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

Friday, May 30, 2014

Alert to Austin in Bed

Bo alerted to Austin in bed last night a little before 11 pm. Austin woke to Bo pawing him and checked himself to find he was 200. We gave a correction for the high and rewarded Bo for his alert. An hour and a half earlier, Bo had alerted to me and Austin was 183. At the time, the meter would not allow a correction.

Monday, May 26, 2014

A Series of Low Alerts

Bo gave a low alert at 4:45 pm Sunday. I checked Austin and he was 104. Bo is rewarded for low alerts of 100 or less, so I told Bo we would watch. I gave Austin an orange slice and two Saltines to prevent a low. Exactly 10 mins later at 4:55 pm, Bo alerted low again. This time Austin was 87. I rewarded Bo and gave Austin more carbs. Then at 5:14 pm Bo alerted again. I checked Austin and he was 86. This time I gave Austin a glucose tablet. Bo didn't settle until about 10 minutes after I had given Austin the glucose. Up to that point, he was right by Austin's side. (I took this picture of him after his second alert in this series.) By the time he settled Austin's blood sugar had risen to 120 -- his target number. 

Video: Training at the School Yard

We spent time at the school yard this afternoon practicing loose leash walking, chilling out and working among distractions. One of the distractions we encountered was another dog. Bo was in a down stay when a family with a dog walked by the basketball courts where I was sitting with Bo. The dog was at a distance from us but it still got Bo's attention.

In this video, you see Bo catch sight of the other dog. He doesn't break his down stay but he watches the other dog. I played the name game with Bo and captured what happened on video. I ended up calling his name three times before I got eye contact.  Ideally, Bo would look at me the first time I said his name. Working around other dogs is something we get to practice in group classes. It's also something we practice when we encounter dogs while out in public. We never allow Bo to greet dogs when he is on leash. This is for his safety, as well as for his public access training.




Bo in a down stay on the basketball courts.

Bo watching kids play basketball. 

Bo holding a stay while I was across the court.

Sweet Bo hanging out at the courts with his boy.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Alert at the Outdoor Basketball Courts

Tonight, Bo alerted to me as we sat and watched Austin play a game of pick-up basketball at his school's outdoor courts. As I watched Austin play, I worried he would go low. I kept a close eye on Bo's nose, watching for signs of him smelling a low. After about an hour of being at the courts Bo stood up and put his paw on my leg. I didn't respond immediately and he shifted his position and pawed me again. I got Austin off the court to check and he was 212. I've been doing scent training with Bo outside in different places to improve his alerting in public. I was impressed and pleased with his alert tonight. There was a lot of activity on the courts, plus it was windy and rainy. Despite these distractions he did his job. 

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Working on Stimulus Control

In today's CGC prep class we talked about the principle of stimulus control and learned how we could work on achieving good stimulus control with our dogs. 
Defintion of Stimulus Control:
A conditioned stimulus becomes a discriminative stimulus (or cue) when it is followed by a specific learned behavior or reaction. The response is said to be 'under stimulus control' when presentation of the particular stimulus fulfills these four conditions: the behavior is always offered when that cue is presented; the behavior is not offered in the absence of that cue; the behavior is not offered in response to some other cue; and no other behavior occurs in response to that cue.

There is an easy to understand article about stimulus control on the blog Dog Willing LLC.

In  today's class, I learned we have an opportunity to improve Bo's stimulus control. For example, while he sits nicely when cued with the word 'sit' and the sit hand sign, while he is looking at my eyes --- he struggled with the command when he only heard the verbal cue and was looking at my back. So, this week we will work on improving his stimulus control for several basic obedience commands. We will start with the commands  sit, down, stand and back. We will work with just the verbal cues (no hand gestures) and we will practice having Bo receive the commands at our sides and behind us.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Alert Log

As of July 10, 2014 our alert reward range for a low is 85 or lower and for a high it's 173 or above. Prior to this date it was 100 and below for low and 173 or above for high.

Date | Time | Blood Sugar | Alert Type | Notes

August 8 | 1:25 pm | 72 | Alert | Rewarded
August 8 | 1:11 am | 72 | Re-Alerted | Rewarded 
August 8 | 1:02 pm | 102 | Alert | Watching
August 8 | 11:28 am | 53 | Alert | Rewarded
August 8 | 11:03 am| 93 | Alert | Watching but forgot to re-check
Austin away from home, without Bo, from August 3-7.

