Poodle Forum banner

Diabetes Alert Dog Training Update

66K views 650 replies 60 participants last post by  mvhplank 
#1 ·
Noelle and I started working on her future as a diabetes alert dog shortly after her first birthday. My old service dog, Honey, I trained too hard too fast when she was a puppy and it interrupted our relationship in some ways. I expected too much too soon, and added a layer of frustration into our relationship that I've always regretted. I wanted to do things differently with Noelle. No hot house training her first year, just giving her a chance to be a silly puppy, with lots of bonding and practice training.

She's a natural born diabetes alert dog, and started alerting to low blood sugar spontaneously at about six months. However, that natural ability does not qualify as an "individually trained task" under the ADA. About a month ago, I introduced sniffing out low blood sugar scent on purpose. She's scenting out my low blood sugar scent despite five distraction scents. Distractions are hand lotion, soy sauce, vanilla extract, sesame oil, dish soap. She gets it right every time.





She can ignore 11 distraction scents and zero in on my low blood sugar scent in seconds. The first time I trained her on this scent, I went low while we were training. Noelle had selected the right container, and as I was praising her, she took a step backward, and then went bonkers, jumping and leaping all over me. I tested my blood sugar and it was in the low 60's. Nice catch, Noelle.

We've started going out in public together, and Noelle's manners are better than I expected.



This week, we're going to the store to practice sits and downs in high distraction. And not munching food off the floor.

I'll make a trail of low value treats on the floor and have high value treats in my hand. We'll walk back and forth past the low value food. Then I'll increase the value of the food on the floor, until we can walk past anything without her sniffing it. That's how I trained Honey and it worked really well.

Noelle is on her way to being Honey's successor. The relief I feel is overwhelming. Thanks Noelle. You're on your way.
 

Attachments

See less See more
6
#271 ·
I hesitated to put that up, but part of having a chronic illness in America is chronic financial pain. It's very real and endlessly stressful. I do what I can to handle it all.

Noelle is doing well, getting back on topic. She alerted to another low a few days ago. Tomorrow I'm off to the endocrinologists office for the, "You're not doing it right," lecture. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.
 
#272 ·
Dad

Did you ever convert her to alert to a trained task?

My first poodle spontaneously alerted by licking and we did the obedience thing but she never got to work in public before Addison's took her young. I'm on my second SPOO and she also spontaneously alerted but I immediately took that to a sit and touch when she was young. By using her I've gotten my numbers back in line and my Endo is thrilled. I'm T2 but don't feel low or high and I was within 3 months of insulin before she started going to work, my latest A1C was 6.6. It was well over 7 before she went to work with me and it is going down every test.

I used a combination of the SugarDogs method and the NIDAD saliva training to get her to alert at 90 instead of 70, giving me extra time. I hold my meals until she is checking me closely but not alerting yet, typically around 95. At home I will let it drop to test her alerts some days. She keeps me between 90 and 180 consistently, sure I mess up and go high occasionally but she tells me about that too.

She has special meat treats for alerting but if she rushes an alert, its a plain biscuit or nothing. It didn't take long before the close calls and false alarms ended. Her accuracy is well over 95%, even at night.
 
#273 ·
Yes, Noelle's alert is now a trained task. If she smells low blood sugar, she nose bumps my knee or paws it. The scratching got a bit painful with her claws when I was wearing shorts, but, oh well. She will wake me up from sleep if I am low, and that has saved my behind more than once. When I am asleep, her alert is more of a pounce than a gentle nose bump, but it works.

She also alerts to leaking insulin pump, which happens when I get my tubing caught on a doorknob and dislodge the canula from under my skin. But, since the sticker bandage part of the set is still attached, I have no idea I pulled the set and have no insulin in my body. Noelle will nose bump a leaking set long before my blood sugar rises. Love my DKA protection system.

Noelle alerts at 70-85. I am good with that. The only low she didn't catch was one that came on too fast. The plummet low where I go from fine to holy sh*t in five minutes, that one is just too fast. My A1C was 6.9 last time. Today it was 6.5. My doctor was happy, happy! I adjusted my insulin pump to deliver less insulin than prescribed, which is also fine. Less lows that way.

