Dogs for detecting hypos?

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Elenka_HM

Elenka_HM

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
This morning at work some people were talking about how cool it would be to have a dog at the hotel that all the staff could take for walks and spoil. Fun to imagine, but obviously in real life it would be a big responsibility and not very practical, and the management would say no.
Then a girl went "Wait, Elena could have a dog! There are dogs that can sniff when your blood sugar is low". My face was like 😳. First time I heard of this!

Tbh, if I wanted something to alert me of an hypo at work I'd rather go for a Libre. Way more practical in a busy restaurant and don't need vet visits xD. But I am curious now about the dogs. Have you heard of this possibility? Was it a thing before sensors become available? Maybe is an option for a very specific profile of diabetic patient? :confused:
 
It still is a thing - but to train a dog to be hypo aware wouldn’t be cheap! I think the way dogs can tell if you are hypo is they can pick up on slight changes of scent and the smallest change in heartbeat that humans can’t pick up on
 
I've heard of them there used in america i actually like thd idea of them.
 
Hypo Hounds are alert assistant dogs but mainly for children with type 1.

Medical Alert Assistance Dog -
Please note, you are not eligible if you:

  • Have Type 1 diabetes and are using a glucose sensor (such as Dexcom, Medtronic and Libre)
  • Have epilepsy, autism, dementia or mental health issue and this is the main reason for requiring a Medical Alert Assistance Dog
  • Were diagnosed with the medical condition less than 12 months ago
  • Are under 5 years old or over 75 years
  • Smoke or someone in your household smokes
  • Already have more than 2 dogs living with you.
The waiting lists are long!
 
Some people even find their pet dogs can tell if they are hypo without even having any training!
 
There's at least one woman in the UK with one, they were on a programme a couple of years ago
 
Kaylz said:
There's at least one woman in the UK with one, they were on a programme a couple of years ago
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I met one at one of the Diabetes Forum meets! I think his name was Ken, and he was a lovely Golden Retriever. This was quite a few years ago, though, before Libres etc were available, so it may be a case of Dog being replaced by Machine these days.
 
Robin said:
I met one at one of the Diabetes Forum meets! I think his name was Ken, and he was a lovely Golden Retriever. This was quite a few years ago, though, before Libres etc were available, so it may be a case of Dog being replaced by Machine these days.
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If I had a dog I would love be able to train it but I don't and I don't think Id be very good trainer.
 
All of my dogs have told me when I'm hypo before I have known about it. I think it depends on breed and how close a bond you have with your dog.
 
Amazing what dogs can do, sure they can also detect cancer, admire people who spend time training them.
 
I’ve read that some cats can sense when their owners are hypo too.
 
Lanny said:
I’ve read that some cats can sense when their owners are hypo too.
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I swear that my cat can tell as she will always come and sit next to me when hypo and never comes near me otherwise! 🙂
 
Pumper_Sue said:
All of my dogs have told me when I'm hypo before I have known about it. I think it depends on breed and how close a bond you have with your dog.
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That's an amazing I want a pet
 
Sally71 said:
Some people even find their pet dogs can tell if they are hypo without even having any training!
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Hmm I would to train a dog if I had one wouldn't be able to bring it to work as steward though.
 
I came across this a few years back, and raised a little money for the small UK charity ’Medical Detection Dogs’

I have met a couple of UK folks with hypo dogs, and one is in the process of training up their second. I get the impression that you have to provide your own dog and do most of the training yourself, but that the charity supports you and helps you to make sure the dog is a suitable candidate and that the training ‘sticks’. Using CGM doesn’t seem to be a barrier in the UK, and the person I know best with a hypo dog is on a hybrid closed loop pump.

It means that the dog is a working dog, of course (like a guide dog), rather than a pet - which is a very different life for the dog.

Welcome to Medical Detection Dogs - Medical Detection Dogs

www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk
 
I like to muse about what the world might be like in the not so far off future, and what sort of things might change the way of thinking. Like what Mozart did to music or the MRI scanner did to medicine.

It does occur to me that at some point somebody will figure out a way to make an artificial dog's nose, something that is very sensitive to very small amounts of a wide range of chemicals compounds but does not need a laboratory full of kit to get an answer. Its either that or do the much harder thing and breed a talking dog who can tell you exactly what they are perceiving.
 
Lily123 said:
It still is a thing - but to train a dog to be hypo aware wouldn’t be cheap! I think the way dogs can tell if you are hypo is they can pick up on slight changes of scent and the smallest change in heartbeat that humans can’t pick up on
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This is very interesting!

I understand that training the dogs for that it's not easy, and so it's not widely available. Also not everyone wants or is able to take care of an animal. But it's good to learn.
 
The main advantage that all dogs have is the number of scent glands they possess - between 124m and 300m in comparison to a human's paltry 5m. The 'smelling' bit of a canine brain is 40x bigger than ours.

We're better at doing other things though ......
 
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