Ace & Alex

Happy Palm Sunday!
What is the best thing that happened to you today?

How about being woken up before the sun rose?

Not many of us would consider that a good way to start the day, but for Ace's family a early morning wake up was just the thing they needed to start the day right.

Today's alert story came from Ace's family  who didn't like being woken up early at first, but was grateful for it in the end.

Ace woke me up at 4:30am...
at first I was like "Really?? I am sooo tired..."
but I listened and I got up and tested Alex.
Alex was 72--anything below 80 while sleeping is dangerous.
I'm so glad I listened to Ace, drug myself out of bed and got Alex some juice.
These night time lows are the scariest.
Thank you Ace for catching it before it was even worse!

ACE is a Diabetic Alert Dog from Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers.

If you or someone you know could benefit from having a Diabetic Alert Dog please Click Here.

To learn more about Service Dogs for invisible disabilities Click Here.

To learn how you can help place service dogs with families in need Click Here.

Ashoton and Scooby

Another Amazing Friday Story from a wonderful family, Heather Chesnut , Thank you for sharing Heather !

This dog has changed Ashton’s life (and ours too). Ashton’s blood sugar is under control for the first time ever. (He was always in the 200s before – when he bothered to check at all – and 300, 400, and even 500s were not unusual). His doctor was amazed to see his A1C in the “excellent” range, and signed off on his driver’s license. He now has a license for the first time – he is almost 20 years old. Despite spending several hours a day training Scooby, his grades are better. He is socially “thawing out”, and he is much easier to live with to boot. I had hoped that, little by little, Scooby would help Ashton improve these aspects of his life. But, it wasn’t little by little, it was immediate. I could write a book about all this.
All this, despite the fact that dog training has not come easy for us, and we have had to learn a lot. (We’ve never had a dog before, and I think we’re not very naturally gifted with animals).
I’m sure you have heard this many, many times. I just wanted you to know what a miracle it is in yet another family’s lives.
Thanks, Heather

Scooby is a Diabetic Alert Dog from Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers.

If you or someone you know could benefit from having a Diabetic Alert Dog please Click Here.

To learn more about Service Dogs for invisible disabilities Click Here.

To learn how you can help place service dogs with families in need Click Here.

Tzaylie and OJ

We would like to share a story with you all from last week. This story comes from Patty, an adult Type 1 Diabetic with one of our Diabetic Alert Dogs!

Tzaylie has been hard at work, yet again.(Yes, she's had her share of naps, but she has EARNED them!)
Today my sugars kept her on her toes!
This morning she slept thru a low - unusual for her, but not unexpected given her age - I woke up at 5 till 6 with a 39.
Large OJ, breakfast, sky high then for HOURS - poor girl was going NUTS!
Alerting, crying, wanting me to be in range again & not understanding why it wasn't happening when clearly Mom was doing what she needed to in order to fix it - but that is life with T1D (type 1 diabetes).
Then mid-afternoon I had come down enough to have lunch (high sugars kill my appetite).
Then 10 minutes before I was due to leave work... she sits next to me & calmly puts her paw on my knee. A big-girl alert! YES!!
And my sugar was still in range, but with insulin still active in my system from my late lunch, I would not have stayed in range for long if I didn't turn my pump off for a bit & have a couple glucose tabs. Which I did, so I was able to safely drive home, on time!
That would have made me happy enough, to have done this exact thing two days in a row - but tonight she's been non-stop to a sugar level that just wants to fall... lots of OJ later, and she's finally sleeping peacefully - guess that's my sign that I too can safely go to bed! I just love my pup - she gets better and better week by week!
She has kept me safe, at home, at the office & on the road! She is, even though she is only 7 months old, living up to every expectation and is proving her worth in gold!

To add to that Story Patty sent us this yesterday!

 She saved my life this morning... 114 with 1.05 IOB - would have sent me to the 30s for sure, or worse!

Tzaylie is a Diabetic Alert Dog from Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers.

If you or someone you know could benefit from having a Diabetic Alert Dog please Click Here.

To learn more about Service Dogs for invisible disabilities Click Here.

To learn how you can help place service dogs with families in need Click Here.

Elvis

Diabetes isn't always viewed as very threatening, for those with Type 1 it is truly a monster. The dreaded lows (hypoglycemia) can cause seizures, coma, and death. Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers can tell their owners when a low is approaching. For Kinz and her mom that is exactly what their Service Dog, Elvis did .

In the car on the way home.
Elvis starts his verbal 'complaining' (what he does when he wants my attention).
I pull over and ask I'm if we need to check and he does his nose in a touch action in the air (his low alert)...he couldn't move much because he was buckled up in his seat.
102 with 2.4 units on board.
We say good check (knowing its a low and he is right since we were a road away from home) by the time we get home he alerts with touch again. Kinz is 80 :0) he is pretty awesome ♥ Warren Retrievers

Elvis is a Diabetic Alert Dog from Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers.