All in all, I'm doing well. And today's doctor's appointment, although i was dreading it, went fine. Noelle was good as gold. So much more calm and collected than last time. I can't imagine trying to deal with diabetes without my alert dog. She makes it easier and better.

My doctor wrote me a letter saying I require a service dog for my type 1 diabetes. So, today was good. Onward and upward.
 
#274 ·
I needed a doctor note, copy of Hope's certs, and medical records showing she is current to file for a work accommodation . I also added her to my home owners liability just in case something were to happen. She has worked in public for over 3 years with no issues but any dog can have a bad day, I'd rather be covered.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#276 ·
I'm a type 1. Paleo makes no difference. i count carbs, inject insulin from my pump to cover the carbs. Most days I eat about 100 to 150 grams of carbs. Sometimes more, like when there is Halloween candy in the house like there is now. There are 22 grams of carbs in an Almond Joy bar. How do i know this off the top of my head? Um... no idea, carry on!
 
#277 ·
Markbthompson, where did you get your SD cape? Noelle is outgrowing her puppy cape from the picture and I'm looking for something larger.
 
#278 ·
We use 3 different ones, depending on weather and need. The one in the picture was custom made by All Things Dani on Etsy. She makes service dog vests in a large variety of colors in lined cotton duck. The lining is blonde to match the dog. I had the patches shipped directly to her. It has 2 small Velcro pockets for paperwork. I have a Ruffwear Webmaster which has a handle and 4 patches but no pockets. They offer service dog teams a large discount(40%) if you apply, I love their leashes. It is used by a lot of S&R teams, very well made and they have boots as well. I also have the small nylon cape with 2 patches, used for rain or warmer weather. I had to put the patches on the Ruffwear and cape, which came from Amazon, but the price on Amazon went from 18 to about 40 thanks to the fakes all buying them. The custom vest was about 54 plus patches and shipping. I also have a large red bandana from Etsy with " Diabetic Alert Dog" and her name on it in my truck. That is more for emergencies where I'm out walking or working on my mother's property while she is running the farm and need to make a quick stop on the way home. We are registered with Sugar Dogs and they insist on red vests. I also use a red Gentle Leader as part of her gear. We started with it at 1 and it helps to hold her attention when faced with tons of distractions.
I always have a small backpack with me with a test kit, glucose gel, treats, waste bags and a K9H20 water bottle for her.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#280 ·
So, I was goofing around on my computer, lying on my bed and Noelle launched herself at me, put her nose to my mouth, and the looked at me like something was very wrong. Nose almost touching my mouth, sniff, sniff, sniff, what the %@# is that smell, Mom?

I reached over and tested. Not gonna tell you my number. Let me just say someone
counted carbs wrong. Really wrong. Like, my blood is turning into pancake syrup, wrong.
I rarely have high blood sugar because I am so good at counting carbs. Tonight, epic fail.
So, Noelle had her nose almost in my mouth and the weirdest expression on her face. I breathed on her. She pawed my knee.

We went in the kitchen. I got her some cheese and lured her to paw my right knee in response to my breath. Right knee = High. Left knee = Low. Her pawing is painful sometimes, though. She gets overly excited. So, I'm only going to reward gentle touches. Unfortunately the extinction burst is gonna SUCK.

Paw too hard, no treat. Paw harder, no treat. Paw frantically, no treat. Paw mom's kneecap off, no treat. That's gonna suck. She'll get the idea though. I only treated her for resting her paws on my knee tonight. Paws up, balance on my knee, treat. No digging required.

Good catch, though, Noelle. Even if you scratch my knees bloody, I'll still be grateful for your help. Now, I've got to go. My blood really is turning into syrup. Lots of insulin, lots of water, and all will be well by 2 am or so. Thanks to Noelle it won't go any higher. Good dog. Very good dog.
 
#282 ·
You mean you've never seen this:


Or this?



Hi meter! I am so glad you decided to be friends with me, that was nice of you to say hi. Oh wait a second.

I see a high like that once or twice a year. Usually it's a combination of a bad insulin pump set, a virus, and not enough bolus insulin. I'm no where near that high tonight, don't worry. Noelle caught it early. Good dog.
 
