How to Train Your Dog to Detect Low Blood Sugar

Hello Craig, If you regularly test your son's blood sugar, then when it tests high and when it tests low, have your son suck on something absorbent that is made out of cotton and not scented, until the material is saturated. A cotton ball, gauze pad, paper towel, or napkin will usually work. When you remove the material from his mouth, use something to remove it that will not add your own scent to it, such as the inside of a zip-lock bag or tweezers. Place one sample into an airtight ziplock bag, and then place that bag into another bag or into an airtight plastic container, preferably the later, and freeze it. Label whether the sample was of low sugar or high sugar saliva. Freeze all of the samples this way. When you are ready to train, you will take the sample out of the freezer and let is thaw a bit, and then store it in the fridge when not training with it, and use it for three days. Throw it away after three days. Once you have collected enough samples for you for training with, start by training your dog with the low sugar samples, since that is the most important alert for you. Open the bag and let your dog sniff the sample, teach your dog a specific alert signal, or choose to encourage an alert that your puppy chooses on his own, like pawing, barking, whining, or something else obvious. First reward your puppy whenever he smells the bag, then after you have taught him the alert signal, reward him whenever he alerts by doing that signal when he smells the sample. When he has reached this point, then introduce a non blood sugar sample, and only reward him if he alerts to the right sample, so that he will learn to pay attention to the smell. Do not reward wrong alerts at any point during the training. Practice this until he will only alert to the right sample, no matter how many samples you give him. When he can do that, then hide the sample somewhere like your son's pocket, and teach him to find it on your son and alert you that it is there. After you have done the low blood sugar alert training and your dog is extremely good at that one, then you might be able to train your dog to alert for the high blood sugar too, by teaching him a different type of alert to do when he smells that one. I say might because some dogs will struggle with more than one alert, but many can handle multiple alerts. You will have to see whether or not your dog seems confused when you add the second scent, and choose based on that whether to train for both. Make sure that you train the alerts to be pretty different to prevent confusion. For example, if your dog barks to alert for low blood sugar, then have him do something like paw at you for the high blood sugar. Keep the alerts different enough that your dog is not likely to mix them up. When you have taught both alerts, then practice with the low sugar sample, the high sugar sample, and a non scented sample, and ignore any wrong alerts or wrong type of alert. Only reward your puppy for the right type of alert for the right type of sample. Sort of like matching up cards in the Memory card game, the pair needs to go together, only then does your dog win. It does sound like Hazel has a sensitive enough sense of smell and is sensitive enough to your son's body language to be able to learn how to alert, so that is wonderful. I would definitely begin training this while Hazel is still a puppy, but expect it to take him longer to learn this while he is still young. Be patient. Even though it might take him longer to learn it though, training it while he is a puppy will help him to retain it for life and form an extremely strong habit of doing it, as well as teach him to love doing it, so that he will be more likely to do it without your prompting in real life when he smells the low or high sugar levels on his own. Basically the extra work of training him while young will be very worth it. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Christy, For a dog to become a Service Dog there is no official test that you have to take. You do need to have a medical professional diagnose you with the condition that your dog is assisting you with, and many places like airlines will require proof via a signed doctor's note. Your dog will also need to have certain skills in order to be admitted into places. Any Service Dog should have these skills or never be used as a Service Dog in the first place though. She will need to generally be very well behaved, non-disruptive, completely safe around other people and animals, and know how to do at least one specific task that directly helps your diagnosed condition, which in this case would be blood sugar alert. Going through a Canine Good Citizen class and passing a Canine Good Citizenship test at the end of the class will significantly help with the general manners and behaviors that Sophie will need while out in public with you, so I highly recommend going through one of those with her. Although not required at all public locations, in order to avoid issues, I would also recommend carrying a copy of your pet's up to date medical records, a copy of ADA law (American's with Disability Act), with the part that discusses where Service Dogs are legally allowed to go and what does or does not qualify a dog as a Service Dog. Many online companies will sell you laminated copies of this law. You will also want to provide a visual indicator that your dog is a Service Dog, such as a Service Dog vest or harness or at least a collar that says Service Dog. Places such as airlines also require that your pup has his own ID. You can buy this online also. Although not required to go into most places, certain Service Dog vests have a plastic visible sleeve where you can place this ID. This mostly just helps avoid you avoid confrontation when entering places with your pup. By far the most important things your pup will need is extremely good manners, which a Canine Good Citizen and other obedience classes will help with, great socialization skills, meaning that your pup is not reactive or aggressive towards people, dogs, or anything else he will be encountering, and at least one specialized skill, in this case the blood sugar alert training. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden