It's Hard Not to Compare

As I have written previously, there is a wonderful community of parents who are raising and training D.A.D.s for their children with Type 1. These are people who unselfishly share their experiences and knowledge with thousands of strangers. They share a common goal — to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes AND the incredible work of diabetic alert dogs. 

Their stories inspire and encourage me but I'd be remiss not to tell you that sometimes I find myself comparing Bo's progress to the amazing accomplishments of these dogs I read about. (I suppose it's much like a parent comparing his child's development to that of  the child's peers.) While Bo is making steady progress in his alerting and public access training, he is not yet trained to alert on highs, he is not alerting at night, and he isn't perfect in public. In my moments of comparison, I remind myself that Bo is still a young dog of 8 months; that I am following through on my commitment to raise him using only positive reinforcement methods and that I am working with him daily on scent training and public access work.  When you give something all you've got, great things will happen. Right?!

Yesterday, Bo alerted to a 77 of Austin's. Today, he alerted to an 89. The alert today was directly to Austin; I wasn't even in the same room. These alerts are gifts, precious gifts, that remind me that this journey I set out on ... to raise a diabetic alert dog for my child ... just may be leading me to the incredible outcome I have hoped and prayed for.