August 1 | 8:15 am | 180 | Alert | Rewarded

August 1 -2 alerts not recorded.

Austin away from home, without Bo, from July 28-31.

July 26 | 6:27 am | 86 | Alert | Rewarded

July 26 | 9:38 pm | 236 | Alert | Rewarded
July 26 | 8:14 pm | 64 | Missed Alert |
July 26 | 5:19 pm | 65 | Alert |Rewarded (This would have likely been a higher number if I checked when Bo alerted. I was saying good bye to guests and delayed in getting to Austin to check. My bad!) 
July 26 | 1:10 pm | 69 | Missed Alert | At school outdoor basketball court
July 26 | 11:58 am | 137 | Alert | Watching
July 26 | 10:53 am | 168 | False Alert 
July 26 | 9:56 am | 66 | Alert | Rewarded
July 26 | 7:16 am | 187 then 136 with Freestyle & 114 with  One Touch | False Alert
July 26 | 6:55 am | 77 | Alert | Rewarded

July 25 | 8:25 pm | 132 | False Alert | Not rewarded
July 25 | 8:05 pm | 126 | False Alert | Re-alerted
July 25 | 7:53 pm | 126 | Alert | Watching
July 25 | 7:23 pm | 87 | Alert | Rewarded
July 25 | 3:51 pm | 75  Alert | Rewarded
July 25 | 12:19 pm | 66 | Missed Alert | Used as live scent training

Austin away from home, without Bo, between July 20-24)

July 19 | 4:03 pm | 66 | Alert | Rewarded (Bo was in Austin's room with door shut. Did not alert to Austin but when door opened, came directly to me to alert.) 
July 19 | 3:02 pm | 81 | Alert | Rewarded
July 19 | 12:46 pm | 95 | Alert | Watching (Bo didn't re-alert and we didn't check.) 
July 19 |11:37 am | 190 | Alert | Rewarded

Austin was at the ocean, without Bo, between July 13 - July 19.

July 12 | 8:58 pm| 290| Alert | Rewarded (Austin came home high after being gone with a reduced temp basal for activity.) 
July 12 | 5:58 pm | 74 | Alert | Rewarded ( This alert was to Austin when it happened when Austin was walking Bo on the street in front of our house.) 
July 12 | 1:02 am | 78 | Alert | Rewarded (This alert was to Austin. Adult family member was outside when it happened inside the house. When adult family member came in the house 14 mins after Austin treated the low and rewarded Bo, he re-alerted the family member and BS was 95.) 
July 12 | 7:53 am | Alert | Rewarded


July 11 | 9:11 pm | 87 | Alert | Rewarded
July 11 | 5:26 pm | 179 | Alert | Rewarded
July 11 | 10:02 am | 77 | Alert | Rewarded
July 11 | 8:51 am | 101 | Alert | Watching at 5 min recheck 118
July 11 | 7:30 am | 89 | Alert | Rewarded

July 3 | 9:46 pm | 198 | Alert | Rewarded
July 3 | 9:14 pm | 146 | False Alert | Didn't recheck
July 3 | 5:04 pm | 99 | Alert | Rewarded
July 3 | 4:49 pm | 118 | False Alert | Watching (.45 IOB from correction)
July 3 | 3:42 pm | 290 | Alert | Rewarded
July 3 | 3:12 pm | 339| Alert | Rewarded (This alert came right when we got home from being gone since 10:45 am)
July 3 | 10:09 am | 111 | False Alert | Didn't recheck
July 3 | 8:15 am | 189 | Alert | Rewarded
July 3 | 7:55 am | 192| Missed Alert | Live scent training

June 10 - July 2 Not Recorded

June 9 | 7:45 pm | 73 | Alert | Rewarded
June 9 | 7:32 pm | 103 | Alert | Rewarded

June 7-8 Not recorded

6 June | 10:35 pm | 175  | Alert | Rewarded
6 June | 7:29 pm | 71 | Alert | Rewarded

6 June | 7:16 pm | 60 | Alert Rewarded
6 June | 6:49 pm | 90 | Alert | Rewarded
6 June | 6:28 pm | 114 | False Alert | Watching

5 June| 7:23 pm | 181 | Alert | Rewarded
5 June | 6:13 pm | 77 | Alert Rewarded

4 June | 8:54 pm | 76 | Alert | Rewarded

3 June | 8:45 pm | 212 | Alert | Rewarded
3 June | 7:55 pm | 181 | Alert Rewarded
3 June | 7:19 pm | 241 |Alert | Rewarded

