Dogs 4 Diabetics in Concord, California trains assistance dogs to detect and alert on the scent of hypoglycemia in insulin-dependent diabetics. They also train their clients in the use and handling of these dogs. For success, a diabetic handler must develop the skills to use their Medical Alert Assistance Dog and integrate the dog into their lives.
The trained dog’s acute sense of smell can sense the change in their handler’s blood sugar that is expressed through a chemical change in breath and sweat. When the dogs smell this chemical change, they are trained to provide a series of alerts to their handler to warn them of this upcoming blood sugar level change. The dogs do not sense a high or low blood sugar, but do sense a significant change in blood sugars. This will alert the handler they should perform a blood glucose test. If the sugar level is in normal range, they should wait 15-30 minutes and retest to see if there is a significant drop. Low blood sugar levels, known as hypoglycemia, can be debilitating or life threatening to an insulin dependent diabetic.
The dogs at the Dogs 4 Diabetics training center in Concord are trained using positive reinforcement. If a dog correctly alerts its handler of a change in blood sugar, the dog is rewarded with a positive interaction, usually a tasty treat. Treats are accounted into the dog’s daily food requirement in an attempt to avoid unhealthy weight gain. Over-feeding or not ensuring an alert dog receives proper physical activity can result in an overweight dog. This could lead the dog down a path of poor health and lethargy. If an alert dog is unhealthy and lethargic, it may not be motivated to perform their job of alerting the handler of a change in blood sugar levels. In an effort to maintain the dog’s optimal weight, all Dogs 4 Diabetic alert dogs are weighed once a year at the training center. The dogs are required by contract to maintain their optimal weight within 10%. Dogs 4 Diabetics uses a Rice Lake Weighing Systems RoughDeck Floor Scale to weigh the dogs. Dogs 4 Diabetics selected the Rice Lake brand because of its reliability and sturdy construction.
For more information about Rice Lake Weighing Systems RoughDeck Floor Scales or any of their other many products, contact the sales team at Quality Scales Unlimited.
For more about the Dogs 4 Diabetics and Rice Lake Weighing Systems partnership check out the article The Nose Knows.
More information about Dogs 4 Diabetics can be found at www.dogs4diabetics.com.
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