Puppy helps young boy manage diabetes

[Northerner]

Seven-year-old Jayden May smiles as he plays with his new puppy that his mom calls his guardian angel.

The black Labrador retriever is no ordinary dog. The puppy, named Rocky, is being trained to help identify blood sugar problems for Jayden, a second-grader at Lee Park Elementary who has Type 1 diabetes.

His mom, Hanover Township resident Sara May, said the name suits their diabetic alert dog since they have endured a rocky road in the last year.

The school nurse last year said Jayden was urinating frequently and he said it hurt so his mom took him to a doctor. After tests, he was rushed to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville because his blood sugar levels were too high. He was later diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

http://citizensvoice.com/news/puppy-helps-young-boy-manage-diabetes-1.1287163#axzz1pSSuA3Hp

 

[Northerner]

May said their dog is being trained to alert them to high or low blood sugar levels by barking or jumping on them. This is important because there are no symptoms of high or low blood sugar levels, she said. Jayden once had sugar levels of more than 500 and said he was fine, she said. Normal blood sugar levels for children are between 70 to 130.

Erm...no symptoms for a low blood sugar?

The dog came with a high price tag of more than $20,000.

Whilst I can see that such dogs are valuable assets, this sounds a bit steep to me, especially given that I have heard so many members say their 'ordinary' pets can do the same thing 😱