Diabetic Alert Dog

Ghomerzgirl

Just found out today that my dog is going to be trained to be my Diabetic Alert Dog!! I'm soooo excited! Lately we have had problems with crazy lows, unexplainable lows. Having to wait 2.5 hours just to bolus after eating, increasing my carb ratio by 50% and still going low. I heard a news story about a girl getting a D.A.D. through a group here in Nebraska that uses shelter dogs and trains them to be Diabetic Alert Dogs through scent training. Since I already have a dog who is young and very trainable with a great nose I asked them if he would be able to be trained. They strongly suggest not to use current pets but came out to evaluate him anyway. As he watched Aztec a Lab/Aussie mix, interact with me and listening to instances where he has already alerted me to things being wrong and how protective he is of me, he said that he would actually do a great job. Plus I can only afford to have one dog so if he couldn't I would have to find a home for him to get the new dog. I'm soooo excited! There is a waiting list so he won't start training until around March but I am going to start doing the fund raising to raise the nearly $7000 to have him trained. Then he will be in training for 2-4months and then he will be a registered service dog for me. My boyfriend, kids, and I are so excited because we all don't get very good sleep because of the lows and then severe highs afterwards. The group I am working with is called Heads Up Hounds and they are located in Nebraska. I am just so grateful that I decided to watch the news that night (I normally don't watch the news at all) and came across the story. I'm just so full of excitement!

Jenn

tmlandgraf

Congratulations! I've been raising money for a charity here in Houston and I have found that Facebook is a great resource for reaching out to people for donations. You may be able to contact some local stores and restaurants to see if they will put up signs and buckets for you or even donate a percentage of their daily profits (mainly restaurants do this). Another good tip I have found is to set up a PayPal account where people can deposit money directly into the account and then you don't have to worry about keeping track of cash. You can have the funds from PayPal sent directly to a checking account, so you have access to the funds when you need them.

Good luck with the training and keep us updated on how it's going!

Ghomerzgirl

Thanks for the advice! Heads Up Hounds also uses WePay (o something like that) to use for fund raising, and I have an amazing network through facebook friends. I also am friends with some people who work in the NASCAR industry who dos a lot with raising money through his races that will probably help as well. I know my mom is going to ask her work if she can place a jar there for employees and my boyfriends work is good with charity work as well. I'm just so excited to get this all started!

Jenn

terriejones

Congrats. it sounds very exciting. I'll be watching for updates. Now if they could just train a cat to do the same thing. Oh well, cats have attitudes and, if I had one, it would probably ignore my low, just to put me in my place. I'm sure your dog will do great. I think it's a good idea to use an animal that you already have a bond with.

kimosabe1

so u apparently changed your basal to what?

When I was on the pump it was a constant struggle to get the numbers aligned right. I went off the pump & decided maybe after i'm done losing weight I'll go back-

Ghomerzgirl

We have lowered my basal rate by 15% for all time slots. Increased my carb ratio, and increased my correction factor. Rather than 1:50 it's now 1:100. The biggest problem we are having is due to my gastroparesis. I'm having to wait longer and longer in order to do my bolus after I eat. When I started my pump in August and even before while still on injections, I was having to wait an hour to do my meal ratio. now I'm having to wait over two hours. I have an appointment with my gastro dr the beginning of February to figure out if there is anything I can take to help. i am already on reglin 4x a day, but it's not helping, and I cant take actigal which is what they started me on when I was first diagnosed with it because it caused me to severely retain water. I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm trying to gain weight. I'm 5' 1" and 93 pounds currently.

I just got the contract signed today so within the next week or two will have my fund raising site set up for me. I am soooo excited! My kids are upset though because once he is trained, they will no longer be able to play with him or give him any attention. But once we are able to move into a larger house and make sure we can afford another dog, we will be getting a rescue dog for just them to have and take care of.

Jenn

abatonfan

Congrats. it sounds very exciting. I'll be watching for updates. Now if they could just train a cat to do the same thing. Oh well, cats have attitudes and, if I had one, it would probably ignore my low, just to put me in my place. I'm sure your dog will do great. I think it's a good idea to use an animal that you already have a bond with.

No, my cat is goofy enough to spot my lows. A few nights ago, I was at my dining room table studying for finals. My cat is absolutely in love with me and walked into the room. She invites herself up onto the table, looks at me, and lies down right on the book I was studying from. I try to move her, and she refuses to get up, and she continues to headbutt my hand. Frustrated, I get up and decide that this is a good time to check my glucose. I was at 54, and, once I got my glucose up, the dumb cat got off my notes.

This is also the same cat that jumps into my bed and wakes me up a few minutes before my alarm clock goes off.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

I have 2 cats, and though it isn't reliable, one of them has been known to chew through my pump's tubing if I go low while sleeping. It doesn't happen often that I'm so low I can't wake up, but it is interesting nonetheless.