2 June | 8:54 pm | 164 | False Alert | Not Rewarded gave correction
2 June | 8:43 pm | 156 | False Alert | No Reward meter wouldn't give correction
2 June | 8:05 pm | 138 | False Alert | No Reward - Watching
2 June | 12:21 pm | 99 | Alert | Rewarded

1 June | 6:05 pm | 75 | Alert Rewarded
1 June | 9:43 am | 94 | Alert | Rewarded
1 June | 7:50 am | 80 | Alert | Rewarded
1 June | 7:06 am | 97 | Alert | Rewarded

May 29-30 Not recorded

28 May | 8:17 pm | 201| Alert | Rewarded
28 May | 5:16 | 152 | False Alert | Watching (Forgot to recheck) 
28 May | 4:34 pm | 84 | Alert | Rewarded

May 27 Not Recorded

26 May | 3:34 pm | 102 | Alert | Watching - 92 at 15 min post alert
26 May | 2:29 pm | 141 | False Alert | No Reward 
26 May | 2:15 pm | 132| False Alert | No Reward - Watching


25 May | 5:14 pm | 86 | Alert | Rewarded
25 May | 4:55 pm | 87 | Alert | Rewarded
25 May | 4:45 pm | 104 | Alert | Watching
25 May | 4:17 pm | 207 | Alert | Rewarded
25 May | 12:15 pm | 253 | Alert | Rewarded
25  May | 10:22 am | 97 | Alert | Rewarded

25 May| 8:36 am | 92 | Alert | Rewarded

May 20-24 Not Recorded

19 May | 9:18 pm | 134 | False Alert | Watching (15 mins later Austin was 120)
19 May | 8:53 pm | 169 | False Alert | Not Rewarded
19 May | 7:50 pm | 212 | Alert | Rewarded

18 May | 7:40 pm | 146 | False Alert | Bo re-alerted
18 May | 7:28 pm |159 | False Alert | Watching18 May | 2:25 pm | 49 | Alert | Rewarded (Austin walked in the door from being at the gym and Bo alerted to this low immediately.)
18 May | 12:35 pm | 148 | False Alert | Watching
18 May | 12:10 pm | 195 | Alert | Rewarded
18 May | 10:55 am | 45 | Alert | Rewarded (Austin walked in door from being gone overnight and Bo alert to this low immediately)

17 May Austin at a friend's house all day and overnight

16 May | 7:01 pm | 309 | Alert | Reward
16 May | 6:28 pm | 253 | Alert | Reward
16 May | 5:35 pm | 138 | False Alert | No Reward
16 May | 8:30 am |174| Alert | Rewarded

15 May |7:20 pm | 213 | Alert | Rewarded
15 May | 6:56 pm 119 | False Alert | Watching
15 May | 6:45 pm | 113 | False Alert | Watching

May 13 and 14 Not Recorded


12 May | 8:20 pm | 105 | False Alert | Watching will recheck in 15 mins
12 May | 2 am | 65 | Missed Alert | Bo and Austin sleeping. Used as live scent training

11 May |9:48 pm | 274 | Alert | Rewarded
11 May | 9:22 pm | 232 | Alert | Rewarded
11 May | 7:57 pm | 211 | Alert | Rewarded
11 May | 7:34 pm | 222 | Alert Rewarded

11 May | 5:36 pm| 231 | Alert | Rewarded
11 May | 5:15 pm | 210 | Alert | Rewarded (Changed an expiring pod)
11 May | 3:56 pm | 71 | Alert | Rewarded
11 May | 2:30 am | 239 | Missed Alert | Bo and Austin sleeping. Used as live scent training

10 May | 5:32| 93 | Alert | Rewarded
10 May | 5:19 pm | 112 | False Alert |
10 May | 4:29 pm | 105 | False Alert | Watching (Austin had 8g flavored water drink)
10 May | 3:25 pm | 62 | Alert | Rewarded
10 May | 8:34 am | 179 | Alert | Rewarded
10 May | 7:51 am | 193 | Alert| Rewarded
10 May | 6:27 am | 72  Alert | Rewarded
10 May | 6:12 am | 61 | Alert | Rewarded
10 May | 1:37 am | 218 | Missed Alert | Austin and Bo were sleeping

