What is a Diabetic Alert Dog?

Please visit our pet services website www.HighlandSpringsPetServices.com

View Our Blog: http://highlandspringspetservices.blogspot.com

Find Us On YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/HighlandSpringsPet

A Diabetic Alert Dog or DAD is a dog trained to detect and alert to his Diabetic or Hypoglycemic owner's low (hypoglycemia) or high (hyperglycemia) blood sugar.

Diabetes and Hypoglycemia are diseases that affect millions of people. Many of these people are children.

Low Blood Sugar or Hypoglycemia can have especially severe consequences.

Symptoms of mild low blood sugar (below 70mg/dL) include:

Sweating

Nervousness, shakiness, and weakness

Extreme hunger and slight nausea

Dizziness and headache

Blurred vision

A fast heartbeat and feeling anxious

Symptoms of moderate low blood sugar (below 40 mg/dL) include:

Inability to concentrate

Confusion and irritability

Slurred speech

Unsteadiness when standing or walking

Muscle twitching

Personality changes, such as anger or crying

Symptoms of severe low blood sugar (usually below 20 mg/dL) include:

Seizure

Loss of consciousness (coma)

Stroke

Death

Children are especially at risk because often times they do not understand what is happening within their own body or how to fix it. Parents feel helpless and worried sick wondering if their child will wake up in the morning. This causes the parents to have to wake many times during the night to check their child's Blood Sugar levels.

A Diabetic Alert Dog can alleviate many of these worries. A fully trained DAD will alert whenever the person's blood sugar is out of normal range. How a dog is trained will determine that range but many times a normal range is between 90 and 180 mg/dL. Anything below or above that and the dog will alert.

I want to introduce you to a wonderful 4 year old girl named Cadence. Cadence has Type-1 Diabetes and her parents have been raising money to get a puppy to train that has been imprinted on diabetic scent.

Cadence took home our Australian Shepherd Puppy #1. His new name is Fish and Fish has a wonderful nose for the diabetic scent.

How are Our Puppies Doing in Their Homes?

"Fish" went to Cadence

Updates from her mom:

Visit our D.A.D. Testimonials page for more

Fish had his first alert tonight!! Cadence told me her belly hurt while she was in the tub. I got her out and she sat on the floor, fish beelined for her, planted his paws on her chest, and started nuzzling and licking under her chin!! Good boy Fish!!!

9/26/2011 8 weeks old

"Shadow" went to Rylyn

Updates from her mom:

Visit our D.A.D. Testimonials page for more

Shadow is doing wonderfully. He is sleeping through the night. He usually wakes up if we are up and moving around the house. I actually felt bad because I thought he was just playing with Rylyn last night. She was on the floor with him. He was jumping on her and pulling at her hair. She said she was hungry. I told her to wash up and sit at the table for dinner. Shadow then became very subdued and just layed down. I told him it was time to check Rylyn (we usually check her at the table). He walked over to us and I picked him up. When she checked, she was 63! I really think he was trying to tell us she was low! We had him smell her test strip and she blow in his face. I told him "Good low Shadow! Good low!" He was so excited. After she ate, she was playing. Shadow when over to her and started pawing at her. He then came to me and pawed at me. I decided to check her. She was 306! Since we are working on the lows, I used a monotone voice and said, "She's high Shadow. We will take care of it." After that, Shadow resumed playing with his toys. I think he is teaching me more than I am teaching him right now.

9/26/2011 8 weeks old

How are Puppies Imprinted on Diabetic Scent?

We imprint puppies beginning at 3 days of age because the only senses they have are smell and touch. We only train through positive reinforcement. As a newborn, the puppy is exposed to the scent sample and then immediately placed on mom to nurse. The puppy therefore learns at a young age that the smell equals food.

As the puppy ages we use different food rewards and also increase the difficulty of the scent by placing it in various objects such as scent tubes, cleaned altoids containers, baby food jars, etc. Imprinted puppies still need training once they go to their homes.

Adult dogs can also be trained to become DADs but the process usually takes longer than it does with imprinted puppies.

