What does peace of mind look like?

Well, it just might look like a sleeping dog. 

Type 1 Diabetes is a silent killer.  Parents of Type 1 children are particularly vulnerable to the horrors and ravages of the disease when they watch their children head off to bed each night.  Heart in throat, sweaty palms, they hold their breath, set their alarms and just like any gambling endeavor, they hope the numbers will be good.  A good number means they can go to sleep.  Either too high or too low (both are dangerous) means a night of staying up, waiting and watching, poking little fingers with needles to test.

Enter a Diabetic Alert Dog (DAD).  Fairly new to the service dog scene, DADs are trained to tell their person with an alert when their blood sugar is out of bounds … either too high or too low.  And they’re typically on it some 20-40 minutes before the diabetic feels it or the glucose monitor rings an alarm.

So what about that sleeping dog?  As one mom put it … “my daughter slipped off to sleep in the middle of family movie night.  And, because her DAD was snoozing peacefully by her side … I knew it wasn’t a coma … just a nap.  Knowing her DAD was on duty, my heart rate never changed.”

Diabetic Alert Dogs are becoming a more accepted tool in the treatment of Type 1 diabetes and hypoglycemic unawareness.  And because of that, and like anything that’s new and good, there are predators who take advantage of vulnerable families and moms who only want their children to wake up in the morning.  On the flip side, there are some awesome organizations that are doing great work, and some remarkable trainers who “get it”. 

Looking to bring a DAD into your life?  Do your homework.  Ask Questions.  Lots of Questions.  Get lots of answers.  Confused?  Don’t know what to ask?  Start here.  Then come on back to Service Dog 411 to get started on your journey.

Valuing what’s Important

As the old saying goes, there’s nothing constant in life except change.  In the late 1960’s police departments across the country started a campaign to have everyone mark all their valuables with their social security number.  If I look closely, all the furniture and other valuables I have inherited from my grandparents have a social security number etched on them.  Can you imagine doing that today? 

And, back in the 1960s no one was putting a microchip in their pets – the technology didn’t exist.  Can you imagine NOT doing that today?  The way we identify what’s valuable to us has certainly changed over time.

Microchipping is a comparatively safe way of identifying that your beloved pet belongs to you.  Certainly some people believe that microchips cause cancer, are unsafe or are an otherwise inappropriate way to identify your pet.  But, for now, it’s pretty much the best we’ve got. 

And, as the other old saying goes … nothing is perfect.  Microchips are typically implanted between the shoulder blades, but did you know they can migrate as far as the tail or down the legs?  Or, that they can dislodge and work their way out of the skin leaving your dog completely un-identified?  When was the last time you asked your vet to double check the location of your pet’s microchip?  What would happen if your dog got loose, was picked up by animal control, who then couldn’t identify your dog because there was no microchip to be found?

And, while we’re on the subject … when was the last time you updated your microchip information with your registering company?  What if the only number they have on file is your old cell phone number?  The most common companies are AVID and Home Again, but a quick google search will also yield companies who will register your chip and in case of emergency put out an alert to surrounding rescues and shelters in your area.

Accidents happen.  Please take a moment to ensure that you protect your pet.