 May | 9:01 pm | 259 | Alert | Rewarded
9 May | 8:24 pm | 241 | Alert | Rewarded
9 May | 7:42 pm | 191 | Alert | Rewarded
9 May | 7:24 pm | 159 | False Alert | Watching will recheck in 15 mins
9 May | 1:49 am | 340 | Alert | Rewarded

8 May | 9:12 pm | 300 | Alert | Rewarded
8 May |8:37 pm | 240 | Alert | Rewarded
8 May | 2:00 am | 283 | Alert | Rewarded

7 May | 9:54 pm | 193 | Alert | Rewarded
7 May | 8:02 pm| 105| False Alert | Austin was eating dinner (and had not bolused yet) when Bo alerted. Austin had just got home from a 1.5 hour basketball practice. Will cover 15 g less carbs from total dinner carbs.

7 May | 7:33 pm |105 | False Alert | Austin ate dinner instead of waiting to recheck
7 May | 7:22 am |197 | Alert | Bo alerted again before 15 mins. Rewarded for correct alert
7 May | 7:11 am |167 | False Alert | Watching will recheck in 15 mins
7 May | 4:35 am |130 | False Alert | No reward
7 May | 2:33 am | 245 | Alert | Rewarded
7 May | 2:25 am | 231| Missed Alert | Family member didn't do live scent training

6 May | 11:21 pm | 283 Missed Alert | Family member didn't do live scent training
6 May | 9:43 pm| 261 | Alert | Rewarded
6 May | 9:22 pm | 277 | Alert | Rewarded
6 May | 8:32 pm |211 | Alert | Bo alerted again before 15 mins. Rewarded for correct alert
6 May | 8:22 pm | 153 | False Alert | Watching will recheck in 15 mins
6 May | 5:47 am | 113 | False Alert | Intended to recheck but Austin ate brkfast w/out chk 


5 May | 9:20 pm | 104 | Non Alert | Rechecked as part of 'watching'
5 May | 8:23 pm | 123 | False Alert | Not rewarded but 2.10 IOB so watching
5 May | 7:26 pm | 235 | Alert | Rewarded
5 May | 6:37 pm | 250 | Missed Alert
5 May | 6:15 am | 90 | Alert | Rewarded
5 May | 5:21 am | 91 | Missed Alert | Whined at gate but no alert chain so not rewarded

4 May | 8:20 pm| 85 | Alert | Rewarded
4 May | 8:06 pm| 104| False Alert | Not Rewarded
4 May | 7:12 pm| 77 | Alert | Rewarded
4 May | 6:28 pm| 158 | False Alert | Not Rewarded
4 May | 6:09 pm| 159 | False Alert | Not Rewarded
4 May | 5:55 pm| 222 | Alert | Rewarded
4 May | 5:02 pm| 217 | Alert | Rewarded

3 May Not Recorded

2 May | 8:24 pm | 40 | Alert | Rewarded
2 May | 10:30 am | 83 | Alert | Rewarded

1 May Not Recorded

30 April | 10:28 am | 66 | Alert | Rewarded
30 April | 9:22 am | 114 | False Alert | Not Rewarded
30 April | 2:00 am | 66 | Missed Alert | Used as live scent training opportunity

29 April | 9:08 pm | 173 | Alert | Rewarded
29 April | 8:49 pm | 173 | Alert | Rewarded
29 April | 5:55 pm | 75 | Alert | Rewarded
29 April | 5:43 pm | 74 | Alert | Rewarded
29 April | 5:20 pm | 175 | Alert | Rewarded

28 April | 6:00 pm | 75 | Alert | Rewarded
28 April | 5:50 pm | 74 | Alert | Rewarded
28 April | 5:15 pm  | 175 | Alert | Rewarded
28 April | 3:00 pm | Low Scent Sample | Alert | Rewarded

Friday, May 2, 2014

Video: Bo Alerting to a Low

Bo broke his place on his Kuranda cot just prior to this alert. When he broke his place, I grabbed my phone in anticipation of catching an alert on video. (Bo will break his place to alert.)  I walked away from him and he followed me and pawed my leg. When I turned my body, he pawed me again and then gave a bow. In this video, you will see he gives this alert chain several times before Austin's blood sugar is verified with the meter. I responded to his alert verbally before Austin's blood sugar was verified. What I should have done is waited for verification that Austin's blood sugar was in Bo's reward range before I said anything to Bo or gave him any kind of attention for his alert. This was one of several alerts Bo gave today.