Scent Tubes

Our Australian Shepherd puppy at 7 weeks of age working Diabetic Scent. This is puppy #1 "Fish" going to Cadence who is featured in the video above

This is video of our Australian Shepherd puppies at 2 1/2 weeks of age working Diabetic Scent. This is puppy #6 "Shadow" who went to Rylyn on the Southeast.

This is video of our litter of Australian Shepherds at 2 1/2 weeks of age working Diabetic Scent. This is puppy #1 "Fish" & 8 "Daisy"

This is video of our litter of West Highland White Terriers at 3 1/2 weeks of age working Diabetic Scent. This is puppy #1 "Layla"

What is a Bringsel?

A Bringsel is a type of tug stick that is usually made of a nylon type material and stuffed so it is soft. The dog uses it to alert. When a DAD smells that their diabetic person is out of range, the dog will retrieve the Bringsel to let the person know that they needs to test. Below are a couple of pictures.

Cali, Dam of our Aussie Litter

Holding a Bringsel

How Much Does a Diabetic Alert Dog Cost?

This varies greatly depending on who you talk to. There are those out there who seem to be caught up in their own greed of making BIG BUCKS selling imprinted 8 week old puppies. Those puppies can cost upwards of $10,000. But an imprinted puppy with health clearances and health guarantee shouldn't cost more than $1,000-$2,500. We charge around $1,000-$1,500 for one of our puppies and our Aussies come from strong working and Champion Show Bloodlines.

So purchasing a dog to train as a Diabetic Alert Dog doesn't have to cost a fortune, is within reach, and there are many resources out there for people looking to train their own DAD. I belong to a few groups and can point you in the right direction.

Please don't be fooled by those out to make a fortune off of your misfortune.

Copyright © Highland Springs Pet Services, LLC - All Rights Reserved

Gift Certificates Available!

To be placed on our waiting list for a puppy please email us! Include if you are interested in a male or female puppy and which breed.

You can e-mail us at:

info@HighlandSpringsPetServices.com

Highland Springs Breeders * (719) 532-0340 * Colorado Springs * CO * 80922
(Missed calls will be returned within 24 hours- Please leave a message as I may be with another client)

Keywords: dog, clicker, trainer, training, positive reinforcement, pet, sit, house, cat, bird, reptile, horse, large animal, fish, pet services, breeding, Westie, West Highland, Australian, Shepherd, Aussie, AKC, registered puppies, puppy, Colorado, Springs, tail, Westy, White Terrier, Shepard, Sheperd, tails, breeder, pet, show, Basque, DAD, Diabetic Alert, Bio Sensor, Service Dog, Assistance Dog, Working Dog, dog, clicker, trainer, training, positive reinforcement, pet, sit, house, cat, bird, reptile, horse, large animal, fish, pet services, breeding, Westie, West Highland, Australian, Shepherd, Aussie, AKC, registered puppies, puppy, Colorado, Springs, tail, Westy, White Terrier, Shepard, Sheperd, tails, breeder, pet, show, Basque, DAD, Diabetic Alert, Bio Sensor, Service Dog, Assistance Dog, Working Dog, dog, clicker, trainer, training, positive reinforcement, pet, sit, house, cat, bird, reptile, horse, large animal, fish, pet services, breeding, Westie, West Highland, Australian, Shepherd, Aussie, AKC, registered puppies, puppy, Colorado, Springs, tail, Westy, White Terrier, Shepard, Sheperd, tails, breeder, pet, show, Basque, DAD, Diabetic Alert, Bio Sensor, Service Dog, Assistance Dog, Working Dog, dog, clicker, trainer, training, positive reinforcement, pet, sit, house, cat, bird, reptile, horse, large animal, fish, pet services, breeding, Westie, West Highland, Australian, Shepherd, Aussie, AKC, registered puppies, puppy, Colorado, Springs, tail, Westy, White Terrier, Shepard, Sheperd, tails, breeder, pet, show, Basque, DAD, Diabetic Alert, Bio Sensor, Service Dog, Assistance Dog, Working Dog