The young lady with black "guide dog"

[Fedup]

Yesterday I met a charming teenage girl in Ashford Kent. She had with her what I thought was a guide dog for the blind. But it wasn't!! Believe it or not it was a dog trained to identify hypos by smell and let the owners know. She must be about 18 and has no hypo warnings, resulting in numerous past problems. She was lovely and positive and I really felt for her. I seem to member she mentioned there are only 2 or 3 of these dogs in UK? Anyone know about these dogs?

 

[Robin]

Yesterday I met a charming teenage girl in Ashford Kent. She had with her what I thought was a guide dog for the blind. But it wasn't!! Believe it or not it was a dog trained to identify hypos by smell and let the owners know. She must be about 18 and has no hypo warnings, resulting in numerous past problems. She was lovely and positive and I really felt for her. I seem to member she mentioned there are only 2 or 3 of these dogs in UK? Anyone know about these dogs?

I met one (Ken) at the last London Forum meet. There are getting more and more of them about, I think.

 

[grovesy]

I have seen a programme about one.
Though I think some members have reported that thier dog seems to be aware of when they are low.

 

[Mini-Vicki]

I work in the vet profession, and have met a couple of these wonderful dogs.
My cat has also woken me up twice now in the night when I've been hypo-ing. My dad (also T1) has several stories of the dog he had as a child alerting him to hypos.
Animals are amazing 🙂

 

[Martin Canty]

Dogs are smart.....
As well as Diabetic detection dogs, they have ones for other chronic conditions such as epilepsy...... I think that it's not just sense of smell, they are very attuned to mood swings & other changes, lost count of the number of times mine have come & given me a cuddle when I have been feeling down.

 

[Ditto]

I read about that house rabbit that refused to get off the man of the house sleeping on the sofa, only he wasn't sleeping. Rabbit saved his life. Luv animals. 🙂

 

[KookyCat]

I've met a hypo detection dog, he was at the clinic the second time I went. He was having a meet and greet at the kids clinic but came straight over and barked at me in the waiting room. His handler suggested I check my blood sugar because that was his hypo bark (a gentle bark nudge sort of affair), he was right, and he refused to move until the jelly babies had kicked in.

It's amazing how perceptive they are, my own dog insisted on sleeping with me for the whole twelve months I was having nighttime hypos, then the minute they stopped she returned to her previous routine of taking herself off to her own room at night 🙂

 

[DeusXM]

There's quite a few in the UK - they always draw a lot of media attention because invariably they're used by a photogenic child, and the reporting is typically sensationalised along the lines of 'this kid could DIE without warning at ANY moment and the only thing that's stopping them is their faithful furry friend'.

And then usually the journalist will say that the dog tells the child when they need lifesaving insulin 🙄

My personal view is these dogs can be useful but I worry that they could used a little bit like a get-out-of-jail-free card for poor diabetes management. I recognise that they may be useful for parents with young children or those with learning difficulties, but I do wonder whether an adult reliant on these could maybe work on redeveloping their hypo awareness instead. I suspect this won't be a popular view!

 

[Stitch147]

Ive also met Ken at the london meet, he is adorable. Animals are so clever. Whenever I am poorly at home my cat tigga will follow me everywhere. Last wednesday when I was ill and spent nearly all day in bed, she didnt leave the room at all.

 

[Northerner]

I met one (Ken) at the last London Forum meet. There are getting more and more of them about, I think.

Ken was adorable, the most laid-back creature I have ever encountered 🙂 In the US people generally pay $20,000+ for a medical alert dog, as they are usually commercially available - although there are frequent news reports of these being complete scams

However, to get one in the UK there are some very strict requirements, so it's most certainly the case that only those who have a real need for them e.g. complete lack of hypo-awareness, actually get one 🙂

https://www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/about-us/medical-alert-assistance-dogs/

 

[Barb]

There's quite a few in the UK - they always draw a lot of media attention because invariably they're used by a photogenic child, and the reporting is typically sensationalised along the lines of 'this kid could DIE without warning at ANY moment and the only thing that's stopping them is their faithful furry friend'.

And then usually the journalist will say that the dog tells the child when they need lifesaving insulin 🙄

My personal view is these dogs can be useful but I worry that they could used a little bit like a get-out-of-jail-free card for poor diabetes management. I recognise that they may be useful for parents with young children or those with learning difficulties, but I do wonder whether an adult reliant on these could maybe work on redeveloping their hypo awareness instead. I suspect this won't be a popular view!

