Hello,
I’m a type one diabetic if 14 years. Also battling gasproparisis. My family I feel the need to provide a loving home to a support dog. We are clueless in how to qualify for such a pup at little to no cost. As you can imagine $8,000 -$15,000 is very expensive. But for a companion and it’s training is yet life changing to say the least. Does anyone have any resourceful info about acquiring a diabetic service dog?
I have gastroparesis as well and don’t have 2 tell u how much it sucks. U don’t mention if u want a dog 4 companionship or 4 the abilities 2 alert u when you’re low/high. Not knowing your insurance info, a Dexcom cgm is the better choice. It’s cheaper and I feel, more reliable. Depending on your coverage, insurance and Medicare will cover at least some of the costs. As 4 a service dog, I’ve heard of people holding fundraisers, but it took several years and a lot of work 2 save for a dog. I do believe dogs can help. I’ve had and currently have dogs who sense when something’s up w me, but honestly it’s hit or miss. With the Dexcom there’s loud alarms 4 u and others 2 hear plus it really improves control and quality of life. Of course it’s your decision.
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hi @BnyCat Ebony and welcome to Type One Nation.
Be careful, “support dog” has a kind of a different meaning these days. You can do a forum search by tapping the spyglass icon at the top, or you can follow this query I created (a search for service dog) https://forum.jdrf.org/search?q=service%20dog
there are a few links and resources but I am afraid the diabetic service dogs tend to be rare. good luck on your search.
I’ve heard that the service dog is a free service. Try Early Alert Canines. You may google it. They requested a deposit. After the training, the deposit is returned to you. You can keep the dog as long as you like. Everything should be free.
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Webpage is blank for them. Maybe no longer in business?
My CGM and pump are the only companions that I need. If my BG goes high or low, it lets me know 15 minutes in advance.
It requires abut as much attention as a dog too, ten to twenty times a day my pump is crying at me for some kind of attention.
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Hi Ebony! I have a service dog that I got from Tattle Tail Scent Dogs, KC Owens Is the trainer/breeder and she is super duper amazing. You do receive the dogs as a puppy but they are scent imprinted and she helps a lot along the way and they are not nearly as expensive as typical alert dogs. I raised all of the money for my dog through fundraising. My dog is my best friend and is ALWAYS ahead of my Dexcom, it’s crazy! It is a kind of long process to get one of her dogs and you will most likely be put on a waiting list but KC does her best to stay on top of everything. Best of luck to you!
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Hello,
I know this for sure. 6 months ago I lost one of my corgis, he had trained himself to be an alert dog. He was special, and I did not realize the impact of him in my life. I have a cgm, G5 Dexcom. I get weekly reports stating my progress of staying in range. I dropped 27% the first week after he passed. I normally stay in the 90% range. I even showed this to my Endo. I have gotten another dog with purpose to specifically train to be an alert dog. He’s coming along slowly, because I have to start at the beginning and give him basic obedience first. But he is already starting to alert to my drops. His presence is making a difference. My weekly report came out today and I was at 99% in range for the last week.
The dog is making a difference. I highly recommend getting a dog.
Charlie
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I’ve had T1D for nearly 50 years, a Dexcom for at least 10 years (?) and a diabetic alert Dog for 6.5 years. Insurance helps with the cgm. No insurance help with the dog. Between the two, for reliability, I highly recommend the Dexcom G6 which has auto suspend (Basal IQ) when you’re headed down too fast or may be low within 20 (?) minutes. Don’t get me wrong about dogs. I love my dog to the enth degree and appreciate the help he has been. When I am alone, when my husband travels for work, Henry has literally saved my life by “phoning” an emergency contact during the night when I was unconscious due to severe low. Yet the reality is that a GOOD service dog is very costly with no help from insurance. If I HAD to choose between the two for financial reasons, I would recommend the Dexcom. I hope my ‘two cents’ helps.
If you dont mind me asking, where is she located and what was the total cost for the puppy? So are they just scent trained and you do all the rest with obedience, etc? I am not currently ready for one now( I have 3 dogs) but am looking to get one when my current old babies pass.
I can answer some of your questions about DAD’s. Yes they are scent trained. They use the sent from your saliva when your low and when your high to train the dogs to respond. The rest is obedience as you expected. But there are some major differences. The dogs are taught how to think and respond as Kathy stated. Those things take some time and practice. They do things that a CGM can’t do. Like listen and be supportive like your dogs are. Your with them all the time, you talk to them, they listen to you, they offer you support when you need it and when you don’t :-), they keep you on a schedule, they know when it time to eat, or when they need to go potty. The dogs work very tuned into/with you.
I also look at the dexcom reports every week. I usually stay in range in the high 90’s. When I lost my self appointed dog, I dropped below 80% of time in range. I was lost for several weeks. I didn’t rise back up until I got my new dog who will be formally trained as a service dog.
I believe that the two of them the dog and CGM make a great team. They back each other up. The dog says your low /high and the cgm confirms it. You also have an “alarm” during the times when you’ve lost signal or have to replace the sensor and you have the wonderful 2 hour warm up time. If the dogs breathing, they’re on duty!
Your own animals maybe doing things you don’t realize at this time, but you will when you don’t have them with you anymore. I know I did! And I was surprised , astonished and humbled at the amount of influence my Tim had on me.
If you got. anymore questions, pm me or whatever, I answer to the best of my knowledge.
Charlie