#286 ·
Since I found out and started watching my diet, the highest I've seen is 327. I was sick as a dog then too. I was 460 fasting when I first found out though.
I agree, I used to eat all sugar free, etc but when I read the wrappers I found that things like regular coffee mate have less carbs than the sugar free.
I don't expect any more 220-250s now that the Halloween candy bowl is out of Reese's peanut butter cups[emoji36]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#283 ·
Wait, i lost my pictures.
This was my meter yelling, Warning warning, danger Will Robinson.


And then there's my meter being friendly and saying hi.


Tonight wasn't that bad. I probably won't ever see numbers too high for my meter to read, thanks to Noelle. Good dog, Noelle. Good girl.
 

Attachments

#285 ·
Wait, what? You were going to take my Almond Joy bar away? Why?

Carbohydrate grams=22
Insulin to carb ratio = 1:15
Insulin dose 1.5 units
Tell insulin pump to deliver 1.5 units,
press Next, Press Yes, Press Deliver, eat Almond Joy. I don't understand. Why did you want to take it away from me? Why would there be a problem with my enjoying an Almond....

Oh! I get it. You were thinking that people with diabetes can't eat sugar? Or that sugar is bad for people with diabetes. Or maybe sugar causes diabetes? Or something like that? Now I understand what just happened. Kontiki, you were trying to give me a gift. You were trying to protect me. That was kind of you. But, I don't need your protection. Instead, I want to give you a gift: information. I want to give you knowledge about type 1 diabetes and food, so read carefully. Ready?

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. My body, for unknown reasons, has mistaken the insulin producing cells in my body as dangerous and is killing them. Insulin is required for survival because insulin is the key that unlocks cells so they can get fuel. Because my body no longer makes insulin, I inject it with my insulin pump. Are you with me so far?

Good.

People with type 1 diabetes can eat a wide variety of foods thanks to something called an insulin to carbohydrate ratio. This lets us know how much insulin to inject to "cover" the grams of carbs we are going to eat. If I'm going to eat 22 grams of carbs, I'll need 1.5 units of insulin. Still with me? Good.

When people eat carbohydrates from any source, the human body breaks it down into cell fuel known as glucose. Eat a bran muffin, poof, it becomes glucose. Eat toast, poof, glucose. Eat seven grain cereal mixed with gravel and twigs, poof, glucose. You could eat a candy bar, a bagel, sushi, a bowl of rice at the Chinese restaurant, and poof, glucose.

Glucose is a simple sugar that all cells in your body need to function. Insulin is the key that allows cells to let glucose inside them. When you eat carbs, your pancreas releases insulin to cover the carbs you eat. Since my pancreas is broken, I inject insulin from my pump when I eat carbs. All carbs become glucose inside the body. All of them. Rice, noodles, bread, cereal, and yes, sugar. Sugar, sucrose, is just another carbohydrate. Sucrose is a disaccharide made of glucose and fructose, if you want to get technical about it. When you eat sugar, it becomes glucose like any other carbohydrate.

What's interesting is how quickly people get upset with someone living with T1D for eating a candy bar, but would never say anything if they ate Chinese food. One of these two foods is going to cause a monumental spike in blood glucose. I'll give you a hint, it's not the Almond Joy.

Count carbs, press pump buttons, eat Chinese food. My body begins breaking down the rice and starch in the sauce into glucose quickly, faster than my injected insulin can cope. Bam, my blood sugar starts to spike. Now my blood sugar is high and I'm injecting more insulin two hours later to correct the high. Only now I have to watch for an epic low. Which comes four hours after dinner, and sends me in the kitchen for juice. Juice causes another spike, which I correct with more insulin, and now I'm low again. So frustrated, it's four am and I just want to sleep.

Count carbs, press pump buttons, eat an Almond Joy Bar. The fat content in the chocolate slows the digestion of carbs. The protein content allows the carbohydrates to be digested more evenly. My insulin peaks in strength just as the carbohydrates are being digested. My blood sugar rises gently and comes back down in two hours. As a bonus, I won't go low afterward because the protein keeps my blood glucose stable.