As the very fortunate owner of a medical alert dog, I feel saddened by your observations but I think many other people probably hold the same views. Far from being a 'photogenic child', I am a pensioner who has fought throughout my life with diabetes, nearly 40 years, to maintain strict control . I have always lived by a very tight regime with regard to diet and exercise and as a consequence have had more than my fair share of hypos. It is not unreasonable to say that Ken, my alert dog, has probably been my life saver. He has woken me in the night to correct high and low blood sugars (often these are not down to poor control but due to the foibles of aging and forgetting to take injections or taking one too many).

Although I have always tried my utmost to achieve perfect figures every day, we are all human beings, not machines and working with a very volatile substance to keep us alive, which can never behave as predictably as insulin from a working pancreas. Ken is much more than a tool to correct my fluctuating blood sugars, he also gives me an invaluable psychological boost when low sugars invariably result in low moods.

 

[mikeyB]

My dog knows when I'm hypo too. He won't leave me alone until the Dextro tabs or jb's kick in, but I think that is very different to warning me of an imminent hypo. He also wouldn't leave me alone when I was mistakenly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Husbands, wives and partners do that too, it's not magic. Ken is one or two steps above that.

 

[Barb]

My dog knows when I'm hypo too. He won't leave me alone until the Dextro tabs or jb's kick in, but I think that is very different to warning me of an imminent hypo. He also wouldn't leave me alone when I was mistakenly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Husbands, wives and partners do that too, it's not magic. Ken is one or two steps above that.

Pleased to hear your dog is so supportive, he sounds great. Sometimes Ken alerts but my machine tells me I'm in the normal range. The advice is to test again after 20 mins and invariably he's spotted a sudden drop or rising levels ahead of time. He gets a bit grumpy if I believe the machine over him and won't rest until I've tested again 🙂

 

[Bloden]

My two dogs are rubbish at spotting hypos, but I still wuv them (useless ingrates😉). Here's one of them now...looks like she's eating my Jelly Babies!

 

[Abi]

Aawww

My parents' lab ( sadly no longer with us) tried to steal my bottle on lucozade on one occasion. We were out walking and I was carrying it in case of a hypo having ran out of glucose tablets and other more portable remedies. I was n't hypo and had no intention of drinking it but soon after a blood test revealed a moderately high level so maybe she was trying to prevent me from making the situation worse ( more likely just being a typical inquisitive labrador- usual love of carrying objects in mouth!)

 

[missclb]

You lucky, lucky people. My dog is useless – lol. But I still love him!

 

[Bubbsie]

There's quite a few in the UK - they always draw a lot of media attention because invariably they're used by a photogenic child, and the reporting is typically sensationalised along the lines of 'this kid could DIE without warning at ANY moment and the only thing that's stopping them is their faithful furry friend'.

And then usually the journalist will say that the dog tells the child when they need lifesaving insulin 🙄

My personal view is these dogs can be useful but I worry that they could used a little bit like a get-out-of-jail-free card for poor diabetes management. I recognise that they may be useful for parents with young children or those with learning difficulties, but I do wonder whether an adult reliant on these could maybe work on redeveloping their hypo awareness instead. I suspect this won't be a popular view!

Just wondering DeusXM...have you considered those who have little or no hypo awareness?...and cannot redevelop it (if there is such a process...I have no idea...others may know the answer to that question)...rather than just inferring it is/maybe poor diabetes management....rather a sweeping statement.

 

[Bubbsie]

As the very fortunate owner of a medical alert dog, I feel saddened by your observations but I think many other people probably hold the same views. Far from being a 'photogenic child', I am a pensioner who has fought throughout my life with diabetes, nearly 40 years, to maintain strict control . I have always lived by a very tight regime with regard to diet and exercise and as a consequence have had more than my fair share of hypos. It is not unreasonable to say that Ken, my alert dog, has probably been my life saver. He has woken me in the night to correct high and low blood sugars (often these are not down to poor control but due to the foibles of aging and forgetting to take injections or taking one too many).

Although I have always tried my utmost to achieve perfect figures every day, we are all human beings, not machines and working with a very volatile substance to keep us alive, which can never behave as predictably as insulin from a working pancreas. Ken is much more than a tool to correct my fluctuating blood sugars, he also gives me an invaluable psychological boost when low sugars invariably result in low moods.

Hi Barb...hadn't seen your post when I responded to the reply by DeusXM...I have met Ken (and you & your son of course)...he does a brilliant job!