Diabetic Alert Dogs

Most simply put a diabetic alert dog is a service dog who has been trained to alert to unsafe or out of range blood sugar levels for a person with Type 1 Diabetes. These are very cool, potentially life saving service dogs, and I can help you train yours.

Diabetic alert dogs alert to out of range blood glucose levels using their amazing sense of smell. They can scent a person’s blood sugar changing, and then through training learn when and how to tell us about those changes. Most of my clients choose a low alert of 75 and below, and 150-180 and above. You can choose what blood sugar range you want your dog to alert at with training and scent sample collection.

We typically train diabetic alert dogs (DADs) to alert before someone’s blood sugar is truly out of range to help prevent them spending more time out of range and prevent their blood sugar level from becoming unsafe. You want time to safely bring up a low blood sugar with carbs or start lowering a high blood sugar with insulin.

You might be wondering why I specified that DADs are for Type 1 Diabetics - what about type 2 diabetics or some of the other numerous blood sugar regulation disorders? The thing that makes a DAD worthwhile is being able to do something about your dog’s alert. If you wouldn’t respond to the information by “fixing” your blood sugar with carbs or insulin then the work of training & maintaining your dog’s skills probably isn’t worthwhile, and your dog isn’t really mitigating your disability. I’ve trained dogs to alert to changes in blood glucose levels for several disabilities, but most often it’s for Type 1 Diabetes.

With recent advancements in medical technology, like continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), do you really need a DAD? No one can answer that question for you, but in my experience (and most importantly my client’s experiences over thousands of alerts) a well-trained DAD is more accurate than their CGM. Dogs I’ve trained and helped clients owner train typically “beat” the CGM by roughly 30 minutes. That’s a lot of notice.

Majority of my clients use CGMs and insulin pumps, and their DAD is another tool in their diabetes management toolkit - plus they’re an accurate tool who can be snuggled, retrieve carbs or your glucometer, and be your battle buddy while you’re working hard trying to be a pancreas. It’s not easy managing the autoimmune disorder of Type 1.

When a DAD alerts you’ll need to check your blood sugar with a glucometer. This can often mean a lot more finger pokes than your average diabetic. DADs can even “beat the meter” where they alert to a change before we can see it on a glucometer - this is very cool and sometimes annoying, because you have to set a timer and re-check to see the likely rapid change in blood sugar your dog caught.

Training with a DAD is ongoing for the life of your dog. Your DAD will get really really good at alerting, and you’ll learn how to trust your dog, but they are still dogs. Dogs can be tired, feel off, and be distracted so we never rely exclusively on alerts, you’ll always need to check your blood sugar. Your DAD will be an important part of your multifaceted approach to daily management of Type 1.

If you think a DAD might be the right fit for you or a family member schedule your free consult - I’d love to answer your questions and chat diabetic alert dogs with you!