Which of these two foods caused a problem? It's very hard to calculate the right amount of insulin for Chinese food, but that does not mean I can't eat it, or shouldn't eat it. It means I have to experiment and learn. Egg Fu Young with no rice works pretty well, it turns out. Every meal, every snack, is a science experiment. Sometimes I get it perfect, sometimes I don't. Every day I wake up and have to take over the function of a human organ using imperfect tools. And believe it or not, food is the easy part of having type 1 diabetes. But, you know what? I rock this, and that makes me proud.

So, let's review. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that is 100% not caused by eating too much sugar. People with Type 1 diabetes use a mathematical formula to calculate how much insulin they need to inject based on the grams of carbs they are going to eat. No matter what the source of the carbohydrates you eat, your body will transform carbohydrates into glucose, which is fuel for your cells. Sugar is just another carbohydrate and is defiantly, positively, absolutely 100% not off limits to people with type 1 diabetes.

One cup of shrimp with garlic sauce and rice will have 114 grams of carbohydrates. One cup of shrimp with garlic sauce is enough to cause a sleepless night of roller coaster blood glucose. But 22 grams of carbs in an Almond Joy bar causes judgement, scolding, public humiliation, finger pointing and shame. Yes, shame. Which, I didn't, and don't, deserve.

Sugar is just another carb. It's not poison. it's not a mistake. It's not a moral failing. And I can guarantee you, I'm eating an Almond Joy bar right now. Because I like them and they are bolus worthy. 1.5 units of insulin coming up in 5, 4, 3, 2... BEEP!

For more information about food etiquette for non-diabetics, https://diabetesdailypost.com/watch-out-for-the-diabetes-food-police/
 
#295 ·
Interesting.... As you say "All carbs become glucose inside the body. All of them. Rice, noodles, bread, cereal, and yes, sugar."

Well you see , I know that , so I don't eat any of them. I stick to eating real food without anything like that that immediately turns to glucose.. I avoid all processed foods and eat vegetables and meat and some fruits that are low glycemic. My life has really changed because of it .
 
#287 ·
Meter reading HI happens once or twice a year, nothing to worry about according to my endocrinologist. I usually yell something that rhymes with goalie mitt! Then I drink all the water, and get a syringe out of the closet, and inject 10 units of insulin. It only happens when I've got a virus, or something goes haywire with my pump. I'm almost never high.

Tonight's epic failure was because I went out to eat at a restaurant. I couldn't read the labels and guessed way wrong. Then again, one of the worst lows I ever had was from trusting a restaurant nutrition label. I injected too much insulin, based on their nutrition facts, and almost killed myself from going low. Given a choice, I'll take a random HI reading over a low blood sugar seizure.

Peanut butter cups, eh? Hilarious. Did you know the JDRF has Halloween candy carb counts? Check this out! http://www.jdrf.org/neny/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2013/09/candy-carb-counts.pdf
 
#288 ·
Click, I understand it must be frustrating for you to continually have to be educating others on both diabetes and service dogs, but I really appreciate it when you take the time to do so on here. I've learned so much from you. I hope you don't mind if I ask a question. Let me first say that I don't EXPECT you to know this, since it doesn't apply to you. Do the rules about the source of carbs, and the combination of proteins, etc., apply to those with Type2 diabetes also? Or is it essentially an entirely different disease?
 
#290 ·
It is an entirely different disease, but treated almost the same.
I'm T2 and we count carbs and type of carbs(slow vs fast)., the food pyramid applies. It can be confusing because Some T2 take insulin and function basically as a T1 counting insulin vs what they consume. Other T2 take meds like Metformin and watch their diet closer to maintain their levels. T2 either lose weight and manage it with diet primarily , if they can't use self control to reach their appropriate levels the doctor will switch them to insulin and effectively treat them like a T1 to reach their goals. All diabetics have a goal based on an A1C test, typically a score of 6.5 or lower. The higher the score, the more likely other damage can occur to organs and eyes over time.

With T1, the pancreas doesn't produce any insulin, they are dependent for life, a T2 produces some but the body isn't using it properly. Insulin resistance is the main cause of T2.

A T1 can eat whatever they want as long as they can calculate an appropriate insulin level, a T2 is more limited in diet to reach their goals. If a T2 goes low we treat by eating, like a T1. Fast acting glucose may be needed if either go too low. On a high the T1 uses more insulin, a T2 either waits it out or exercises to burn it off. For me, a brisk 10 minute walk can drop it 50 points.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#289 ·
It's impressive how much you have to think about your food. I'm sure you get used to it, but it's still energy and effort that other people don't have to spend. And definitely no fun guesstimating at a restaurant, I bet.

