High Alert and Spilled Pretzels at School

Bo ready to go to work at school with Austin.

Bo and Austin worked together at school today. Bo alerted to a 200. He also alerted to a 118 but Austin didn't wait 15 minutes to re-check, so we don't know if it was a false alert or an alert ahead of the meter. Austin felt like his blood sugar was dropping and because he was going to lunch, he ate without waiting and rechecking.

When I asked Austin how Bo did working in the cafeteria, he said Bo did good but not so good when they encountered spilled pretzels in the hallway.  Bo got a pretzel before Austin saw the spill. Austin said once he gave the leave command, Bo complied and left the pretzels.

Leaving food in public is something we are continually working on with Bo. Ideally, he would not put his nose down to sniff food on the floor or ground. A service dog (SD) should not be going for food like this -- it's not safe for the dog and it's not good SD manners.

Bo and Austin on their way into school.

Bo doesn't go for food that falls on the floor in our house or homes of people we visit but in public he will try to go for food on the floor or ground. I think this may be because we did more more training on leave at home when he was younger than we did in public. Dogs don't generalize like humans. So, it's important to train commands in different places and spaces to help dogs learn. In the case of leaving food, a dog must learn leaving food that's fallen on a kitchen floor is the same as leaving food on the ground on the street or any other place.  From what I've seen, and from what Austin tells me, there are a lot of opportunities to practice leaving food while working at school. I look forward to hearing from Austin about Bo's progress in this area as they spend more time together at school.

All in all, it was a successful day for boy and pup at school today.

First Day of Sophomore Year

Sophomore Year (Austin 15, Bo 5) 

Today Austin took Bo with him to school for their first day together as sophomores. Bo alerted to a high of 190 and re-alerted at 230. Austin says they worked well together. My heart is happy with this news.

Austin's teachers had this to share regarding Austin and Bo in their classrooms today:

"I have Austin S2 and frankly I didn't even know that Bo was in the room until I was walking around class and saw him gracefully lying below Austin's feet."

"I just met Bo last block. It is clear that Austin and Bo are a team and it was an effortless transition having Bo in class."

"We didn't even realize Bo was in class today until half way through, so the two of them have his presence down to a science - very impressive! "

AM Drop Off at School

I've always believed the biggest compliment to our service dog (SD) team is when someone says s/he didn't notice Bo. If Bo is doing his job well, he will go unnoticed most of the time. By this I mean, he will be tucked tight and out of the way of traffic; he will be quiet and settled on place; he will alert discreetly and only escalate his alert if, for some reason, Austin is not responding to him.

Knowing boy and pup are working as a team on their own in a highly distracting environment like high school fills my heart with joy and pride. Knowing Bo is catching out of range blood sugars that otherwise would have gone undetected (until a scheduled check) is reassuring and comforting. We know when Austin and Bo are together 24/7 during the summer Austin's A1c is the lowest. The more time they are spending together during the day at school, the more likely we'll see A1c results that ensure Austin's long term health and well being.

Loading Up in Car for School

Taking Bo to School

Guest post from Austin:
School has recently started and while I miss summer, I enjoy seeing my school friends. This did however get me thinking about Bo going in to school. I know he recently passed his Public Access Certification Test (PACT), so he is definitely qualified but is he really ready? Am I ready? I really want him to come to school with me but I'm not sure if I can focus and still watch Bo. I believe I can do it but I still need to keep up in school too. After just two days working Bo when we went to Dallas, I  was worn out. I think the time zone difference and less sleep made it worse but it was still a lot of work for me and Bo. If I am doing that five days a week for six hours that is a lot to balance. We hopefully will start working Bo in school for one hour at a time. I hope my mom and Helen will be able to schedule a time for Bo to take the PACT with me in school.

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