Diabetes-Alert Dogs

 

Dogs can sense the blood sugar level

A Diabetes-Alert Dog can sense whether its owner has a dangerous high or low level of blood sugar and has learned to alert the owner or a parent of this condition. These dogs can be highly valuable to persons suffering from diabetes and where hyper or hypoglycaemic crisis occur. The dog can signal when these situations arise and this allows the owner rapidly to take the necessary steps to stabilise the blood sugar level and thus to prevent a potentially dangerous situation.

The dogs recognise the hyper- or hypoglycaemic condition through the smell of the person’s sweat and breath, and learn to alert the condition in the manner preferred by the owner. For example, some dogs bring a particular object, which it only fetches in these specific cases, some dogs place their paws in the owner’s lap, others bring the box with of the equipment for measuring the blood sugar level etc.


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Education of a Diabetes-Alert Dog

It is preferable that the dog stays with the owner during the education and that the owner participate significantly in its education.

Canix develops individual training programmes, which are regularly updated and adapted to the dog’s development and progress. We participate in the training itself and are available through phone and e-mail all the time, because we prefer to be contacted immediately if the owner has any doubts and in order to be up-to-date on the progress of the training and to prevent problems developing.

The requirements to the dog is that it has a good sense of smell, that it will let itself be educated to a high obedience level and that it does not display aggression or excessive fear. It must be a breed that does not cause anxiety, when present in the public space.

In case one already has a dog, it is definitely possible that it can be educated for this purpose. If a dog is not already present, we prefer to participate in the selection of the individual to ensure that it will be suitable for this purpose. Whether the most suitable dog is an adult dog from a shelter or a puppy will depend upon the specific tasks the dog has to fulfil and the future owner’s preferences.

 

 
   
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