It's good that Noelle alerted to your high, though! Especially since it happens to you less often so she probably doesn't get to practice it as much. I forget - did you work with her on highs the way you did with lows?
 
#292 ·
I did work with Noelle on High's, but only a little bit. I'm very rarely high. It was quite funny how she almost stuck her nose in my mouth, though. She got right in my face. You smell funny. What the %#@& is that?

Super epic highs where I tilt my meter almost never happen. And they have nothing to do with food. Insulin pump problem combined with having an infection will tilt my meter.

Yes, guestimating at restaurants is hard work. I have no idea how much starch is in that sauce. How many carbs are in the soup? Was this thickened with flour or corn starch? I guessed wrong yesterday. Today's blood sugars have been on target. It's different every day, different every meal. Before I eat, I do math.

A bowl of chicken noodle soup, a side salad, roast chicken with mashed potatoes and peas, and an Almond Joy bar.

10 grams for the soup, 5 grams for the salad, 30 for the mashed potatoes, 15 for the peas, and 22 for the candy bar. 82 grams of carbs.
Insulin to carb ratio 1:10=8.2 units of insulin.

Stab finger with blunt lancet. Bleed on test strip. Lick blood off finger.
Blood sugar now 140.
Calculate how many units to add to the insulin dose using a 1:45 insulin correction factor. .78 units for correction.

Add 8.2 for food to the .78 for correction. Inject 8.98 units. Eat dinner.

Every meal. Every snack. Every single time I eat, I do math. But, the artificial pancreas is on its way, possibly as soon as next year. My insulin pump that I have right now is able to download new software. As soon as it can go bionic, I'm becoming a cyborg. I can't wait. Artificial Pancreas - JDRF
 
#291 ·
Good summation.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder. What's an autoimmune disorder? Glad you asked. If you have an allergy to a plant, you know that if you stick your nose in that flower, you're going sneeze. Or, if you eat that food, you'll break out in hives. Your body mistakes pollen as something dangerous and goes needlessly berserk. In an autoimmune disorder, the body mistakes part of itself as something dangerous and goes needlessly berserk. My body doesn't recognize my insulin producing cells as "self". So, my body is busy killing these cells. Hence type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is a disorder where the pancreas goes berserk. When people prone to type two diabetes eat carbs, their bodies produce too much insulin in response. This overdose of insulin causes people to be hungry. Weight gain is the body attempting to protect itself from a pancreas that has gone berserk. Let me shout this so everyone gets this... AHEM!

BROKEN PANCREASES CAUSE OBESITY IN TYPE TWO DIABETES!
OBESITY DOES NOT CAUSE TYPE TWO DIABETES! (for more information, check out this TED TALK )

Type two starts slowly. First the pancreas goes bonkers in response to food. So the body sends out a distress signal, please eat more carbs, I think we're dying. And you eat again, and your pancreas sends out too much insulin again. Which leads to a horrifying cycle. Eat food, pancreas over produces insulin, which makes you super hungry and increases weight, which makes you eat, and your pancreas over produces insulin, which makes you super hungry and increases weight gain... Around and around this circle goes.

Even more sinister, Type 2 plays a second trick. The pancreas over produces insulin, type two also makes your body less able to use insulin. So, now you have extra insulin floating around your blood stream that you can't use, which making you perpetually hungry, which is causing weight gain.

Insulin is the hormone that unlocks our cells so they can fuel themselves with glucose. Picture a locked door. You need a key to unlock this door. Type 1 diabetics have no insulin keys on their key ring. Type 2 diabetics have a thousand keys on their key ring and are fumbling around trying to find the right one. Behind the locked door, the cells are screaming, please give us glucose. For both Type 1's and Type 2's, glucose is rising in the blood stream because the cell doors are locked. Same problem, totally different causes.

Type 1 diabetes has one treatment and one treatment only: inject insulin from science. Before insulin was discovered, people with type 1 diabetes died of starvation. Here's a historical photo that will take your breath away. This little boy was dying from Type 1 diabetes. His name was Teddy. He was one of the first people in the world to get insulin injections. His mother is holding him and is planning his funeral. Instead she got to watch him grow up thanks to insulin.



As you can see from this picture, insulin causes weight gain. Which is where we come back to our type 2 cousins. Type 2 is treated with diet and exercise initially, and when that fails, because type 2 is progressive diet and exercise alone often aren't enough, doctors add medications. Insulin injections come into play because the stress on the overproducing crazy pancreas causes it to work less effectively. So, some type twos use insulin. Because of insulin resistance, many people with type two inject large amounts of insulin.

Type 1 is a cousin of type 2, but they're not the same.
 

Attachments

#293 ·
Good summation.



Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder. What's an autoimmune disorder? Glad you asked. If you have an allergy to a plant, you know that if you stick your nose in that flower, you're going sneeze. Or, if you eat that food, you'll break out in hives. Your body mistakes pollen as something dangerous and goes needlessly berserk. In an autoimmune disorder, the body mistakes part of itself as something dangerous and goes needlessly berserk. My body doesn't recognize my insulin producing cells as "self". So, my body is busy killing these cells. Hence type 1 diabetes.



Type 2 diabetes is a disorder where the pancreas goes berserk. When people prone to type two diabetes eat carbs, their bodies produce too much insulin in response. This overdose of insulin causes people to be hungry. Weight gain is the body attempting to protect itself from a pancreas that has gone berserk. Let me shout this so everyone gets this... AHEM!



BROKEN PANCREASES CAUSE OBESITY IN TYPE TWO DIABETES!

OBESITY DOES NOT CAUSE TYPE TWO DIABETES! (for more information, check out this TED TALK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMhLBPPtlrY )



Type two starts slowly. First the pancreas goes bonkers in response to food. So the body sends out a distress signal, please eat more carbs, I think we're dying. And you eat again, and your pancreas sends out too much insulin again. Which leads to a horrifying cycle. Eat food, pancreas over produces insulin, which makes you super hungry and increases weight, which makes you eat, and your pancreas over produces insulin, which makes you super hungry and increases weight gain... Around and around this circle goes.



Even more sinister, Type 2 plays a second trick. The pancreas over produces insulin, type two also makes your body less able to use insulin. So, now you have extra insulin floating around your blood stream that you can't use, which making you perpetually hungry, which is causing weight gain.



Insulin is the hormone that unlocks our cells so they can fuel themselves with glucose. Picture a locked door. You need a key to unlock this door. Type 1 diabetics have no insulin keys on their key ring. Type 2 diabetics have a thousand keys on their key ring and are fumbling around trying to find the right one. Behind the locked door, the cells are screaming, please give us glucose. For both Type 1's and Type 2's, glucose is rising in the blood stream because the cell doors are locked. Same problem, totally different causes.



Type 1 diabetes has one treatment and one treatment only: inject insulin from science. Before insulin was discovered, people with type 1 diabetes died of starvation. Here's a historical photo that will take your breath away. This little boy was dying from Type 1 diabetes. His name was Teddy. He was one of the first people in the world to get insulin injections. His mother is holding him and is planning his funeral. Instead she got to watch him grow up thanks to insulin.







As you can see from this picture, insulin causes weight gain. Which is where we come back to our type 2 cousins. Type 2 is treated with diet and exercise initially, and when that fails, because type 2 is progressive diet and exercise alone often aren't enough, doctors add medications. Insulin injections come into play because the stress on the overproducing crazy pancreas causes it to work less effectively. So, some type twos use insulin. Because of insulin resistance, many people with type two inject large amounts of insulin.



Type 1 is a cousin of type 2, but they're not the same.