If you or someone you know could benefit from having a Diabetic Alert Dog please Click Here.

To learn more about Service Dogs for invisible disabilities Click Here.

To learn how you can help place service dogs with families in need Click Here.

Puppy Love

Love is in the air with less than two weeks till Valentines day. This year for Valentines we would like to encourage you all to celebrate a different kind of love, Puppy Love! Today's story features Ralpha who has started the year off with Magic, not just any magic, the Magic, a cruise ship.

I wanted to let you know Rapha did fantastic on our cruise.
It took him 2 days to hit the Potty place,only 2 little accidents. He loved playing with his Kong ball at the fenced in b.b. courts.
One of the officers came to our cabin with a dog lifevest. He asked to take a few photos. He told me he was the 1st Service Dog on this ship, the Magic. The crew loved him & other passengers.
BTW while boarding, we were rushed to the front of the line like we were famous.
Rapha NEVER stopped alerting.
Even in the 1st 2 days he was doing his job well. I was asked so much about him and his job. I happily shared my storey.
I LOVE EVERYONE OF YOU.Dan, trainers, Dana, thank you so much. I now have 2 shadows."

Ralpha is a Diabetic Alert Dog from Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers.

If you or someone you know could benefit from having a Diabetic Alert Dog please Click Here.

To learn more about Service Dogs for invisible disabilities Click Here.

To learn how you can help place service dogs with families in need Click Here.

Diagnosis From A Dog

If you've ever met someone with an invisible disability one of the first questions you might ask them is "How did you get it?" and then you would want to know "How did you know you had it?"

Today's story is going to focus on Diabetes, which like many invisible disabilities does not have a true cause. Though the stories of discovering how someone had it are as different as fingerprints. From severe illness to early testing, diagnosis is not something anyone wants to have happen to someone they know. Early diagnosis though can prevent the diabetic from going into Diabetic Ketoacidosis and can potentially save their life.

The chocolate alarm has proven herself to be quite the little life saver.
I have a friend who comes over frequently and Hope has alerted to her on multiple times.
We have checked her blood sugar and she has been high & low on several occasions.
I gave her a meter and asked her to do a few days of recording and advised her to see her doctor as soon as she could.
Thanks to Hope, my friend is now under close management with her Physician.
Unfortunately, she has been diagnosed with Diabetes.

Hope is a Diabetic Alert Dog from Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers.

If you or someone you know could benefit from having a Diabetic Alert Dog please Click Here.

To learn more about Service Dogs for invisible disabilities Click Here.

To learn how you can help place service dogs with families in need Click Here.

Allyson & Lennon

Mandy Henry Photography © ~ www.mandyhenry.com

Today we bring you the story of Allyson and Lennon. Lennon is a Diabetic Alert Dog from our program. Diabetic Alert Dogs have become a growing trend among families who fear what will happen when their children go to bed at night.

What happens when those kids grow up and go off to college?

Allyson is a young woman in college, and this is her story:

"I was diagnosed with Type 1 when I was 10, and have lived with this disease for 11 years. I am a junior in college, and live 2 hours away from my family.
For me going away to college was always something that I wanted to do, but was very scary for me because of my diabetes. I have very scary night time lows, that have caused more seizures than I can count...and none of which I can really remember.
From the time I was 12 years old...my parents would get up many times during the night to check my blood sugar and try to prevent the dangerous lows..but still, there were many nights that I woke up to paramedics in my bedroom and a very fuzzy memory.
When I moved away to go to school those night time checks became my biggest responsibility. Having a seizure while I am alone at school is my biggest fear, and some nights I would wake up every hour to check my own blood sugar. 

Now that I have my D.A.D. Lennon, I am no longer so afraid to go to sleep at night wondering if I will wake up in the morning. I have only had Lennon for 3 weeks, and she has already saved my life 2 times...probably more.

The other night She woke me up and I checked, and I was 94...in range with no insulin on board. I treated it as a low, with juice and a snack because it was the middle of the night. Not even 15 minutes later, Lennon woke me up again andthat could have dropped lower and caused the seizures I am so afraid of.

I am so thankful to Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers for giving me Lennon.

Now I sleep at night knowing she is watching over me.

I get to be more independent and more like a normal college student all because of my little Life saver." 

If you or someone you know could benefit from having a Diabetic Alert Dog please Click Here.

To learn more about Service Dogs for invisible disabilities Click Here.

To learn how you can help place service dogs with families in need Click Here.