Life saving pooch!!

Postleneo

Well-Known Member
Messages
293
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
Thanks to my little bichon frise i'm still here and can write this post! Normally when going to bed I have a small snack of a Jacobs cracker with peanut butter as my BS is usually around 6-7 mmols and tend to drop in the night before the DP hits around 4am - I usually correct this when I wake at 430am each morning. However, as I was at 8.2 mmol when going to bed last night at 11pm I didn't bother with a snack. Unfortunately my alarm didn't do off in the morning and instead woke at 6:45 to my dog barking next to me for Britain!! on getting out of bed I felt so woozy and wobbly, my legs nearly giving way and as I felt on the verge of collapsing I scanned my Libre to find my BS were at 2.1!!... actual bloods may well have been lower!!- and where was the DP when I actually needed it??....nowhere to be seen!!!! So thankful to her as god knows what would have happened if it weren't for her barking and waking me!!.... a bit weird as this is the 3rd time this sort of thing has happened.... I am now convinced she has the power of sensing my hypos!!!...... Thanks Beau my faithful little friend!!!:)
 

Jamesuk9

Well-Known Member
Messages
504
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
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Diet only
This is a great story and I think you may be right.... Dogs are incredible animals.

Great to see you recovered.
 

Juicyj

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
9,032
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Type 1
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Hypos, rude people, ignorance and grey days.
Glad to hear your ok @Postleneo well done to your super dog for being amazing ;)
 

Johnjoe13

Well-Known Member
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398
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Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Thats one very intelligent pooch, actually I think I've read about something similar before where a dog was trained to do this. Sure is mans best friend
 

ickihun

Master
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13,698
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I believe my 3yr old senses my hypos too. He wakes everytime I have a hypo. Only trouble is he wants attention at the same time as I do!
He gets louder and louder. The whole house gets woken up.
No secrets in my house! Ha ha
 
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Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Give that dog a bone!

There's a few companies who train dogs to sense lows and highs. I mentioned it to some people at work and they're now mad keen on the idea of me having an alert dog running round the office! Nothing to do with my health, they just want a wee pup running around the place!
 
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Lorraine1973

Well-Known Member
Messages
149
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Pump
My dog is the same. She's 6 a field cocker spaniel. She doesn't leave my side when I'm paving a hypo and paws at me x
3798d69293becceec28115d3d7aa964a.jpg
 

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,232
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
Thanks to my little bichon frise i'm still here and can write this post! Normally when going to bed I have a small snack of a Jacobs cracker with peanut butter as my BS is usually around 6-7 mmols and tend to drop in the night before the DP hits around 4am - I usually correct this when I wake at 430am each morning. However, as I was at 8.2 mmol when going to bed last night at 11pm I didn't bother with a snack. Unfortunately my alarm didn't do off in the morning and instead woke at 6:45 to my dog barking next to me for Britain!! on getting out of bed I felt so woozy and wobbly, my legs nearly giving way and as I felt on the verge of collapsing I scanned my Libre to find my BS were at 2.1!!... actual bloods may well have been lower!!- and where was the DP when I actually needed it??....nowhere to be seen!!!! So thankful to her as god knows what would have happened if it weren't for her barking and waking me!!.... a bit weird as this is the 3rd time this sort of thing has happened.... I am now convinced she has the power of sensing my hypos!!!...... Thanks Beau my faithful little friend!!!:)

You sound like you have an absolute "keeper!"

By sharp comparison... :banghead: Not all have the "gift."
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/maybe-the-worst-hypo-alert-dog-ever.104497/
 
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JamesC1

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
That's a brilliant dog you've got there. Mine wouldn't have the attention span to be able to detect a hypo, I'd be better off with a fish doing it!
 
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Kazza63

Member
Messages
23
Type of diabetes
Type 1
My daughters dog woke me one night during a hypo when I was dog sitting, he kept licking my arms and wouldn't leave me alone until I realised what was happening to me. I thought it was a fluke but he did it the other day. I knew this time that I was having one and was drinking my Ribena and he came and sat in front of me and started licking my arms again. What a clever chap he is.
 
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miszu

Well-Known Member
Messages
248
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
Amazing dog and im very happy ur fine ! Mine used to wake me up every morning. Now since i took in a cat she passed the job to the kitten. They both r very smart, but i still prefer my dog barking and licking my arm than my cat scratching my face, probably just for his own fun. :'D
 
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Robbity

Expert
Messages
6,686
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
I truly believe that dogs are a (wo)man's best friend and we've had a number of other threads about untrained dogs warnings and constant attention when heir owners have had hypos.

Robbity
PS @LorraineIves: I could steal your gorgeous beautiful girl, I really could!!
 

Lorraine1973

Well-Known Member
Messages
149
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Pump
Haha she had 3 pups one is still for sale robbity. She's the double of jaxon x
 

EllsKBells

Well-Known Member
Messages
362
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Glad you're okay @Postleneo ! Gold star and a cuddle for your very cute dog!

Obviously dogs can be trained to alert to hypos, but I really do think there is something in it about them being able to 'smell' hypos - or hypers. One of my aunt's dogs, whenever I am above about 12 ish, will not leave my feet alone. He goes insane. The other one doesn't care! He's a rescue dog, so we can't be exactly sure about his background, but you can pretty much guarantee he hasn't had any training of that sort.

Can't wait to not live in a flat so I can have a dog :)
 

Nicksu

Well-Known Member
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743
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Grumpy bosses!
I remember watching the Supervet - there was a lab on there who was a duel purpose guide dog/seizure alert dog. There was also a young woman who used to have severe allergic reactions to changes in temperature and she had a dog who was going to be trained - who had already alerted her to problems without being trained to do so. They are amazing.
 

SimonCrox

Well-Known Member
Messages
317
Great heat warming story.
Gareth Williams and Mimi Chen published about dogs spotting hypos in the BMJ about 10-15 years ago, but I do not think it was ever taken further. Also a series of dogs who spotted owners bladder cancer! Amazing. best wsihes
 

TheBigNewt

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,167
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I've read about the Libre CGM on these boards. IMO it's a BAD device if it won't wake you with your cell phone when you start to get low. Maybe that's why the Libre isn't available in the US. We have the Dexcom and it pairs with any number of cell phones, not with BT but over the network, so it can not only ring the user's phone but their parent(s) as well whenever the BG goes below 75mg/dl. That's saved my friends' 12 year old son on more than one occasion as he got started on his insulin last year. What good is a CGM if it doesn't alert you at the most crucial times? I'd ditch it and get a Dexcom ASAP.