I was on Prednisone for a.NeuroMuscular disease, gained 90 pounds, lost 50 when I got off of it in 4 months, too little, too late. It put me over the top and as you said weight loss is almost impossible, that was a wicked combination. I have maintained my weight for 7 years, within 5 pounds, and it is difficult while on Metformin. I've doubled Metformin already too. We are hungry and live on a tight diet all the time, once we flip to insulin there is virtually no going back. I'm holding it off as long as I can, maybe in a few years some of the newer weekly injections will prove safe over time but I was right to avoid the " turn the sugar to urine magic pills". Whenever big Pharm offers something free, they need Guinea pigs.
In the beginning, my A1c was 12, I got it to 6.8 in 30 days with diet and exercise, it was actually about 5.5 considering the A1c is 90 days. I lived on salads and water, exercised every day, only lost 2 pounds. I had to prove to the Endo that I didn't need to jump straight to insulin by getting to 7 or better in a month. I'm stubborn


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#294 ·
Prednisone is evil. I have myasthenia gravis and my doctor said, and I quote, "I don't want you on that sh*t!" He retired. I miss him so bad. He was the best. When I lost all my hair from chemotherapy, my doctor came in the waiting room and yelled, "Hey baldy, come here!" Hilarious.

Yeah, that stuff sends people's pancreases into overdrive. But, you did the right things. Diet, exercise, paying attention to how many carbs you eat. Maintaining that A1c in the perfect range is something to be proud of. Keep it up, you are rocking this!
 
#300 ·
Today we went to the DMV to get license plate stickers and registration. Noelle came with me and the lady behind me says, come to this window over here. Huh? She points to a sign that says closed. And says she'll open it for me. So, I skipped the line. We went to the window. I told Noelle to sit.

She sits.

I turn to look at the lady behind the counter, and Noelle starts making this god awful honking sound!

HONK! HONK! SNORT! HONK!

I whip my head down and there's Noelle reverse sneezing, making a horrible noise in the quiet DMV. I reached down and put my finger across her nostrils. "Breathe in, Noelle, not out." Noelle breathed in, wagged her tail and laid down like nothing happened.

A lady who was buying her sticker, walked up, squeezed my shoulder, laughed and said, "My dogs do that all the time."

Noelle behaved herself perfectly in the DMV, other than her reverse sneezing fit. I think she put on a clinic in how a service dog behaves in a crowd. No sniffing, no wandering, no barking, no anything. Except of course, an attack of reverse sneezing. Usually it's our Boston terrier who reverse sneezes. Maybe Francis taught Noelle a trick. Still, she had never been in there before and just calmly handled it. Six months ago, she would have been super excited about a new place. Today, she did great.

We got the car stickers and left. Off to the village hall to pay the water bill. Off to the store to buy some more stuff. Off to another store. We just ran errands together and i didn't have one eye on Noelle every second. She was Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way. And it was nice having her with me. We've been working together in public for a year, and I can't believe how much she has grown. Good dog, Noelle, good girl.
 
#301 ·
Click - I'm so sorry I forgot to come back here and thank you for the clear, concise explanation of the similarities and differences in the two types of diabetes. I read it when I wasn't signed in, so couldn't comment, then forgot to when I signed in again! I really appreciate the time you took to compose your response.

Also, have I mentioned? I just love Noelle. <3 ;) She's such a good girl.
 
#303 ·
I got a nice compliment the other day. Right after my surgery last week I needed some supplies and ran in the drug store. I was in a hurry, and can't bend at the waist right now so I decided to take Hope "naked". I had the little hand basket and was working my way across the store when a clerk came up and told me how adorable Hope was and that she would ask to pet her but she was so focused on me she knew not to distract a service dog when working. I asked her how she knew she was a service dog and she said by the way she behaved it was obvious she was working.
That's the way it should be and I was really proud of my mini moose that day. So, if clothes make the man, behavior makes the dog.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#304 ·
Yes! i love this. The manners do make the dog. I had a similar experience when I entered the DMV. I walked in, Noelle sat in the vestibule, sat when i stopped as I entered the building. She was spot on, Mary Poppins perfect. With all the news about fake service dogs, it's awesome to show the public what a real service dog looks like. It is in the behavior.

Standing behind someone and the dog is not sniffing. Walking through a pile of scattered popcorn and the dog ignores it. It takes time to teach these manners. I've said before on this thread, I expect Noelle's manners to be as good, or better, than a five-year-old on their best behavior. I love it when she shines. I love that Hope was shining, too. Good on her and good on you, too.
 
#305 ·
Hope does tend to give every passing person a quick sniff, and she will alert on strangers if I let her. She can make her decision from 5 feet away.
You'd be surprised at the number of people she taps or wants to tap who admit they are diabetic but don't test or don't care. One guy said he was 350 when he left the house. She picked a little boy out at the lab last month who was T1 there for his A1c too. She sat and tapped, then put her head in his lap to be petted. He was so excited to make a friend and his dad asked me about DADs before they left. I see a poodle in his future.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#306 ·
Happy Thanksgiving. Noelle just launched herself at my face. Nose almost in my mouth I heard her sniffing, sniffing. WHAT IS THAT SMELL? I checked, yup, BG is high. I'm so rarely high that Noelle isn't good at catching those, but today she nailed it. I rewarded her with turkey.

Sniff breath, paw leg, treat. Sniff, paw leg, treat. Noelle still seems more confused by high bg scent than she does lows. I spent so much more time with her making sure she catches lows because they can be rapidly dangerous. Highs just smell weird to her. I'll have to turn high blood sugar into an equally fun magic cookie game.

Problem is, I am almost never high. I spend 85% of the time in range, low 10% of the time. So highs only happen about 5% of the time because I work hard to keep it that way. You can track holidays on my blood glucose records. My doctor goes over my numbers and circles the weird ones. He asks, "What happened here?" Then he checks the date and starts laughing. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, those numbers are going to be high, and it makes my doctor laugh. I maintain tight control the rest of the time, so those highs really stand out as odd. This Thanksgiving I set a goal of staying below 250 and I did it. Tomorrow, eating leftovers, I'll set a goal of staying in range. More turkey, less sides, stay in range. That's the plan anyway. Will it work? I don't know.

If only diabetes management was 100% about food, it would be so easy, but it's not. Stress raises blood sugar and keeps it high. Exercise lowers blood sugar and keeps it low. Pump tubing gets caught on door knobs. Cats chew through tubing. Getting sick causes blood sugars to spike and drop and spike and drop. Medication side effects make my numbers roller coaster. A friend of mine with Type 1 said her body tries to kill her every six hours. She's not that far from the truth. Some days are so hard I feel like I am wrestling alligators.

It's a balancing act. I spend 85% of my time in range. I'm proud of that. I'm also proud of Noelle for figuring out the game I started teaching her last year. If you smell this weird smell, paw my leg for treats. Poke the back of my neck when i'm driving. We've been training for a year. I cannot believe how much of a difference Noelle makes in my life now.

I sleep like a rock now. I never slept well because I was always afraid of going low in my sleep. Did you know people with type 1 diabetes have a 1 in 20 chance of dying in their sleep? Imagine a gun with 19 empty chambers and one bullet. Imagine someone would spin the huge barrel, put the gun to your head and pull the trigger every night while you slept. I never slept well. For years and years I didn't sleep. Doze, wake up, prick finger. Doze, wake up, prick finger, eat. Doze, wake up, prick finger, bolus insulin.

I had an electronic monitor that sounded an alarm if I went low. I thought I could trust it. Until I slept through a six hour long low. The monitor was beeping but I couldn't hear it. I can sleep through an electronic alarm. I can't sleep through a poodle putting her fluffy head in my face. I am so thankful for sleep. As Thanksgiving comes to a close, I am beyond thankful for my diabetes alert dog. I'm also thankful for all of you who have joined me in this training adventure. Thanks for cheering me on. It matters.
 
#307 ·
You are almost at the 1 year anniversary of this thread..... and what a wonderful record of achievement it is ! You've succeeded in your goal of making an adorable fluffy puppy into your very best friend who can save your life! THAT is a HUGE accomplishment! The oncoming year will no doubt, in my mind, be even better.... and I will be following you down that road with a smile and a "Atta girl!":five::hug::love2:
 
#308 ·
Being able to relax enough to sleep properly must make an enormous difference to life. I have learned so much from this thread, not least the difference a reliable alert dog makes to all areas of someone's life - not just the life saving alerts themselves, but the reduction of stress and the additional confidence. Noelle and her progress through this year are certainly things to be thankful for, for us as well as for you!
 
#310 ·
Huge hugs to you and Noelle! You guys are such an inspiration to us all! I'm am so grateful that this thread exists - I'm sure it has and will help more people than you can ever imagine! I can't even picture how amazing the two of you will be in another year. Can't wait to see what happens for your wonderful team!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top