The story of a boy living with Type 1 and his family's journey to raise and train a diabetic alert dog.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Bo's Alerts

Bo's alerts during the week tend to be in the evening between dinner and bedtime. 

Earlier in the week, he alerted to me while I was in the kitchen and Austin was in his bedroom. Austin checked and he was 193. 

Last night he alerted to me while I was on Austin's bed with boy and pup. Austin checked and he was 80. This alert came at bedtime but 30 minutes before Austin's scheduled bedtime check. 

Tonight Bo alerted to me while I was making Austin's bed. Austin was in the bathroom at the time. I was standing with my body against the edge of the bed, facing away from Bo and he paw swiped the back of my leg. I told Austin Bo wanted us to check. Austin checked and the meter read HIGH. Austin's meter will give a H-I-G-H reading (we spell it when it registers that word) when his number is above 500. I had him wash his hands with soap and water (instead of an alcohol wipe and cotton) and re-check to confirm the accuracy of the number. The second number was 407, so we corrected it. 

Bo got a high party in return for his alert. He continued alerting after the party, so we gave him the verbal cue 'all set' -- we are using the cue after we finish a scent training session or treat a high or low that he has alerted on. After giving the cue tonight, I redirected Bo to a game of tug. After a few rounds of tug, he stopped and went to his toy bin to get a squeaky toy.  This is his new way of letting me know he wants to play 'gonna get you.'


1 comment:

  1. We will continue training Bo daily, in this manner, up until he is one year old. Depending on how he is doing, we may continue beyond a year but a year at the minimum.

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