 Group Trains Dogs To Help Diabetics-Article
Group Trains Dogs To Help Diabetics
POSTED: 8:51 pm PST January 5, 2007
UPDATED: 3:22 pm PST January 6, 2007
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SAN FRANCISCO -- A group of California trainers is giving dogs who don't quite make the cut as guide dogs a second chance at helping people.
Based in Concord, Dogs For Diabetics is the only known group to train dogs to sniff out low blood-sugar levels in diabetics.
SLIDESHOW: Meadow The Dog Helps Bay Area Family
A dog named Meadow is just one example of the 10 dogs that the group has trained so far.
Meadow was training to be a guide dog for the blind, but she didn't quite make the cut.
Siblings Jenna Hakel, Nicole Hakel and Sam Hakel are very happy about that. All three children have Type I Diabetes.
Meadow is trained to sniff out whenever any of the children has low blood sugar levels. She then notifies their parents right away.
"They are actually able to smell changes in chemicals in the body as the body registers a low," Carol Edwards of Dogs For Diabetics said. "So dogs can actually alert before a glucometer picks it up."
The dog's work is especially important at night when the children are sleeping, which is the most dangerous time for a diabetic.
A big drop in blood sugar levels can lead to brain damage or even death.
In the short time she's lived with the family, Meadow has already alerted their mother, Sheila Hakel, twice when Jenna's blood-sugar levels were too low.
"She could have gone into seizure," Sheila Hakel said.
More Resources:
dogs4diabetics.com
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