The Closed Bedroom Door

It happens night after night. Well okay, there are some nights when it doesn't happen but most nights Austin's bedroom door ends up closed. Austin claims he always opens it before he turns in for the night, so how it ends up closed is an ongoing debate in our house. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that Bo sleeps with Austin but alerts to us in the middle of the night.

If the door is shut Bo can't get out of Austin's room to come to our room and alert. So, being the persistent alerter that we've trained him to be, he improvises. He will whine and tap his feet behind Austin's closed bedroom door. The noise he makes doesn't wake Austin but it does wake us. (He learned the whining and tapping when we used to put a gate at Austin's door at night to keep him (Bo) from leaving his room.)

Recently, we've been tweaking Austin's overnight basal rates in tiny increments.  We haven't gotten his overnight number where we want it to be, so Bo's been doing a lot of night work -- sometimes alerting multiple times in one night. Last night, he alerted to a high of 170. The night before, Austin had a pod issue and he had a persistent high. Bo caught the high in the 200s and re-alerted again as Austin's blood sugar soured into the 300s.

Not all trained Diabetic Alert Dogs work at night, we are fortunate that Bo is a strong night alerter. I attribute his strength in this area to a few things. The first is the amount of time and energy I invested in scent training at night. Night after night, I'd wake up with him at 2 am and train. Plus, I always used the highest value food reward and his favorite toy and games in night training. It was exhausting work but it paid off. Second, Bo gets a nap early in the evening before heading to bed with Austin. The nap allows him to sleep lighter than without one. In fact, on days when he doesn't get an early evening nap he is more apt to miss an alert in the middle of the night. Third, night alerts provide a nice snack for Bo.

Given, he works for all his food. He doesn't have a food dish. He is a healthy weight and gets the calories he needs but he isn't overfed -- a snack in the middle of the night is an incentive to get up and let us know when he smells a low or high.

Have a question about night alerts? Leave your question in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.

Night Alerts

He does some of his best work for us while we are tucked in bed sleeping. Thusday night he woke me with an alert before 2 am. Austin had been 189 before bed but he had also spent hours on the golf course. The activity caught up with him and he went low. Bo caught the 60 before our scheduled check. Anyone who questions the ability of a trained DAD, only needs to spend a few nights with us to understand the ability of a DAD's nose.

Night Low

Bo tucked back in bed with his boy. 

Night upon night Bo works for us letting us know if Austin is high or low. This morning he alerted at 1:20 am and Austin was 65. One juice box and 15 mins later, his blood sugar was still 65. I gave him another juice box and within 12 minutes Bo re-alerted. Austin was 78. Austin got a carb snack and Bo got cheese and a game of 'get cha.'

Sometimes We Miss

It happens; sometimes we miss an early morning check. Today was one of those mornings. I awoke to my 2 o'clock alarm only to turn it off and fall back asleep. It wasn't until an hour and a half later when Bo woke me with an alert that I realized what I had done.

I immediately got up and followed him to Austin's room. There I fumbled in the darkness as my hands navigated Austin's nightstand in search of his pack. Finding it, I removed the meter, test strips and lancet then gently grasped Austin's hand and pricked his finger under the meter's illumination.

While I waited for the number to register, Bo stood in front of me with the frisson of anticipation.

The meter beeped and it read 79 — smack in the middle of Bo's low reward range. Once again, he nailed it.

"Good low Bo," I said.

Recognizing my words with the fervor of what was coming next, he began wagging his tail with an intensity that shook his rump.

"Let's get a treat." I said after giving Austin juice.

He followed me to the refrigerator and waited patiently for me to open the meat drawer and dish out his reward.

"He's low. Show me low," I said as I fed him bites of chicken between his paw swipes and bows.

He ate the last piece and I closed the refrigerator door.

"All set," I said.

But instead of returning to Austin's room, he stood looking at me with eyes asking for more.

"You wanna play?" I asked extending my arm to the top of the refrigerator to get his reward toy.

I grabbed the plush toy, tossed it and he ran after it. "I'm gonna getcha," I whispered.

He took the toy in his mouth and began jogging around the dining table. I followed behind him in a child-like game of chase. After a few laps, I ended the game. He brought the toy to me and exchanged it for one last treat before returning to Austin's bed.

Before leaving them, I re-checked Austin's blood sugar. It was 121. I kissed Austin's cheek, covered Bo with a blanket and returned to my room full of gratitude for the team we've become.