too subtle for humans to detect.

Jamie Whittenburg, DVM, owns Kingsgate Animal Hospital in Lubbock, TX, and writes for SeniorTailWaggers.com. “True diabetic service dogs are fairly rare because they are a specialized subset of service dogs that qualify for protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to “Diabetic Service Dogs of America,” they train about 100 diabetic service dogs each year.”

There are also other associations that train diabetic service dogs. Both Dogs 4 Diabetics and Early Alert Canines train DADs.

Additionally, Whittenburg warns that diabetic service dogs aren’t a magic solution. The limitations of diabetic service dogs should be understood before making a long-term commitment (for example, this study found that only 3 out of 14 dogs performed statistically better than chance). To prevent regression, new owners should continuously train their dogs.”

Are you going to be forgotten by your DAD?

In fact, yes. The issue is almost always that the dog has been distracted from its duties by being treated as a pet, says Dr. Whittenburg.

Diabetes service dogs are a serious commitment, according to her. Like any dog, they will require food, attention, and ongoing training. Despite being companions, they aren’t pets.

Before getting a diabetic service dog, here are some questions to ask

Research your association of choice before making a decision if you are interested in getting a diabetic alert dog. If you are interested in knowing how long the organization has been around and how effective the dogs are at detecting changes in blood sugar, you can ask those questions.

Speaking with others who have gotten diabetic service dogs can also be beneficial.

If you speak with other diabetics who have used a DAD, you’ll have a better idea of what to expect. It’s not easy to adopt a diabetic service dog. If you qualify, some organizations offer reduced or free DAD training.

Review the reputation of the company

As well as this, you’ll want to learn more about the reputation of the organization. In addition to cautioning against for-profit organizations, Dr. Whittenburg also cautions against training your existing pets as service dogs.

The most important thing to do before committing to a diabetic service dog is to research the service or company providing the dog and ask how their dogs detect blood sugar changes. A legitimate service provides well-trained and socialized diabetic service dogs that are trained by associations.”

There is a waiting list of several months to a year once you decide a diabetic service dog is right for you. As a result, you will still need to manage your diabetes without a dog.

Before investing resources into a diabetic service dog, there are many things to consider. Then, you have to decide if a service dog is the right solution for you, find the right organization, and decide if it’s the right way to treat your diabetes. However, if you do decide to go the DAD route, it can be incredibly rewarding

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